TV Review | WandaVision (Episode 4: We Interrupt This Program)

WandaVision episode 4 delivers another amazing episode and gives us a perspective shift on what is going on inside Westview

It’s Friday so it’s WandaVision day! The fourth episode is titled “We Interrupt This Program” and this episode is literally that. It tells us the story of what happened on the outside during the first three episodes of the sitcom.

THE BLIP

This episode begins just after the Blip. Which is the event that saw the return of those people dusted by Thanos’s Snap in the finale of Avengers Infinity War. Monica Rambeau was among the people who disappeared and we witness the moment she comes back. If you remember back to Captain Marvel, we met Monica when she was a kid with her mother Maria Rambeau. This episode gives us some sad news about Maria. She died of cancer. But before she passed, she was the founder and director of SWORD.

An interesting tidbit from the hall of SWORD headquarters. We can see a picture of Maria on the wall along with her nameplate – Maria “Photon” Rambeau. In the comics, Photon is one of the superhero identities of Monica. This could tease Monica becoming Photon by the end of the series and using the name in honor of her mother.

SWORD

SWORD is finally introduced after giving us hints in the first few episodes. In the comics, the government agency is a subdivision of SHIELD that deals with alien threats. In the MCU, it is a little bit different even though. Space missions are still involved but SWORD is also an intelligence agency and is focused on technology like A.I., sentient weapons, and nanotech.

RETURNING CHARACTERS

In this episode, we get to see the return of Jimmy Woo and Darcy Lewis. Jimmy first appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp, he is an FBI agent. While Darcy was a student in astrophysics when she appeared in the first two Thor movies. I’m happy to see them again. It continues to strengthen the connectivity between all the different MCU stories. These two characters are tasked with discovering what happened with Westview following the town’s disappearance.

This episode finally gives us some answers about what’s going on. it also explains how Monica ended up inside Westview. We witness the first three episodes from the outside perspective. The person at the end of episode 1 watching the sitcom was none other than Darcy. As we already knew, Jimmy Woo was behind the voice that told Wanda “Who is doing this to you, Wanda?” in episode 2. But now we see these scenes in context.

Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

DYNAMIC DUO

The Darcy/Jimmy team up is something I already love, they work well together. Both have a prominent role in this episode and are sure to play an important part with Monica in the next episodes. Darcy is now a doctor in astrophysics and she is the one discovering the whole sitcom situation. Which helps SWORD to understand some things. They discover that the characters around Wanda and Vision are people from Westview who are playing (willingly or not) a role in the sitcom.

A big question that is not answered is why a sitcom. Why each episode is another decade of a sitcom? Both Darcy and Jimmy ask themselves the question but for now, they don’t have the answers. However, we do get more information about what is going on in this episode.

(L-R): Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as Vision in Marvel Studios’ WANDAVISION exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

WANDA RIDDLE

As I mentioned in my review from last week, I expected Wanda to be responsible for this and she is indeed the one doing it. We see her throwing Monica out of Westview. That’s where things are getting darker. Wanda as the villain is a compelling storyline and I’m so excited to see where it will go next. Another confirmation is that Vision is still dead. We see a dead Vision talking to Wanda before the illusion returns. It is an extremely creepy scene. You get the sense that Wanda is trapping everyone in that town so she can get her happy life without the Avengers. Without any trouble. Except things are soon about to go down.

The episode itself doesn’t move the story forward but gives us a perspective shift and answers about what has happened so far. I love that they are taking their time to tell the story.