(spoilers)

Agatha and Billy come across a castle.

This is, without doubt, the best episode of the series so far.

There’s one factor to reviewing which I think needs talking about now. I would never review a book chapter by chapter. It makes no sense to review except in the whole. Similarly you’d not review the first act of a film without watching the whole thing.

For music and TV this is often not the case. This is because the structure of how stories and narratives are constructed differs by story and by medium. Television, especially episodic television, often allows for individual episodes to be reviewed.

The problem is, where a show has an overarching narrative arc this can mean that threads and elements detract on a week-by-week basis even if, in the round, they hold a show together and put everything that happens into perspective.

Agatha is, I think, a perfect example of a show that, on the surface, can be watched episode by episode but whose overall arc is so strong that it really should only be watched in the round. This means that reviewing is bit by bit is tough because each entry has been mixed. Some have worked on their own basis but others have truly suffered from a lack of connective tissue and depth.

For me there are a couple of reasons that this episode is the best and also shows how the whole might come together to be more than the sum of its parts.

This episode is almost entirely about meaning, finding it in ourselves, what it is to believe in who we are and to find our voices – regardless of what others say. It’s glorious and specifically about women (and older ones at that) finding that they still have something to say and making room to say it on their terms. Like I say – awesome.

There’s a rather lovely set of reference to Disney’s witches which (if you don’t think about it too hard) is delightful and warm where some of the other episodes haven’t quite been able to pull off their pastiches all that well.

Plus the wardrobe for this episode is outstanding.

There is a starkly uncomfortable moment that’s obvious to all and just dismissed (which with some better writing could have taken that deeply problematic trope and redeemed it but oh well we’ll just roll our eyes at being told there are bigger problems to worry about with a wink at the camera).

Additionally, this episode ignores Marvel almost entirely which is absolutely to its strengths.

I am still annoyed that even if people who we thought were dead in previous episodes are not, their supposed passing remained unremarked upon and here, because of runtime, the consequences of how they came to be harmed in the first place are just ignored too. This is really clumsy and undermines any sense of stakes in an episode that otherwise does a good job of making me believe people might be in danger.

The show remains a narrative mess but this was well edited, the episode’s own story well told and sharply written even if a little twee by the end of it. The choices made sense in their own context and that’s about the most anyone can ask.

Verdict: Agatha is wasted once again but I’ve accepted that despite it being a show named after her and ostensibly about her, she has the least interesting material to work with.

Rating? 8 swords out of 10.

Stewart Hotston