Agatha All Along: Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials

" He's not in the coven. And he's underage..."

Once again, this episode is filled with wit, fun, and four witch characters we're a;ready getting to know and enjoy... although, as ever, Kathryn Hahn's performance is utterly wonderful. And we get a possible hint of the format: four types of witch- divination, green, potion and whatever Agatha is- and four trials from the Road.

But, simple though the format is- a posh house, a timer, poisoned wine ("Ugh! Cheap!"), and a race against the clock for Jennifer to make a suitable potion- it's so much more than that. Each character has a weird flashback, possibly telling us something. Jen is seemingly drowned by a man in early 20th century clothing. Alice seems to be facing a curse passed through generations from mother to daughter. And... did Agatha give her son to Mephisto (first MCU mention?) for a magical book?

Oh, and who is the Teen?

Yet it all looks brilliant, and the conceit works perfectly not only in entertaining us but in making us feel that wealready know all of these characters. But... Sharon is dead? There has to be more to her, surely? Regardless, I'm loving this.

Agatha All Along: Circle Sewn with Fate / Unlock Thy Hidden Gate

 "Witches like you are the reason people think we poison apples, and steal children, and eat babies."

"Babies are delicious..."

This is, of course, a wnderful piece of television. Agatha is a glorious protagonist- a baddie, and unashamedly so. Witty, humorous, amoral and delightfully free wit all the meta humour.

I've no idea where this is going, of course, but it's fun. The only characters I know from the comics are Agatha herself and a version of Jennifer Kale, not that I have in fact read Steve Gerber's Man-Thing issues. I suspect the fact we (and Agatha) are censored so very diegetically as to who the teen is means he's someone we may have heard of. But otherwise this is continuity-lite. Oh, and it's an almost entirely female cast with one gay boy. This is going to annoy all the right people. Good.

This episode is a fun riff on a kind of dark fairytale structure, which is of course enormous fun... and they all get into the road just before Agatha's hooded assassins arrive. Our motley crew is now on the road, and I have no idreawhere this is going, or who or what all those animals are. But I'm proper hooked.