‘WandaVision’ Episode 2 Recap: “…And Something Makes Three”

Running from 1964 to 1972, Bewitched spanned a tumultuous time in American history. The show debuted a week before the release of the Warren Commission, the first official investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy—the president whose style so greatly influenced The Dick Van Dyke Show. Bewitched wrapped up its run in March 1972, just two months before the Watergate break-ins. And in between, episodes of Bewitched aired after news reports focusing on the civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, harrowing assassinations, the mainstreaming of hippie culture, the start of the Vietnam war and the protests it instigated, and the moon landing among many other world-changing moments.

On the one hand, yes, Bewitched (streaming on Prime Video and Crackle) was a silly show about a glamorous witch married to a shouty man. On the other hand, it was one of many supernatural sitcoms that popped up in the mid-’60s; Bewitched debuted right alongside The Munsters and The Addams Family, and I Dream of Jeannie followed a year later. But to understand Bewitched and to really see what WandaVision’s doing with its homage to the 1960s, you have to look at a third hand (spooky!).

Unlike its magical peers, Bewitched really leaned into the progressive ideals of the 1960s. Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) was a powerhouse, a wife who never let her nagging husband hold her back even though he really didn’t like her being able to alter reality on a whim. The show depicted the Stephenses as an inter-cultural marriage, using the (admittedly fantastical) metaphor to examine prejudice and bigotry four years before TV would even air an interracial kiss. The show gave us Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur, a bit of sly gay representation. And then there’s “Sisters at Heart,” an episode whose origin and execution is truly too much for me to even attempt to get into right now. This is a WandaVision recap. Bewitched was goofy and charming and comforting, but it also routinely rocked the boat.

WandaVision’s second episode maintains the premiere episode’s perky tone, but it pushes the show into darker territory. That’s evident in the very first scene, as ominous thuds and crashes wake Wanda and Vision up. The scene is deceptively simple: Vision peeks out the window but is easily spooked, and an equally spooked Wanda slams their separate twin beds together. Then, having had enough of the noise, Wanda magics open the window to reveal that a tree branch is making all the noise. The danger behind them, Vision makes eyes at Wanda and out go the lights.

There’s a lot going on here, starting with Vision being terrified that their neighborhood is being menaced by prowlers. That’s a dangerous notion that’s so far removed from the twinkling perfection of Westview in the first episode. But the most obvious development is the whole bed sitch. Sitcoms of the 1950s and early 1960s couldn’t even suggest that a married couple would ever sleep together. Scandal! Bewitched, however, was too progressive for that. Samantha and Darrin slept in the same bed from the jump—but Rob and Laura from The Dick Van Dyke Show (a.k.a. the inspiration for last episode) slept in separate beds. Wanda shoving the beds together is a nod to that fact, with Wanda pushing the show from being a chaste, early ’60s sitcom to a, uh, slightly less chaste mid-’60s sitcom—one where the husband can ask the wife to “get the lights.”

And on cue, here come the opening credits, a delightful animated sequence set to a saucy mod bop that fits right in with the catchy jingles that opened I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched. And because I’m equally a Marvel and sitcom scholar, I have to point out all of the Marvel Comics Easter eggs in the credits.

When Vision is phasing through his closet, we see the headgear of the Marvel villain Grim Reaper. More eggs are seen when cartoon Wanda hits the grocery store. There are ads for Wonder Oats, Bova Milk, and Auntie A’s Kitty Litter. Those are references to Wonder Man, the Avenger whose brain patterns were written into the Vision’s noggin; Bova, the humanoid cow woman of Wundagore Mountain who raised Wanda and her twin brother Pietro; and Agatha Harkness, the witch who taught Wanda magic, and her cat Ebony. Back to Grim Reaper: he’s Wonder Man’s brother and frequently tried to murder Vision for having a copy of his brother’s brain. I don’t think Wonder Man or Bova are popping up on this show; MCU Vision’s brain comes from Tony Stark’s A.I. JARVIS and, uh, I think a cow lady might be a little out of place? There’s been no indication that Grim Reaper is coming, so that might just be a fun nod to continuity. But there’s lots of speculation that Kathryn Hahn’s character is secretly Agatha Harkness. We’ll have to wait and see! And after the MCU introduced a talking tree and raccoon, a talking cow mom doesn’t seem implausible.

The first scene post-opening sets up the hijinks we’re getting into this week. Wanda and Vision are practicing a magic act that they’re putting on for the Westview Elementary fundraiser. The show-stopping trick involves Vision waving his wand and disappearing Wanda from the Cabinet of Mysteries. It’s a fluffy little scene that really captures the vibe of Bewitched (and I Dream of Jeannie). The writing style for episode 2 is less zippy and allows for a little more breathing room, a little more realism. It’s not about jokes so much as it is antics. Like Samantha always said on Bewitched, Wanda just wants to fit in—and participating in the talent show is their ticket!

The couple then go their separate ways, Vision off to a meet the neighborhood watch and Wanda to a planning committee meeting. And then there’s that pesky, almost existential banging. What is that noise? Wanda goes outside to investigate and finds something bizarre: it’s a toy helicopter, nestled in a bush—and it’s red.

It also has that S.W.O.R.D. logo on it! But Wanda’s discovery is interrupted by—who else?—Agnes (Kathryn Han) and her pet rabbit Señor Scratch (a reference to comic book witch Agatha Harkness’ son Nicholas Scratch?). Agnes is there to collect Wanda and whisk her away to the country club for a truly challenging mission: survive the planning committee meeting.

The planning committee is headed up by Dottie, an ice cold suburban HBIC played to absolute perfect by Emma f’ing Caulfield Ford—Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, people! Oh, how I have missed her precise delivery and withering stares! She’s every bit as intense and wonderful as she was 20 years ago and I cannot thank WandaVision’s casting directors for giving us this gift.

The committee meeting is the most tense poolside showdown since Love Is Blind, with Dottie clocking every one of Wanda’s social faux pas. Wanda really stands out, too; after all, she’s the only woman there wearing pants! This is another nod to how sitcoms evolved in the ’60s, as it was Mary Tyler Moore who fought with CBS to let her just wear pants instead of pretending that women do housework in dresses and pearls. There’s one fan of the pants: a Westview resident named, uh, Geraldine (Teyonah Parris), yeah, that’s her name.

She doesn’t seem so sure of it for a second, though—probably because her name is actually Monica Rambeau. We know from Marvel’s casting news and press tour and everything else that Parris is playing the grown up version of Maria Rambeau’s (Lashana Lynch) daughter from Captain Marvel. But here she is, a perfectly pleasant Westview neighbor calling herself Geraldine. Here’s my wild hunch: I wonder if the helicopter Wanda found in her bush was once a full-size helicopter that brought Monica into Westview overnight…

Meanwhile, Vision’s at the Westview Public Library meeting with the men who make up the neighborhood watch. In a nice subversion of gender roles, though, these manly men really gather at the library to eat treats and gossip. Vision’s thrown off by this, as he came expecting an Avengers-style briefing session. He has to recover quickly after passing on the doughnuts, resulting in a hilarious line: “I don’t eat food… What I mean to say is, I don’t eat food between meals, but at meal times I’m a regular eating machine.” And in his attempt to fit in, Vision accepts a stick of gum from Herb (David Payton) and chews it—ridiculously, might I add. This turns out to be a mistake, though, because Herb slaps Vision on the back and the machine man swallows the gum, literally gumming up his works (which we see via retro animation!).

Wanda’s not faring much better with Dottie, who’s singled out my second favorite sitcom witch (you’re #3, Sabrina) for solo cleanup duty. Dottie is somehow even more intense than before, narrowing her eyes at Wanda and questioning her place in Westview. Right then, the sound of “Help Me Rhonda” by the Beach Boys humming on the radio gets interrupted by a muffled voice cutting through via static. The vibe flips, just like when Mr. Hart started choking in Episode 1, as the voice can be heard asking, “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?” Just then, an increasingly frayed Dottie crushes the glass in her hand, the shocking sight of red blood grabbing attention. And just like last episode, Dottie swiftly, naturally, eerily re-centers herself with a joke and we’re back in sitcom-ville.

It’s definitely worth pointing out that so far, the only color we’ve been able to see in WandaVision’s black and white world is red (and yellow, as an accent). Red light, red helicopter, red blood, Scarlet Witch?

This commercial is more ominous that that campy toaster ad in Episode 1. The tuxedoed man (Ithamar Enriquez) is selling the watch on his wrist, a Strucker model watch made by HYDRA. Welp, that’s not good. Remember, Baron von Strucker is the fascistic HYDRA creep whose experiments with the Mind Stone gave Wanda her powers. And HYDRA is, duh, HYDRA—one of the biggest bads in MCU history. This doesn’t bode well for the lovebirds.

Back on WandaVision, it’s time for the talent show—which is for the children, by the way. The first two episodes have been peppered with remarks about children, from Mrs. Hart forcefully asking why Wanda and Vision don’t have kids, to Agnes presumptively telling Wanda that Dottie controls school admissions, to everyone in Westview creepily saying “for the children” in unison. It’s incredibly clear that this whole fantasy, whoever’s causing it, is all about getting Wanda to create life. This happens in the comics, and it’s not… great.

Wanda and Vision’s magic act is a true delight, a gleeful showcase of Paul Bettany’s marvelous physicality as he plays Vision as a drunk android. Wanda has to use her powers to cover for all of Vision’s powers, powers they’re trying to keep secret, by making his flight and super strength look like tricks. The townspeople get some great moments in here, like “That was my grandmother’s piano” and “Is that how mirrors work?” “Shut up, Bev.” For the grand finale, Vision abracadabras the Cabinet of Mysteries while Wanda is standing next to it, so she pops stage manager Geraldine into the box. Magic! This whole sequence is a giddy spectacle with Bettany and Olsen clearly having the time of their lives.

Cuddled up and cozy on the couch back at home, Wanda and Vision are startled to see that Wanda is very suddenly very pregnant.

This accelerated pregnancy is probably the result of the pre-credits hanky panky, but there’s also some ties to the comics. In 1985’s Vision and the Scarlet Witch vol. 2 #3, Wanda channeled the magic of an entire town of witches into herself in order to create life—well, lives, considering she had twins. I’m not saying that Westview is a town of witches, but there is an interesting parallel with the comics considering this episode had a town chanting “for the children” repeatedly.

The couple can’t celebrate Wanda’s pregnancy, though, because they’re interrupted again by that gosh darn banging! They venture outside onto the street just in time to see a creepy AF sight: a beekeeper crawls out of the sewers and turns to stare at the couple. It’s way weird. Wanda says “No,” causing the episode to literally rewind until the two of them are back on the couch.

So, good lord, let’s talk about all that. First, the beekeeper: it seems super likely that this is a nod to A.I.M., a rogue group of mad scientists whose unusual uniforms have led to their agents being likened to beekeepers. And in the comics, A.I.M. was founded by Baron von Strucker as an offshoot of HYDRA which, considering the commercial we saw… I gotta note that A.I.M. were the villains of Iron Man 3, but they left out the uniforms. There’s also the fact that the beekeeper has a S.W.O.R.D. logo on his back which kinda throws this theory into question. Let me just be upfront: I don’t know what’s going on.

And then there’s the rewind moment, which solidifies the show’s entire thesis statement, premise, reason for being, etc. This right here is Wanda being directly confronted by the madness of the outside world, a world that she doesn’t want to deal with, and her saying, “NO.” When I wrote about WandaVision being about the relationship between sitcoms and emotional trauma? Yeah, very that.

But now the couple are back on their couch. No beekeeper, no dread, just a duo happy that they’re going to be a trio (or quartet). They kiss and the room blooms into color, super appropriate for WandaVision’s Bewitched episode considering that Bewitched very notably transitioned from black and white to color for its third season. Even the way Vision and Wanda look in this new colorized world bears a striking resemblance (intentionally!) to the flat, matte colorization technique that was used to transform Bewitched’s black and white seasons into color after the fact.

These details. I love this show.

And just to keep you guessing, the episode ends with that voice again, pleading, “Wanda, who’s doing this to you? Wanda?”

Next stop: probably the 1970s!

Stream WandaVision on Disney+