Short Bits about Dickinson, WandaVision and Batwoman

Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen in WandaVision

New and returning TV series that are released once a week are scarce these days. These three merit some comments: Dickinson, WandaVision, and Batwoman.

Dickinson

Hailee Steinfeld in Dickinson

Season 2 of this series is underway. Hailee Steinfeld is really quite good as Emily Dickinson, isn’t she? She’s great at thinking as poems float through her head. She’s great at being troubled and confused by her writer’s block. She’s great at debating whether fame is really what she wants.

I love that Emily’s mother (Jane Krakowski) is horny as a bunny and wants some action from her man. When she doesn’t get it, she’s willing to leave him at the bottom of a 10 foot hole in the ground.

This series is a refreshing mix of modern and historical. They smash against each other for humor and to make pointed comments on the world.

WandaVision

Teyonah Parris poster for WandaVision

I’m not a student of the Marvel universe. Much of what has happened in the first two episodes of WandaVision has been a mystery to me. I understand that absolutely everything refers to something else from the Marvel universe. It might be the label on a toaster, or the broach on someone’s dress, or a character from another comic. For the very curious, Collider knows Easter eggs.

Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris), who we met as a young girl in Captain Marvel, shows up. She doesn’t know why she’s there, nor does Wanda. I saw and loved Captain Marvel, so I’m looking forward to learning her reason for being on the show.

A fabulous Kathryn Hahn plays Agnes, who I think turns into a villain. She’s the stepford wife next door at first.

The first two episodes with Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen as Vision and Wanda took us through the 1950s and 1960s as TV sitcoms. But they were observed by someone else, like a TV show. Who was watching this and were they calling the shots? We don’t know yet.

The series has humor and enormous attention to detail. It’s delightful, even if I miss many of the connections to other Marvel stories. It’s hard to talk about this series in brief because there’s so much to unpack. This article at The Mary Sue looks at the sexism aspect.

Batwoman

Batwoman poster

Season 2 brings us a new Batwoman, played by Javicia Leslie. Her character name is Ryan Wilder, so she’s not a new Kate Kane (Ruby Rose).

In the first episode there’s an explanation for Kate Kane’s disappearance. We meet Ryan Wilder and see what she’s like. She’s not installed as the new Batwoman in episode 1, but you can see it coming.

Javicia Leslie fits into the cast well, seems tough. A survivor. Her personality looks engaging. She has a sense of humor, she’s a lesbian, she talks to her plant as if it were her dead mother, and she may react to kryptonite in a good way.

The other big question for me was, “What about Alice?” Rachel Skarsten as the mad sister Beth/Alice was so brilliant in season 1. She made the show. I’m happy to see her back, still volatile, and ready to transfer her rage to a new target.

To summarize, season 2 of Batwoman looks promising.

Are you watching any of these weekly releases? What are your thoughts?

1 thought on “Short Bits about Dickinson, WandaVision and Batwoman”

  1. Pingback: Review: Hawkeye, episodes 1-2 - Old Ain't Dead

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