The seventh episode of Wandavision was the most psychological entry in the series so far as Wanda has to deal with the consequences of her actions.
Wanda has expanded the boundaries of the hex to save Vision’s life (again). However, she has fallen into a deep depression that has resulted in her fantasy world glitching and Agnes offering to care for the twins. Vision finds himself at the S.W.O.R.D. camp that has now turned into a circus and resolves to get back to Westview. Monica and Woo discovered that Hayward wanted to turn Vision into a weapon and try to find a way to warn Wanda.
Throughout the series Wanda has been refusing to face Vision’s death. Westview was meant to be the ideal suburb, the American dream that TV often projects. If anyone challenges Wanda she would exile them or reverses time so she can preserve her illusion. But as time progressed the illusion became harder to maintain with Vision asking questions.
“Breaking the Fourth Wall” opened with Wanda lying in her bed like she was both hungover and depressed and the twins being concerned for her. The commercial for an anti-depressant spelled out the theme of the episode and the voiceover saying that one of the side effects was ‘facing your problems.’ The setting has moved to a late Noughties/early 2010s look – Wanda and Agnes spoke to the camera like the characters in Modern Family and they spoke about their feelings. Westview looked more grounded than in the previous episodes and there was less attempt at humor involving Wanda’s story.
Most of the humor in the episode came from Vision and Darcy. Darcy has always been a comedic character and she got to shine as both an escape artist in the S.W.O.R.D. circus and as herself when traveling with Vision. Even though their interactions were comedic, there was still a dark undertone because Darcy tells Vision about what happened to him before Wandavision and they find out Wanda was trying to keep Vision from returning to Westview.
The big character developments involved Monica and Agnes. In the previous episode Monica found out her DNA has changed after going through the static twice. She goes through the static a third time and it finally gives her superpowers, something that will be important for Captain Marvel 2.
Agnes was always the wildcard in the series. In previous episodes she appeared whenever Wanda and Vision needed help and S.W.O.R.D. didn’t find out her real identity. This episode finally revealed who Agnes really was and it confirmed most fan speculation. It led to a catchy song and finding out Agnes did the evillest action in the MCU. The big questions now are what’s her game plan and what does she want with Wanda?
“Breaking the Fourth Wall” worked as the metaphorical/psychological episode that explored Wanda’s mental states and sets up a big conclusion for the series.
