![]() ![]() But it's also working in the full awareness of a streaming show's tendency to string viewers along for weeks before giving them a massive payoff. Initially I wondered why Disney+ allowed critics to see this week's episode ahead of time but withheld it from the general public at premiere until I witnessed the first reactions to "WandaVision." Then I understood why the show did this – it wants to confuse people, yes, while also piquing curiosity. and into a reality that looks much like our own, except she lands on what looks like a militarized zone. "Now in Color" does less to mask the incongruity between the happy fiction Wanda and Vision are showing the audience and the truth of what may be actually happening, and ends by providing a glimpse behind the curtain, as it were, when Wanda accidentally breaks character and sends Geraldine flying out of the cul de sac. At a pivotal point the laugh track stops, and people stop pretending for a moment. Vision rattles off a list of things he's noticed that don't make sense, and the scene suddenly rewinds to a point where he gets back on a merrier script. A stork appears out of nowhere and starts walking around the room as Wanda does her best to distract her neighbor Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) from noticing it. "The Brady Bunch" may be the most familiar classic American sitcom in all of television, – or if not it's at the top of the list – and since so many people know the show's look, music, outfits and beats, they can also very easily recognize what's wrong with the picture we're being presented.Ī neighbor's shrubbery trimmer accidentally cuts through a brick wall. ![]() By the end of their third episode romp they have two baby boys of their own despite all rules of human biology and, oh yes, the fact that Vision is a mechanical creature incapable of procreation. "Is this really happening?" Wanda asks at the end of the second episode when her baby bump magically appears. Bored, even.īut the third episode accurately imitates the candy-colored views of the world presented in " The Brady Bunch" and "The Partridge Family" as a suddenly pregnant Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) realize they're about to go from childless and just married to new parents in the space of, at most, a couple of days. The first two episodes mightily strive to be dead ringers for "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Bewitched," and unless you're caught up on the movies and you grew up glued to Nick at Nite or syndicated reruns of those old shows it is highly likely that – sorry, can't help it – your were bothered and bewildered by what you saw. Episode 3, "Now In Color," further convinces me of this. Previously I argued that it's somewhat less important for the viewer to be steeped in Marvel lore than to have an affection for classic TV. It assumes an emotional connection to TV history and at the same time takes advantage of the ways that our interaction with the medium has evolved. "WandaVision" is a calculated intersection of all three. And, well, industry-killing superhero franchises. By artform, of course, I mean television. "WandaVision" is a highly calculated construct made to for people like me, but foremost it's made for Marvel to boast that it has taken an artform long disregarded as common, even lowbrow, and used it to elevate the medium. While other adults have fond memories of summer spent outdoors, we sat in our basements or bedrooms watching afternoon reruns of " The Partridge Family" and poring over pages of " The Uncanny X-Men." This is said not in condescension but from a place of experience or, if you'd prefer, a sense of authori-tah. It should not shock you that many TV critics consider themselves to be a bit of both, since having an extensive bench of knowledge about the small screen's history and an ability to recall random superhero backstories on demand require the same thing: a lot of alone time. Comic book fans and TV nerds share a singular and at times aggressive level of pride in knowing their stuff.
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