REVIEW: WandaVision, Season 1 Episode Two 'Don't Touch That Dial'

 REVIEW: WandaVision, Season 1 Episode Two 'Don't Touch That Dial'

With Marvel Studios' latest television project The Falcon And The Winter Soldier currently nearing the end of its run, I thought I'd take a look back at my thoughts on WandaVision's second episode 'Don't Touch That Dial', from the initial time of viewing.

Contrary to how some currently consume television in the streaming age, I always prefer to watch my TV weekly. I believe it helps you to process the details of what you just watched properly before moving onto the next episode, and nowhere is this needed more than with WandaVision, Marvel Studios' first ever television format. It makes it something of a relief that Disney Plus adopt the weekly structure, because this is a programme that really requires a gap between each viewing in order to properly digest what just occurred. And boy are there are a lot of things to digest here.

This episode really does make you both laugh and question what you are seeing in equal measure. On the one hand there was that hilarious running gag with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) missing her cues during the talent show meeting and rehearsals, and then on the other all those strange occurrences of colour bleeding into the world. I don't think I would be the only one that found it a particularly arresting image when the woman in charge of the talent show committee - Dotty (Played by Emma Caufield Ford) - started bleeding after questioning Wanda and the blood shined red against the black and white backdrop. It brings up many questions as to just how much control Wanda is in over this sitcom world, and whether she intended to make Dotty bleed. Did she subconsciously cause the glass to shatter in Dotty's hand, because she was getting too close to the truth, or are Wanda's powers being controlled by an outside force?

Oh, and don't get me started on that gobsmacking moment with the beekeeper (Zac Henry) and Wanda's 'No' (a possible call-back to Wanda's iconic line from The House Of M, 'No More Mutants'?). The power of those words, the way it reverses like rewinding a VHS tape, is the most powerful utterance of the word 'No' I have ever seen in a piece television. Wanda is clearly a woman who means business, and only the very stupid would dare to cross her path.

Before these first two episodes of WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff was my least favourite of the Avengers. However, these two opening instalments of WandaVision have developed Wanda's character so significantly that by this point she is fast becoming one of my favourites. Elisabeth Olsen's acting talents really shine through here, and you find yourself wishing Wanda to appear back on the screen when she disappears. It becomes clear that the films, as great as they are, have done Elisabeth Olsen's acting talents a major disservice, and I hope she gets a bigger role in the movies going forward.

I absolutely adore that whole sequence with Vision (Paul Bettany) and Wanda at the talent show, and Wanda using her abilities to make Vision's use of his powers look like cheap magic tricks. It's such a clever way at repurposing Wanda and Vision's abilities to work within the confines of the sitcom environment, in a way that also feels true to their characters, and it's not a million miles away from what you would typically expect to see in a sitcom episode. The magic show could very easily have been taken directly from the 60s television comedy Bewitched, for example.

Those animated titles/sequences are quite charming also. They really suit that old style feel that WandaVision is aiming for with this journey through U.S. sitcoms, and again bring to mind the likes of Bewitched, whose titles were also very much presented in that cartoon style. It demonstrates just how much research showrunner Jaff Schauffer has conducted into televisual history (according to various media reports she also had help from sitcom legend Dick Van Dyke), as the craft and attention to detail is clear for all to see.

I get the feeling that 'Geraldine' (AKA Monica Rambeau, played by Teyonah Parris) knows more than she's letting on in this episode and is just playing along with the whole sitcom facade. She seems like someone humouring Wanda, a bit like how you might with an elderly relative who has lost their state of mind, and I think she knows exactly what is going on here (NB: We later find out that Monica was enlisted by SWORD to investigate into the reality-warping events at Westview and is transformed into Geraldine the sitcom character when she is sucked inside the hex).

The fake advert here is brilliant with its hint at Strucker from Age of Ultron. It will be interesting to see how it relates to whatever is going on with Wanda when the reveal of what is really happening here comes later down the road. This is the kind of advert you want to pay attention to rather than ignore (or fast forward through, if you're someone who likes to record your television to watch later).

Overall, 'Don't Touch That Dial' is a truly excellent second instalment of WandaVision, raising a considerable amount of questions regarding this fake sitcom world, and providing plenty of mystery to keep viewers engaged whilst they wait for the answers to arrive. Featuring plenty of fun moments and displaying an impressive amount of attention to detail, WandaVision's second episode is one you don't want to miss - unless you're the beekeeper, that is.

To have future posts delivered direct to your inbox, click the three lines at the top and register for email notifications via the 'Follow by Email' box.

What are your thoughts on WandaVision's second episode? Let me know in the comments.