Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power

Despite only being halfway through the series, Agatha All Along Season 1 Episode 5, “Darkest Hour, Wake Thy Power,” unveils a big twist regarding Teen’s identity and Agatha’s past.

On Episode 5, Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) and her coven are chased by the Salem Seven, who are still out for the titular witch’s blood. They escape into their next trial, which explores the trauma and turmoil that Agatha has experienced since birth.

By the end of the installment, Teen (Joe Locke) finally reveals his true colors as the most popular fan theory about his character turns out to be true.

This may be the shortest Agatha All Along episode so far. And yet, there is certainly a lot to unpack.

Despite the rushed pacing, the episode answers one of the show’s most significant questions. If more time could be given to this particular hour, the story would have valuable breathing room for these developments to flourish.

The reveal that Teen has ties to Wanda Maximoff as her son Billy is pretty obvious. That said, seeing Agatha push Billy to his limits to unleash his powers is an excellent moment as he takes out his entire group with relative ease.

Seeing the big unveiling of his crown and his abilities unravel is a great way to show the audience his true self without telling us.

The acknowledgment that Agatha already knew he was Billy isn’t entirely explained during this episode. It is a little confusing how she can figure out his identity, especially since his sigil prevented him from saying who he is.

Perhaps more context will be revealed during the next episode, but this installment adds more questions than answers.

Additionally, Billy’s character has been somewhat underdeveloped during this series. We got a lot of screen time with him, learning about his personality and how he looks to see the best in people, even someone as wicked as Agatha.

However, there are still a couple of episodes left, so maybe a flashback episode can give us more information about him and where he came from.

That said, we finally see some action with Salem’s Seven as they grow into proper villains for Agatha and her team to face.

The witches face few obstacles here, so it’s good that they have a group of angry magic users to deal with. Seeing how they relate to Agatha’s past is a great way to connect the coven. Hopefully, we will see more of their origins moving forward.

Having the episode feel more like an 80s throwback with the sleepaway camp is a nice touch for Agatha’s trial. It is quite a surprise seeing that this would be Agatha’s time to shine, considering she’s the show’s main character and she hasn’t been a focus these past few episodes.

It gives some homages to 80s horror as we learn more about Agatha’s time during the witch trials when she murdered her coven.

Showing the relationship between Agatha and her mother, Evanora Harkness, adds another layer to her as the main character.

We only know a bit of what happened between them during WandaVision, but this episode expands on that story with valuable insight into Agatha.

It is good that their complex connection shows how vulnerable the supposedly evil Agatha is when there’s more to her power than that.

This comes to a close when we see Agatha take the life of Alice (Ali Ahn) to restore her power.

If only we had more time to invest in Alice, her death would have greatly impacted the group. However, it does showcase how unpredictable Agatha’s powers can be. It seems like Agatha could be more of a victim of this power she has, giving us a lot to work with to understand her pain.

Seeing that the biggest reveal at the end of this Agatha All Along episode isn’t much of a surprise.

That said, it does deliver on that revelation in a big way. Everything leading up to this moment may have been underwhelming as many of the plot points have been streamlined so quickly without taking any time to slow things down a notch.

Despite its shortcomings, this episode should satisfy comic book fans who were looking forward to seeing this development finally unfold with Billy and Agatha.

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New episodes of Agatha All Along stream Wednesdays on Disney+.

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