So, Wandavision?

[pukunui]

That's another one, but I was thinking about the little smirk that Vision gives at the end, while Wanda's back is to him. Something about that expression, so unlike the "decent and honorable" person that he's supposed to be, doesn't sit well with me.

That looks to me more like a confused “I don’t know what to make of this so I’ll just pretend everything’s fine” smile than a sinister smirk.

 

[Umbran]

Spoiler

Darcy detects unnaturally high levels of "Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation," which she defines as "relic radiation dating back to the Big Bang." It's unclear how this cosmic radiation ties into the story of WandaVision, but comic book readers will immediately recognize it as a reference to the raw energy of creation in Marvel Comics - and the source of the Fantastic Four's powers. Marvel has recently confirmed a Fantastic Four film is in the works, so this can only be direct setup for Marvel's First Family. It's possible that, in the MCU, the Fantastic Four are connected to SWORD; note that Director Hayward has a strong reaction to the mention of cosmic radiation, and claims to still have teams of astronauts missing.

So, leaving out spoiler content... whenever someone speculating about a weird TV show plot says, "This can ONLY mean/be," is the moment when you should seriously doubt their analysis. Because, that assertion should be unnecessary - you should not need to tell me how correct you are. Your point should stand on its own.

There's any number of Easter eggs and references in Marvel material that fails to actually be plot relevant. Their self-references are often merely nods to lore for those who want to say, "Hey, I understood that reference!"

 

[Umbran]

Are you referring to the censorship of the out-of-character moments? That does seem like it's not something Wanda herself is doing.

I think it is. Think of this as a woman who has gone through too much trauma, who is desperately trying to create a safe and happy world for herself.

The censored show is what she desperately wants reality to be. She doesn't have total control of all the minds around her, and the outside keeps impinging on her reality, so occasionally she "wakes up" when her immersion is broken, and corrects the situation, and then goes back into her dream fantasy.

Even if Wanda really wants to live in retro-sitcom-land, there's no reason for her to be deliberately broadcasting the 'show' to the outside. And if she's not broadcasting it, she's not the one who's censoring it either.

I think the broadcast is merely the result of the model she has chosen for her safe world - sitcoms are broadcast, therefore this is broadcast.

 

[Davies]

That looks to me more like a confused “I don’t know what to make of this so I’ll just pretend everything’s fine” smile than a sinister smirk.

Except that he seems to know more about what's going on than has been shown to this point -- a few moments before that, he was telling Wanda that they could leave if she wanted to go somewhere else.

 

[Umbran]

Except that he seems to know more about what's going on than has been shown to this point -- a few moments before that, he was telling Wanda that they could leave if she wanted to go somewhere else.

She sees his "zombie" state, and doesn't completely lose her nut. Ergo, she's the one animating him.

Her animation leaves him with significant free will and ability to think for himself, or, his mind is an aspect of her subconscious, kind of Inside Out style.

With a troubled mind of sufficient power, you don't really need to invoke outside forces to explain what's going on.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

After doing a bit more reading, I now realize why that deleted scene of Wanda in the morgue with Vision's body was removed and not included with the rest of the deleted scenes for Infinity War. Apparently, an earlier version of the Infinity War script had her surviving the Snap, instead of being erased. So once they changed that part of the script, the scene in the morgue could now not take place.

Her being Snapped away also explains a lot of the trauma she is going through in WandaVision. Episode 4 establishes that this series is taking place only three weeks after the end of Endgame. So while the Snapped people were missing for 5 years, to Wanda, and everyone else, no time had passed at all. To everyone not Snapped, Vision has been dead for 5 years, but for Wanda it had been mere minutes between his death and her being Snapped away. So she comes back, Endgame finishes, she freaks out and either creates this whole Westview thing or is ripe to be manipulated by someone into creating it.

 

[pukunui]

Except that he seems to know more about what's going on than has been shown to this point -- a few moments before that, he was telling Wanda that they could leave if she wanted to go somewhere else.

Yeah nah I’m not getting that sense at all. He was telling her they could leave because he doesn’t know that they can’t! She’s all weird and then is suddenly like “Let’s watch some TV!” and so he’s like “Yeah, OK, honey, whatever you say ...”

EDIT: The smile in question, for context:

Spoiler

 

[Rabulias]

I took the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation reference to tie in to the Infinity Stones (created at the Big Bang), one of which contributed to Wanda's powers (and was later an integral part of Vision!). It makes sense to me that her powers would have a similar signature to the stones.

 

[Imaculata]

People in this thread have been spot on with their predictions. It's a shame they explained so much so early. I wouldn't have minded trying to solve the mystery one episode longer. However, I am hopeful there are still many more mysteries in this show to unravel. Considering we still have half a season to go, it can't be this simple. Our ideas of Agnes being an antagonist may still turn out to be true.

I loved how this episode showed the aftermath of Endgame. It was truly haunting. But it did leave me with a few new questions:

The cops outside Wanda's bubble were also affected. How does that work?

Is Wanda censoring the broadcast or is someone else?

The drone (great call btw) retained its colors and SWORD symbol. Monica retained her SWORD necklace. The beekeeper retained his color for a few seconds, before turning black and white. It would seem there are limits to the reality bending effect of Wanda's bubble.

Dotty seems antagonistic towards Wanda. Is this simply the role she's been cast in, or is there more going on here?

We saw a dead Vision for a brief moment. Was this simply Wanda's sudden realisation of his death, or is she puppeteering a dead Vision? Could others see a dead Vision as well?

This episode hinted that the effect that Wanda has over the town may get worse. This is something I think I speculated earlier in this thread. Is there a rush against time here before the bubble increases in size, or something worse happens to those trapped within?

 

[Umbran]

The cops outside Wanda's bubble were also affected. How does that work?

I think it is simply that people nearby the bubble were made to forget the place existed, so they'd leave the place alone. Nothing more complicated than that.

Is Wanda censoring the broadcast or is someone else?

I don't think we have any evidence suggesting there's anyone else involved at this point.

The drone (great call btw) retained its colors and SWORD symbol. Monica retained her SWORD necklace. The beekeeper retained his color for a few seconds, before turning black and white. It would seem there are limits to the reality bending effect of Wanda's bubble.

I don't know if we should consider those "limits", because Wanda's state of mind is, shall we say, highly questionable at this point. I don't think we should consider her some detail-oriented mastermind. She's a woman in great psychological pain.

Dotty seems antagonistic towards Wanda. Is this simply the role she's been cast in, or is there more going on here?

A somewhat antagonistic neighbor or rival in town would be appropriate to the sitcom genre of the time period being depicted. There could be more going on, but we have no direct indication of that at this time.

We may note that Agnes and Dottie were not on the list of actors identified by Agent Wu and his team - but that may just be so some nerd keep chewing on the mystery of whether they are special or not.

We saw a dead Vision for a brief moment. Was this simply Wanda's sudden realisation of his death, or is she puppeteering a dead Vision? Could others see a dead Vision as well?

I think it was a momentary slip in Wanda's control.

This episode hinted that the effect that Wanda has over the town may get worse. This is something I think I speculated earlier in this thread. Is there a rush against time here before the bubble increases in size, or something worse happens to those trapped within?

Well, if you are a government agent facing an inscrutable anomaly, you consider the worst. But, again, we have no distinct and direct reason to worry about that at this time, I think.