‘Agatha All Along’ Just Went From Good To Great In Episode 7 ‘Hand Of Death In Mine’

I have been enjoying Agatha All Together little since its hilarious premiere, and while there have been some ups and downs along the way, the last – and effectively penultimate – episode of the series (episodes 8 and 9 airing on the same night) was truly remarkable. Series creator Jac Schaeffer, who also directed this episode, has done something truly remarkable, tying up many loose ends and odd moments from the beginning of the series in an extremely satisfying way as we enter the final act and end of The Witch’s Road.

This week’s story centers on Lilia (Patti LuPone) an ancient sorceress who, we discover, put her powers aside because they were too much for her. We learn that her entire life has felt out of order and that she is constantly moving through time, but cannot control her time travel. All those weird scenes in previous episodes where she would say a random Tarot card are explained here, in Lilia’s trial.

Hocus Pocus

Whenever she was named one of these cards in a previous episode, it was because she was slipping in and out of time, flashing forward in this trial. In the present, she remembers the various members of the coven and which card they embody, and in the past, in those moments when she thinks back, her past self says the name of the card out loud. This always seemed like something that needed an explanation – and not just “Strange Lily” – but I’m very impressed with how great that explanation turned out to be.

The other big reveal, though not surprising, is that Rio is actually Death. Almost everyone had theorized this given the countless clues pointing to her true identity, but it was still great to see Aubrey Plaza appear in all her deadly glory.

Lilia and the other witches find themselves in a tower on Witch Street, each decked out in a classic witch costume. Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) is the Wicked Witch of the West. Jen (Sasheer Zamata) is the old crony from Snow White. Billy (Joe Locke) is in full drag as Maleficent (if the cheekbones fit!) and Lilia herself is Glinda, the good witch.

As she tries to figure out how to play the Tarot cards, swords fall from the ceiling and the entire ceiling is slowly taking over, swords and all, ready to crush them all. She must travel back in time to her old mentor to learn the truth about her powers and finally come to terms with them. “I am the Time Traveler,” she says, realizing the dawn.

When the last card is played, she rushes the rest of the witches through a portal, but stays behind to face the Salem Seven. They surround her, but she has a trump card: the opposite tower. She returns the card to the table and the entire tower changes direction. Down is up and up is down, and—in glorious slow motion—they all fall from the floor to the sword-covered ceiling, impaled and destroyed. Lilia manages to hang on for a moment, but her fingers slip and she too falls to her death, appearing heroic.

Of course, since Lilia exists to some extent outside of time, this isn’t exactly the end for her. We see her once again, as a child, smiling at her mentor. Time is a flat circle.

Practical magic

All of this is much more satisfying than the battle between Wanda and Agatha at the end of WandaVision, which went “full Marvel” for lack of a better term. I love how clever the magic has been on this show so far, and this week’s episode was the best of the bunch. Magical MUST be creative, and I’m sick of so many wizard duels ending up as competing light beams. In some ways, this show is like the opposite of WandaVision, which started off so strong but fizzled out in the end. Agatha All Together it’s only getting better as we near the two-part finale. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it WandaVision and its clever use of sitcoms and misdirection, but I honestly hope this series ends better.

However, we haven’t seen much of our titular witch over the last couple of episodes, and that’s a bit of a shame. Kathryn Hahn is so good as Agatha, one of Marvel’s most compelling and charming villains. She steals every scene. But I’m glad we got to focus more on Billy and Lilia as well, and I’m sure the next two episodes will give us plenty of Ms. Harkness. And Death, of course, in one form or another.

The show continues to be very strange even for a Disney production, much more than Acolyte which . . . it really wasn’t at all, no matter how it was promoted. I know a lot of people will write it off as “woke” or whatever, but I’m glad to see it and especially because we have a lot of good humor in the mix. “You want a straight answer, ask a straight witch,” Agatha says, winking. And Billy looks great in drag. I often criticize rigor when it comes to pushing social issues into plays or games, or into performative or symbolic diversity. Agatha All Together avoids that and gives us – for the most part – really solid writing and fun characters of all layers.

The big questions that remain as we enter the final phase of this story are:

• Will Billy find out about Tommy?
• Is Wanda coming back from the dead?
• Will Billy go full Wiccan?
• Will Agatha die?
• Also, will we see Vision again? Doubtful on this show, but you never know. After all, we have Ralph Bohner.
• Will Jen survive? With almost the entire covenant dead, this seems unlikely.
• Will there be a big showdown between Agatha and Billy? That seems more likely, and how it plays out could make or break the series.

Everything remains a mystery, but I’m excited to see where they go in the final chapter, and I’m glad that Marvel has given us another show as creative and quirky as WandaVision. Together with Loki, these are easily the best MCU shows we’ve gotten so far. What did you think of ‘Death’s Hand In Mine’ and how do you see this all unfolding?

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