I’ve been trying to catch up on all the shows I started over the past few months that I’ve forgotten about the shows I was looking forward to watch. But I’m here now! Let’s get started!
The first episode starts with this new Vision taking a look back at his ~life~ so far, which is a pretty neat way for the people who haven’t been following his story so far to catch up. And once that catching up is done, we find Vision working at a bar in Edinburgh. Is it the same bar where he and Wanda used to hang out? Or more accurately, the same bar where the former Vision and Wanda hung out?
It looks like it is the same bar, because the lady manning it remembers Vision and how he used to be better at small talk. The bar lady also remembers Wanda, and at least this Vision is saying that Wanda did die at Wundagore Mountain. I do wish she didn’t, though. They really wasted a great character.
We then find out that Vision is staying in the literal freezer of this bar and then retreats into his…mind palace, I guess? If it’s a machine, does it have a mind palace? Is Vision fully a machine? Vision lives together with the other AIs that have made an appearance in the MCU, so we get to see Jarvis from Agent Carter again. We also see a personification of F.R.I.D.A.Y., who rates Vision’s social interactions for the day.
Vision’s mind palace is experiencing data leaks, but he doesn’t seem all that concerned about it since not even the Avengers have been looking for him. As Vision and Edith look at Vision’s human interactions during the day, we are introduced to the personification of E.D.I.T.H., who is in charge of learning how Vision can take on recreational activities like a human.
Humanity, or learning how to be more human, is something that Vision is concerned about, and aside from his fellow AIs, he’s trying to “learn” it by looking at the past Vision’s memories…except for the Wandavision memories. His children with Wanda is a touchy subject, but Ultron — who he keeps in his mind palace’s attic — wants him to confront those memories. Goes without saying that James Spader is great at Ultron! And what a coincidence that Ultron has Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” in his space because that painting was just featured on Drag Race España! Ultron is also definitely up to something, as he’s accessing data ports and declaring that it’s time to leave the nest.
And I guess Ultron has given up their location, because the next night, the bar lady is shot and Vision is attacked by a lot of soldiers, all of whom he kills in an off-page action scene that I completely understand because everybody’s tight on money. Vision escapes, and whoever it is that attacked him is getting grief from whoever hired them, which I actually think is Ultron, because this Client can just hack into their systems in a snap.
Vision and the AIs don’t think it’s Ultron, though, since they go to consult him on how to deal with this threat. And maybe I underestimated the show, because Vision very quickly figures out that Ultron was the one who gave up their location because he’s bored and wanted to feel alive. As punishment, Vision doesn’t delete him, but strips his room down to the bare bones. No more Hieronymus Bosch for you, Ultron!
Meanwhile, the mercenary codenamed Paladin, hired by Ultron to find Vision, has managed to access S.W.O.R.D. files thanks to Philomena Cunk, and now he’s chasing a lead on what could possibly be the reincarnated Tommy now that he’s aware Vision had a family. And where is that possible reincarnated Tommy? In London, scamming people, which I think is a pretty good nod to Tommy’s criminal past in the comic books.
Aside from scamming people, Tommy is going through a little bit of a crisis as he struggles with memories of him in Westview and memories of Vision. As we know from Agatha All Along, Billy guided Tommy’s spirit into this particular body, but Tommy is having a more difficult time adapting to it than Billy. And Billy didn’t have an easy time either! He’s going through a panic attack when Paladin catches him and dangles him as bait for Vision.
I like this first episode and how different a tone it sets compared to WandaVision or Agatha All Along, and yet still tackling that issue of identity that all three shows have tackled in one way or another. Excited for the coming episodes!
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