Agatha All Along Episodic Coverage: Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End

Every Single Plot Point In This Episode Is Amazing

“Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End” is an episode almost defined by its last few minutes. But the rest of the episode is also really good. It’s a chance for several very good actors to flex their dramatic muscles, delivering impassioned, desperate, and emotionally resonant performances. There are so many scenes of closeups of people’s faces as they process what’s happening, and somehow it remains engaging.

But—before any further praise—I suppose I have to eat my words regarding predictions. Throughout this series of articles, I’ve stated that this show is a magical heist, a pastiche of The Wizard of Oz, and that the Road gives people back their powers through the trials. I was right on only one count, really, and I didn’t expect it to be the pastiche.

It’s Amazing How Much Misdirection There Is Here

Because Agatha’s binding spell on Jen was only undone here. Seeing her full magic confirmed that. And Billy’s goal of finding his brother—a secret goal I didn’t know about—was only accomplished now, and only because Agatha helped. I could still claim semi-correctness by stating that during the trials people were granted their wishes, but it’s clearly not that structured. The trials aren’t that structured. There are no real hard-and-fast rules here. I mean, the last trial appears only solvable by Agatha’s necklace and by randomly cracking the ground with magic. You could argue a green witch could’ve solved it with some simple solution, but this whole show is about thematic resonance, so that seems unlikely.

Agatha All Along Justifies Its Many Inconsistencies

And those loose rules, that dream logic, might’ve annoyed me more, might’ve annoyed me as much as it had in previous episodes, but the show had a plan all along. Because of course it did. But I didn’t see it. After “Death’s Hand in Mine” paid off so many moments of Agatha All Along, I had let my guard down. It didn’t occur to me that the show could’ve been planting multiple reveals through random conversations and off-hand comments. Series—especially short series—don’t tend to have space for that. But Agatha All Along is schooling everyone in nine episodes. And with one episode left, and the show’s title not even fully explained, I am expecting to be completely blown away. I am expecting that, and I have no more guesses. “Follow Me My Friend/To Glory at the End” defeated me, and I am quite happy to have a show I can’t predict so easily.

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