I’ll be discussing the show solely in the context of the MCU. This means I won’t refer to organisations, characters or events which may give context but which you’d only know if you’ve read the comics.

Husband and wife Vision and Wanda move into their new home…

Not since Legion have I been as surprised by a show’s opening episode. Starting this series we’re greeted not by two superheroes fighting bad guys and flying around the world blasting energy bolts from their fists, but instead by a black and white sitcom straight out of the 1950s.

Interestingly, you do not need to have seen any prior Marvel show to watch this.

This pastiche of Bewitched, I Love Lucy and other shows from the time hits the tropes for which each of them were famous. From the boss coming to dinner to the nosey neighbour to having to hide who they really are from the luddites of middle America (while openly loving the lives they’ve chosen to lead).

I had to explain to my outraged daughter just how normal the presentation of gender roles was in that time and we all reflected on how far the world has moved in sixty years. I also had to explain all about the shows being referenced. My teenage children did not understand this show.

This pastiche doesn’t end in the first few minutes; it doesn’t end by the conclusion of the first episode either. Wanda and Vision make their way through the story touching on lots of different ideas but those ideas exist within the framework of the television shows they’re living within.

I’m going to avoid spoilers here but it’s safe to say there’s more going on. Marvel haven’t recruited two of the Avengers to have them recreate black and white sitcoms from the twentieth century.

The hints are small and intriguing – contained within visual cues, unanswered questions and well played structure but answers are, as yet, not forthcoming.

What interests me here are the decisions they’ve taken in this approach. The episode itself is fun, interesting and quite nostalgic but on its own it doesn’t really make much sense and, despite its very short run time (it’s actually only twenty minutes long with more than six minutes of end titles) it felt a little insubstantial. I can understand why they released both episode 1 and 2 at the same time because I’m not sure the younger members of my family would have come back to watch the next one a week from now, but they were happy enough when I suggested watching episode 2 immediately to see if the story would develop.

Does it work? That’s to be seen. I’m not sure it works as a standalone for the reasons laid out above – but then I wonder why you wouldn’t release the entire series at once on that basis. I’m also not entirely sure who the audience is meant to be. The call backs are for people my parents’ age and although I have some cultural awareness of the shows in question, I’ve never actually watched them. My children had no familiarity with those shows and spent the entire episode asking why things were happening, scoffing at character decisions and being infuriated by the characters’ aspirations at work and at home.

To say this is a brave decision isn’t quite right because we can’t see where the show’s going just yet. I have some suspicions about where the show’s headed and on that basis I’m impressed they’ve started here rather than someplace else in the story and look forward to the next episode (spoiler: I’ve seen it already).

Verdict: This is only episode 1 of a show whose start, at least, is radically different from anything else currently in the MCU (although it’s not a new approach for the comics). I’m glad for that difference in approach because there’s quite enough out there with people punching one another until someone surrenders but at the same time, it didn’t land for me or my family.

Rating? 4 Lucille Balls out of 10

Stewart Hotston