Agatha All Along Episode 5's Genre Homage Is A Horror Fan's Dream
by BJ Colangelo · /FilmThis article contains spoilers for "Agatha All Along" episode 5, "Darkest Hour/Wake Thy Power."
Each episode of "Agatha All Along" — the newest Marvel series on Disney+ that is Good, Actually despite the crybaby "fans" claiming otherwise — has played out like Marvel trying its hand at making escape rooms. As Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) and her coven make their way down The Witches' Road, each witch must be tested on their unique abilities in a house that changes the world's appearance depending on who is being tested. Episode 3 featured potions expert Jennifer Kale (Sasheer Zamata) tested in an opulent suburban McMansion like something out of "Big Little Lies," while the protector witch Alice Wu-Gulliver (Ali Ahn) broke the generational curse of her rockstar mother in a live music performance resembling a cross between "Daisy Jones and the Six" and the legendary Stevie Nicks. This week's episode finally put the broken Agatha Harkness to the test, and her house is a horror fan's dream.
Upon entering the testing grounds, the place takes the form of a 1980s cabin, complete with couches covered in afghans, stacks of books and board games, decorative garland hanging between the lights, and wood panel walls you can practically smell. The room looks like the ultimate counselor's cabin in a "Friday the 13th" movie mixed with the party hangout of "Witchboard." The coven sports casual '80s loungewear with leg warmers, cropped sweaters, Swatch watches, and side ponytails aplenty, setting Agatha's test in a 1980s teen girl horror movie while embracing the witchy traditions of sleepover parties.
Witchcraft takes many forms, but the homegrown moral panics of the conservative Reagan administration will always be a favorite. The Satanic Panic wasn't exclusive to the accusations lobbied against Dungeons & Dragons; it also targeted the bewitching games of groups of teen girls like "light as a feather, stiff as a board," paper-made fortune tellers, future prediction games like MASH, and most notably, the Ouija board.
All of them witches
Fans have been awaiting the 1980s horror episode since Disney+ started releasing character posters, as Aubrey Plaza's featured her in the setting, looking like the ultimate final girl of a recently unearthed slasher film made after "Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers." This led many to believe the setting would be the one to test her character Rio Vidal, but Agatha Harkness makes perfect sense. The group must use a Ouija board to summon a spirit, who reveals herself to be Evanora Harkness (Kate Forbes), Agatha's mother and the leader of the Salemites who was killed along with her coven by Agatha.
She appears and insults Agatha, saying things like "You were born evil" and "I ought to have killed you the moment you left my body" before possessing Agatha. It's a heartbreaking moment made even more horrific as the possession makes Agatha resemble Regan MacNeil from "The Exorcist." This episode plays with so many different horror tropes, but they're all tropes that center around women.
Of course, witches are inherently associated with women, but the "girl horror" moments don't end there. There's a TV playing nothing but static, looking like the one from "Poltergeist" that targeted young Carol Anne Freeling. Meanwhile, Ouija boards are overwhelmingly associated with teen girls trying to talk with spirits from beyond, whether it's as obvious as "The Craft" or as bubblegum pop as "Sugar and Spice." The sleepover setting also pays homage to films like "Slumber Party Massacre," possession films consistently centered on young female victims, and slasher films typically ending with one woman surviving the terror. Not to mention, Agatha is forced to face her literal demons while in this cabin, not unlike Ash in "Evil Dead," who only starts to truly lose it once the Deadites corrupt the women in his life that he loves. The Ouija board says Agatha must be punished, and this is certainly one way to do it.
The episode ended on one hell of a cliffhanger ... but like the horror movies the episode pulls from, I don't think Agatha is out of the woods yet, because her trial isn't finished. There's still room for one last scare.
New episodes of "Agatha All Along" premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.