This review contains spoilers for episode 3 of Agatha All Along.
The premiere of Agatha All Along saw Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) narrowly escape the clutches of the terrifying Salem Seven and start off down the mythical Witches’ Road alongside her new coven. Episode 3 “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials” starts right where we left off, with all of the witches, save for poor Sharon a.k.a. Mrs. Hart (Debra Jo Rupp), somewhat eager to see what the Road has in store for them.
Sharon’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day on the Road starts with some massive denial about the fact that she just stepped through a magical portal. As she steps away from the group to try and get her bearings, she almost falls prey to some off-road hazards, proving just how crucial it is to heed the “Ballad of the Witches’ Road” and “stray not from the path.”
Beyond the perils that lie outside the Road itself, this episode dials the spooky up a notch with the first trial, though you may not guess so at first. The Witches’ first trial comes to them as an unsuspecting beach house, like you might find in a show like Big Little Lies or The Perfect Couple. According to Agatha, the Road changes itself for the coven, and also, it seems changes the coven to match the trial. Once they step through the threshold of this mysterious beach house, everyone’s look changes to match the affluence and wealth of their surroundings, also looking like they just stepped out of a prestige seaside murder mystery drama. As we soon find out, this trial is specifically tailored to Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata), both her past and her skills as a potions witch.
Their first step is to drink wine, which Sharon eagerly does after the day she’s had so far. They soon find out, however, that this wine is poisoned, and it’s up to Jennifer to craft an antidote. One of the symptoms of this poison is hallucinations, which seem to show the worst moment in each of these witches’ lives. These haunting memories are spooky, a little violent in some cases, but most importantly they give us some insight into who these women are and why they would risk it all to walk the Witches’ Road.
Sharon is taken back to when Wanda accidentally took over Westview. Alice (Ali Ahn) sees her mom die in a fire, not on the Witches’ Road as we were led to believe. Lilia (Patti LuPone) sees the haunting vestige of a young girl from her past. Jen is drowned, presumably by the man who bound her powers. Agatha hears a baby crying from a bassinet only to find the Darkhold in its bed instead.
The hallucinations are rife with these women’s deepest traumas, and yet they manage to overcome these visions and help Jen craft an antidote, a process which forces her to confront her past, confess that her wellness products aren’t organic, and above all recognize the power that she still holds despite being bound. Agatha even tells her in an almost uncharacteristically kind way that “they can take your power, but not your knowledge.” Of course part of this pep talk comes from self-preservation and Agatha’s overwhelming desire not to die, but there is a hint of genuine care in her statement. Kathryn Hahn gives such a layered performance when she plays Agatha, and I think we’re only beginning to scratch the surface of who she really is.
They almost forget to give the antidote to Sharon, who is the first to fall unconscious, but are able to slip her a dose before time runs out. Agatha, Alice, and the Teen (Joe Locke) manage to carry her out through the slightly ominous exit through an oven, but unfortunately Sharon doesn’t make it and is lost forever to the Road. In the chaos of making it out, they forgot to account for the fact that Sharon drank significantly more of the poisoned wine than the rest of them.
We’ve heard how dangerous the Witches’ Road can be, that daring to traverse it is tantamount to a death wish, and this episode all but confirms that not everyone is going to make it out of this alive. Not even someone as beloved as Sharon. Agatha All Along doesn’t hesitate to let us know how high the stakes really are now that we’re outside the confines of the “real world” and in this new realm full of horror and possibility.
Beyond the dangers and mysteries of the Road itself, this episode also starts to peel back the layers of the mysterious Teen, revealing that it’s not just Agatha who gets a little fuzzy when he starts talking about who he is and where he’s from. It turns out that the Teen has a Sigil on him, a unique kind of redaction spell that hides something, or in this case someone, from other witches and magic users. None of the other witches in the coven can learn who he is either, so we still don’t know his identity as the audience. It’s honestly such a fun and interesting way to use the lore of the world to keep us guessing, and definitely brings back memories of WandaVision’s “commercials” that used the sitcom format to give us clues about what was really happening in Westview.
Episode 3 is a little sobering, both for us viewers and for the witches in the coven, as we get thrust into the first trial. This journey isn’t all fun and games. It’s dangerous and meant to remind these witches what they’re capable of. This isn’t to say, however, that “Through Many Miles of Tricks and Trials” doesn’t know how to balance the two. This episode is still a lot of fun to watch, despite the higher stakes, and, like the coven, is impeccably styled.
New episodes of Agatha All Along premiere Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on Disney+, culminating with the finale on October 30.
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