Storylines in any supernatural movie or series are guaranteed to be highly imaginative and present a new world. Yet despite all the special effects, there is always a relatable lesson or message behind the CGI.
Think about it. Many action movies have taught us something about life, whether it was the power of friendship, forgiveness, or “with great power comes great responsibility.” Marvel’s latest series, Agatha All Along, continues this tradition, mirroring human values and lessons.
Agatha Harkness, a notoriously evil and powerful witch, has assembled a crew of unlikely witches to venture down the Witches’ Road and claim what they truly desire. With many trials and tribulations ahead of them, they are up against all types of dark magic connected to their past experiences and traumas.
Amongst the tricks, magical spells, and potions, the show subtly reminds us that having the life we desire often involves facing our past traumas, even though doing so can be scarier than confronting a coven of angry witches. Let’s explore what this show teaches us about our painful past.
Before reading on, know that this article does contain spoilers for anyone who hasn’t watched the most recent episodes.
Jennifer Kale
Sasheer Zamata plays Jennifer Kale, also known as Jen, a power-bound witch with a reputation as a skin influencer. Even though she dresses and acts like her life is fabulous, she faces repeated criminal charges for selling unsafe products. While having to battle various lawsuits can be traumatic, her more profound trauma was revealed in Episode 3, “Through Many Miles / Of Tricks and Trials.”
Struggling to remember potion ingredients to save herself and her new convent, Jen relives a traumatic moment from her past when her head gets plunged underwater, nearly suffocating her.
In Episode 4, “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You,” the veil is opened more on Jane’s past when it is revealed that she was bound without magic. We can further conclude that losing her power was a traumatic experience that led to her losing not only her abilities but also her self-confidence.
Within these two episodes, we see Jen’s trauma manifest; we see her avoiding it and reacting to it, and we also see her starting to come to terms with it. As she confronts her trauma, she can rely on her knowledge and not feel limited with no magic.
Alice Wu-Gulliver
The most apparent portrayal of dealing with not just her own but generational trauma is with Alice Wu-Gulliver. Played by Ali Ahn, Alice battles a curse that took the life of her mother and grandma. Like many of us, Alice avoided and denied the curse, aka her trauma.
This denial became apparent when, while being surrounded by fire and possibly facing a gruesome death, Alice utters the phrase, “I thought it was me.” She blamed herself for being unable to keep a job or have a relationship.
That’s how trauma works. We think our inability to integrate or function the way we think we should is because of who we are when, in fact, trauma is to blame. It gets passed down from generation to generation until it’s dealt with. If it’s not dealt with, it will wreak havoc, similar to the flying monster creature in Episode 4.
When Alice realizes that the only way to survive is to face her trauma, she is then able to free herself and others. Sometimes, facing trauma can feel like a dragon-like creature is standing on your shoulders. When Alice faced her trauma, she admitted to feeling lighter, happier, and indeed was more powerful.
Agatha
You don’t become one of the most despised witches in the country without experiencing some type of trauma.
Throughout the series, we’ve seen Agatha, played by Kathryn Hahn, continuously avoid her past traumas. Between refusing to talk about anything related to her son to being possessed by her dead mother, Agatha’s past is laced with traumatic events.
Yet, unlike the other witch, Agatha isn’t facing her problems — not really. Although she tries to reconnect with her mother by asking her mom why she hates her, there isn’t a resolution. We don’t see this bold acceptance that we see with Jen and Alice. Instead, she tries to continue as if it doesn’t affect her.
As a result of her avoidance, she lets her thirst for power take over, and she ends up draining and killing Alice. I think it’s safe to say that this avoidance may get her more power and fewer friends as well.
Teen
Now that we know Teen’s true identity as Billy Maximoff, played by Joe Locke, we understand precisely what trauma he’s been through, and it piles on. There’s the trauma that the younger Billy faced after losing mom Wanda and dad Vision; the getting transported to a new body, of William Kaplan who died in a car crash; the twisted trauma of working with and confronting the witch who, at one point, threatened his and his brother’s life.
While Billy’s past is a lot to unpack, we see how those unresolved emotions have influenced him. After throwing Agatha into the mud pit, which she had coming, Billy angrily throws Jen and Lilia Calderu into the mud pit as well. It didn’t seem like he intentionally wanted to hurt them, but he did let his anger and unresolved trauma get the best of of him.
Just another powerful witch trying to find answers with the mystics when they probably should try therapy.
Yet is Billy’s quest to find his brother a form of dealing with his trauma? It’s hard to say. From the time he was born, his childhood has been dealing with one traumatic moment after the next — growing up quickly, having a witch as a mom and a robot a dad, battling armed forcers, and of course a neighbor witch killing your dog.
All in all, the show demonstrates that trauma affects everyone, mystical or not. Yet when we face our traumas, we can connect to our power.
