WandaVision season 1, episode 2 recap – what’s with the [spoiler] outfit?

This recap of Disney Plus’s WandaVision season 1, episode 2, contains significant spoilers.

WandaVision episode 2 begins in black and white and I Love Lucy style with Wanda and Vision in two, separate single beds with each having their own sconce over the headboard. They are frightened by the sound of a rat-a-tat-tat on the window. The man of the house, all 77 inches of ass-kicking, philosophical metal, is frightened by it. So, naturally, the playing of the xylophone lets the audience know it’s time to cue the audience’s laughter. Another sound sends Vision hiding underneath the covers and his lovely bride deadpans, “You were saying?” Oh, that Wanda—she’s a feisty one who is so forward with her desires she manages to push the beds together and exchange two comforters for one large one. All we needed was a bluebird chirping in the window with the shades blowing in the wind to know what happens next.

The credits this time have an I Dream of Jeannie homage, but Wanda is dressed like Mary Tyler Moore and the whole scenario’s comedic farce is reminiscent of countless I love Lucy episodes. The Visions are getting ready for the annual neighborhood talent show that’s a fundraiser for “the kids.” They have a magic act; he is the magician and she is the basic rabbit in the hat. Wanda wants their performance to go well so they can fit in. After one sight of Wanda in the skin-tight one piece, I am guessing they will be just fine. Vision reminds his wife that he is going to stop in at the neighborhood watch and she playfully teases him, “You tell those tree branches who’s boss!” Oh, Wanda, we tell ourselves, you are a delight.

The next scenes are straight out of the Joe Johnson classic Pleasantville. Wanda hears a crash outside and finds a bright red helicopter in her prize-winning rose bushes. She is startled when her nosy neighbor Agnes (Kathryn Hahn), who is Ethel to her Lucy, stops by with her pet rabbit to borrow for the how and get a good look at the local mailman who hates to see him go, but loves to watch leave, if you catch my drift. She accompanies Wanda to the head of the rotary club fundraiser house, Dottie (Emma Caufield). She is a tiny, blonde cutthroat, about whom Agnes says, “Her Roses bloom under penalty of death.”

Wanda is warned by Agnes how important Dotty is to fit in Westview. She runs her committee like The Iron Maiden; no time for taking and wasting time with your thoughts when she can speak. She doesn’t like Wanda much. She doesn’t dress the part and mingles with the new members who have no home and no husband. One of those she befriends is Geraldine (If Beale Street Could Talk’s Teyonah Parris) who thinks Wanda’s pants are “peachy-keen”.

Dottie then chooses Wanda to help her clean up after the meeting when they both hear someone calling Wanda over the screen saying, “Can you hear me? Who’s doing this to you?” It’s one of WandaVision signature mood-changing moments, where Dottie now questions who Wanda is and breaks a glass in her hand in the process; she opens up her palm and red blood covers her hand, once again revealing a splash of color during a revealing, what-the-fudge is going on here moment.

Of course, there is another commercial break, with that same middle-aged, well-dressed couple, now in evening attire, telling the camera that a man is only as good as the woman on his side and a Swiss-made tie piece on his wrist that must be Stucker.  When the camera zooms in on the piece, you’ll notice the ostentatious and familiar symbol of a skull on an octopus body with the word “Hydra” to the left-hand side.

After Vision is classified as a cut-up at the neighborhood watch and a piece of gum slows down his metal wheel innards that have the effect it seems of intoxication, he shows up at the fundraiser half in the bag. In an entertaining scene in WandaVision season 1, episode 2 that is reminiscent of some of the best I Love Lucy farces, the team combines Wanda’s Jeanie/Bewitched moments that give the crowd some true magic, but then has her pulling her rabbit out of the hat with a human explanation to cover up the real magic they are creating. For instance, when Vision passes a hat through his body, Wanda creates mirrors out of thin air that is revealed behind curtains so the audience doesn’t pass out and think the apocalypse or the last Messiah is coming to town. Of course, multiple times during the show, the crowd stops to chant in an ominous tone, “For the children,” as if they were in some sort of cult, and we start to wonder where Wanda and Vision may be in some danger after all.

The happy couple returns home, with the first-place trophy in Wanda’s grip, and it on the couch to recap the day that finally has the members of Westview accepting them. Then, all of a sudden, the blushing bride starts to watch her belly expand past the first and into the second trimester of pregnancy. Vision touches her stomach gently, with one cold metal hand on each side, and Wanda asks him if this is really happening. He whispers, “Yes, my dear.”

Right before they kiss, they hear branches rap against the window, and the now expecting couple goes outside to find the source of the noise. When they reach the sidewalk, they look at the dark, deserted suburban street to see a manhole cover move. The cover pops off, a human arm reaches out to move it to the side, and a person dressed in a beekeeper’s protective clothing climbs out with hundreds of honeybees in tow. The mood turns ominous once again, and the man turns his head and you can hardly see his face with the mask on. Wanda then says, “No.”

The video then rewinds and we are back at the final scene of Vision’s “Yes, my dear” line. Wanda then touches his cheek and his head returns to his red and silver metal complexion. The splash of color spreads over the entire house and their bodies, and it’s like they are seeing each other for the first time all over again.

What did you think of WandaVision season 1, episode 2? Who do you think was behind the beekeeper’s mask? Why did Wanda say, “No”? What does Hydra have to do with the Vision’s existence in Westview? Is Wanda altering reality? Most importantly of all, why is the Mind Stone still smack dab in the middle of Vision’s forehead?