WATCH ALONG: Agatha E7

This is my favorite episode of Agatha All Along. Not that the final two aren't amazing, because they are, but this episode just HIT DIFFERENT. For one, I love some non-sequential storytelling when it's done well, and very often it's not, so this one was a treat. Because in a way, this episode has been playing out the whole time, since Lilia first showed up. Little flashes have been dropped like breadcrumbs, and this is the episode where it's all recontextualized and makes sense. The story from Lilia's perspective spans not just this series but an entire lifetime, and it's so masterful how they bring it all together in the end, not just so the story makes sense, but that Lilia's true purpose does, bring her whole life full circle. The other reason this episode make my witchy heart happy is that, being a practitioner myself, I have a very fraught relationship with the way witches and witchcraft are depicted in media. I understand that there's a difference between actual pagan traditions, modern reconstructions of those spiritual paths, and the pop-cultural concept of "the witch." And I accept that sometimes for the sake of a story, some stuff is going to get depicted inaccurately, even inappropriately, because most people think witchcraft is either horseshit or demonic/evil. I've gotten used to a certain degree of writers fucking things up, especially when they use divination tools like Tarot or astrology. Very often, writers will do very shallow research or none at all, and just write whatever they like without any respect for the knowledge they're appropriating. So, when I see a witch or sorcerer/wizard/whatever in media, I either want it to be completely fucking ridiculous and whimsical, like say, Harry Potter, or strongly rooted in actual facts and lore. Which is why I absolutely LOVE this episode, because it gets Tarot right. It understands the cards, their meaning, and the function of their placement, and it brings the whole story together in a way that is both true to the craft and excellent television, and I love it. And yes, Lilia's road ended in Death (I capitalize because it's the name of the card and the cosmic force), which *can* mean literal death, and in this case, does, but more often refers to a spiritual death and rebirth, or the closing of one door and opening of another; irreversible change, an old life broken down to feed the growth of a new one. The past in exchange for new possibilities and potential. Lilia's existence ending and beginning, her death opening the road for the others to move on. It's so good. SO GOOD. And yeah, Rio is Death. Rio Vidal is Spanish for "river of life," and that river flows in only one direction, toward death. Death is a character in the Marvel Universe. In the comics, she's a sentient cosmic force and has relationships with several characters, including Deadpool, whom she's rather fond of (notice he can't die), and Thanos. In fact, some people really dislike MCU Thanos, because of his philosophical motivations for his behavior, whereas in the comics, he's just in love with Death, the character, and thinks killing enough people on a grand enough scale will impress and endear him to her. And he's wrong. She thinks he's kind of a creepy loser, but his hope springs eternal and he just keeps trying to impress her. It's... very weird. But yes, Rio is Death, the original green witch, who, like a gardener using mulch and compost as fertilizer, extinguishes life and redirects those energies into new life. She is change and transition. Ugh, FUCK, I love this show!

LOVED this episode!

💀💀💀 “I know that’s Maleficient because I have seen Snowwhite” be so fr Ashleigh….”It’s “Sleeping Beauty”😭❤️

YEEEEEES, 1 of my fave episodes of that year