Agatha All Along Episodic Coverage: “If I Can’t Reach You/Let My Song Teach You”

The Second Trial Already Broke The Pattern A Little

“If I Can’t Reach You/Let My Song Teach You” tries to carry a good chunk of the trial on the back of “The Ballad of The Witch’s Road” being a good song. And, yes, it is a good song. No complaints there. This was a fun rock-show performance of a cool song, with a heavy focus on an esthetic. But, like, did we really use up one of the four challenges on The Road for this? All of the potential for creative and dangerous challenges, all of that stored up dread at how dangerous this all is, and it becomes a one-sided battle of the bands. There weren’t any interesting rules, no confirmed countdown, and the villain was invisible for the bulk of the challenge.

Instead, “If I Can’t Reach You/Let My Song Teach You” is all about emotions. Most of the scenes are about different character’s emotional truths. We get more information about Alice’s trauma from losing her mother and the nature of the song in the first place. Agatha signals that she clearly cares a ton about Teen, and has very unresolved romantic/sexual feelings for Rio. We also learn Jennifer’s backstory more, with some important tidbits that seem like foreshadowing. In short, the actual challenge fell short, because the episode is more interested in developing these characters around the challenges. Which is not a bad thing, obviously.   

This Series Blends Its Various Elements Quite Well

In fact, this episode gives a strong hint to how The Road works. It appears entirely tied to facing your past and your emotions. I don’t think The Road even tries to kill its travelers as a deterrent; it might not work without arranging dangerous scenarios. The challenges almost seem to be how you get the reward—or at least the beginnings of one. Jen made a moon-water healing potion through mostly magical means after being forced to make a different potion under extreme duress. It’s stated she couldn’t do magic like that before. And now Alice broke her curse by being given a chance to fight it directly. What they might find at the end of The Road is that they already had what they needed.  

And if that conceptually sounds familiar, well, it did for me, too. A special road, a group of misfits, Agatha being briefly in black-and-white, and a catchy song about traveling the road? I’ve called Agatha All Along a heist story—and it is that—but it’s also evoking The Wizard of Oz. A spookier version of The Wizard of Oz where the witches are the main characters, instead of sidelined or killed, but a direct homage if I ever saw one.  

And that’s awesome. I love Marvel doing something like this with a classic story. And I love that it took me this long to notice. That it just kept seeding references without being overt. Sure, yes, “If I Can’t Reach You / Let My Song Teach You” isn’t my favorite episode of this show—that would go to “Through Many Miles/Of Tricks and Trails” by a lot—but it did dodge my predictions in fun ways. The mysteries of Teen, of various character’s histories, and of many hidden schemes keep me thinking about the series, but it’s the obvious skill and thought, the narrative trickiness, that makes me want to actually watch each week. Well, that, and the amazing set design, acting, pacing, and strong understanding of tension. Because Agatha All Along does have all of that, too. In spades. It’s turning out to be a really good show; even better than I had expected. And I am still so excited for more.  

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