Discover the magical connections between "Agatha All Along" and "The Wizard of Oz"! From iconic quotes to clever character parallels, we're unveiling the enchanting ways this series pays homage to the classic tale. Join us as we explore the yellow brick road of references that will have you saying, "There's no place like Westview!"
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most creative ways
00:10that Agatha all along connects to the Wizard of Oz.
00:13Warning, there are spoilers for all nine episodes ahead.
00:17And now we have our countdown.
00:20Number 10
00:21There's no place like home
00:22Then close your eyes, and tap your heels together three times.
00:29And think to yourself, there's no place like home.
00:35After several taxing trials, Agatha and company find themselves zipped up in body bags in
00:40a kind of futuristic morgue.
00:42Claiming that the location is her basement, Agatha quotes the Wizard of Oz, saying,
00:46There's no place like home.
00:48It's a line that initially appears to be just a fun, but insignificant one-liner.
00:53That is, until Agatha finally escapes.
00:56After completing the trial, the witch ascends a staircase and exits out of a storm shelter
01:00not dissimilar to the one Dorothy's family hides in during the Wizard of Oz's fateful
01:05twister.
01:06Agatha's surroundings really help sell the comparison, as the wind whips around her with
01:10a similar force.
01:12And just as she's becoming acclimated to her new surroundings, Death appears overhead,
01:16cackling like the Wicked Witch.
01:18Number 9.
01:32Witches from every direction.
01:39Just as Oz has witches from the East and West, so too does Agatha all along.
01:43In the first episode, a witch is found dead in Eastview, and, of course, Honorary Witch
01:57Sharon Davis, better known as Mrs. Hart, is from the WandaVision-established town of Westview.
02:13While half of this reference predates the 2024 series, the coincidence feels too big
02:18to ignore.
02:19It's only a shame that the writers didn't delve into the rest of the Covens' backstories
02:23enough to establish any of the others as witches of the North and South.
02:29That's where the answers lie.
02:33Well, who better to solve the mystery than one of Westview's very own?
02:41Number 8.
02:43Friends of Dorothy.
02:44Oh, you're the best friends anybody ever had.
02:48And it's funny, but I feel as if I've known you all the time.
02:53But I couldn't have, could I?
02:55Having over a decade of lackluster LGBTQIA representation in the MCU, Agatha all along
03:01feels like a breath of fresh air.
03:03The series' two protagonists are shown to have same-sex attraction, with Agatha's ex
03:08Rio Vidal also playing a major role.
03:10But what does this have to do with The Wizard of Oz?
03:18There is a lighthearted gay euphemism called Friend of Dorothy, which is often associated
03:22with Oz protagonist Dorothy Gale.
03:25People are divided on whether this is because of Judy Garland's status as a gay icon,
03:29or a line in the novel The Road to Oz in which Dorothy is told she has some queer friends.
03:34Either way, the representation in Agatha provides a nice nod to the culture surrounding the
03:39classic story.
03:40You mean the subject?
03:41Me, I guess I'm the queer-ant.
03:44Number 7.
03:45Lilia Calderoux's Crystal Ball reading.
03:48How did you guess?
03:50Professor Marvel never guesses, he knows.
03:52Now why are you running away?
03:54No, no, no, don't tell me.
03:55While many of the references to Oz and Agatha all along may be obvious to anyone with a
03:59passing familiarity of the book-turned-film, this one is a bit of a deep cut.
04:04In fact, that's why you're here.
04:07At the beginning of the 1939 movie, Dorothy runs away and encounters a fortune teller
04:11by the name of Professor Marvel.
04:13It's clear to the viewer that he's a phony, but a kind-hearted one at least.
04:18When we first meet Lilia, she is performing a similar con in a small shop just outside
04:22of Westview.
04:23The set design supports the connection between these two scenes.
04:26In The Wizard of Oz, Marvel's wagon notes that he can read the past, present, and future,
04:31a claim which is repeated on a neon sign in Lilia's store.
04:35Also Marvel.
04:36Oh, she's good.
04:39Number 6.
04:40Stepping into Kansas.
04:41Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
04:47Teen, I have a feeling we're not on the road anymore.
04:51In Agatha all along's third episode, the Coven faces their first trial together,
04:55and does so by stepping off of the path and into a new world.
04:59Rule number one.
05:02Do not step off the road.
05:05Oh.
05:06I stray not from the path.
05:08Yes, thank you, teen.
05:10While The Wizard of Oz famously transitioned from sepia-toned monochrome to brilliant technicolor,
05:16Agatha does the opposite.
05:17Just off their path, the witches, and Mrs. Hart, spot a mansion, bathed in golden sunlight
05:23which contrasts strikingly with the road's cool-toned forest.
05:26Was that there before?
05:32You should stop asking that question.
05:38As they walk forward into the farmland, they too are tinted by the colors of their surroundings.
05:43It's a clever spin on the popular scene that doesn't call too much attention to itself,
05:47fitting seamlessly into the show's magical world.
05:50Right after a vision board.
05:52Number 5.
05:53It was all a dream?
05:54And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
06:05Agatha All Along's penultimate episode upends everything we thought to be true.
06:09After coming home, Billy is drawn to his Wicked Witch figurine, which bears a passing resemblance
06:14to Agatha.
06:15Take me to the Witch's Road.
06:16The Witch's Road doesn't exist.
06:18You're lying.
06:19Am I?
06:20As he looks up from the toy, and around his room, you can almost hear Dorothy's voice.
06:25But it wasn't a dream.
06:28It was a place.
06:29And you, and you, and you, and you were there.
06:34But you couldn't have been, could you?
06:37Everything on the road was something that he had a personal connection with.
06:41Just as his superhero mother had puppeted Westview, Billy has invented the road.
06:46With a sigil in the way, you and your mother have the same tail.
06:50Which is very inconvenient for you.
06:53Wait, wait, wait, wait.
06:56And although everything that happened was real, it's not a leap to say that it was all
06:59caused by a powerful dream.
07:01Oh, and did we mention that his poster of Lorna sits next to a giant Oz illustration?
07:06Number 4.
07:07The Coven Stand-ins.
07:08Why don't you come along with us?
07:11We're on our way to see the wizard now, to get him a heart.
07:14And him a brain.
07:15I'm sure he could give you some courage.
07:17By the end of Agatha All Along, it's difficult to associate Agatha with any Oz character
07:21but the Wicked Witch.
07:23Prior to the series' final three episodes, however, she was actually set up to represent
07:27another classic character, Dorothy Gale.
07:30This is especially true in the show's third episode, wherein Agatha wears pigtails and
07:34calls Billy her familiar Toto.
07:36I'm Agatha Harkness, this is my familiar Toto.
07:40With this knowledge, it's not difficult to link the rest of the Coven to Dorothy's trio
07:43of friends.
07:45Like the Scarecrow, Jen was smarter than she thought, while Lillia was able to find her
07:49courage, and Alice realized she had always been protected by her mother's love.
07:53Rio, now revealed to be Lady Death, also slots nicely into this analogy as the alternate
07:59Wicked Witch.
08:00I'm Rio, Green Witch with a capital G.
08:06She told us who she was in the very beginning.
08:10Number 3.
08:11The Witch is Dead.
08:12Green gone, the witch is dead.
08:13Witch, a witch, a wicked witch.
08:14Green gone, the wicked witch is dead.
08:19Leading up to the events of Agatha All Along, the title character battled it out with the
08:23Scarlet Witch in WandaVision.
08:25At one point, Wanda throws a car at Agatha, and approaches the wreckage to find two boots
08:30peeking out from under it, calling to mind the dead witch at the start of The Wizard
08:33of Oz.
08:35This reference is played out again in Agatha, with a twist.
08:38Stuck in an imagined police procedural, Agatha invents a murder mystery with a magical victim
08:44who's had a large, heavy object dropped upon her.
08:47Her partner even clarifies that the woman is, quote,
08:49A direct quote from Oz's Munchkin Coroner about the Wicked Witch of the East.
09:06Number 2.
09:07The Magic Road.
09:15This road isn't brick, but it is occasionally yellow.
09:19One of the strongest links between Agatha All Along and Oz is the presence of a significant
09:23road, which moves the plot forward.
09:34In both stories, the plot device is strongly associated with a song, and there is a promise
09:38that wishes will be granted at its end.
09:54Unlike Dorothy, the witches are traveling without any shoes, but one of their abandoned
09:59pairs is notably red.
10:01One might even say, ruby red.
10:03Even the series faux police procedural credits call the yellow brick road to mind, featuring
10:07a prominent pathway of caution tape backed by a fitting theme.
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10:40Number 1.
10:41She's Based on Me, You Know?
10:46Leading up to the release of Agatha All Along, fans speculated about what was to come.
10:51Due to a clip in the trailer that saw the title character dressed as the Wicked Witch,
10:55Oz was already on people's minds.
10:58The context for this getup was finally revealed in the seventh episode, in which Agatha claims
11:02that the classic character is based on her.
11:22Lillia arrives later, contrasting Agatha in a Glinda costume.
11:33The significance of these wardrobe decisions are made all the more obvious by the other
11:39costumes, which reference some classic Disney witches.
11:43Thinking back, it's a welcome surprise that an entry in the MCU decided to construct such
11:47an elaborate homage to a property that doesn't belong to its parent company.
11:56Do you hope to see more of Agatha in the MCU?
11:59Let us know in the comments.
12:01Do you agree with our picks?
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