WandaVision “The Series Finale” Spoilers Ahead
There are so few words—so few things to say and how to highlight the weight of grief and the colossal impact of a quiet story told through the eyes of a woman.
There are moments of aching tenderness between Vision and Wanda that I legitimately cannot rewatch because my eyes physically hurt from crying too much. The unbelievably vulnerable and most beautiful sentence throughout the episode: “thank you for choosing me to be your mom,” which Elizabeth Olsen delivered with such palpable sadness, it actually broke my heart. To convey such harrowing sadness with as much sincerity was unmatched. (Believing we’ll get more of Billy and Tommy someday in the future is getting me through this.)
But I suppose, if I have to choose, if we look at this through one scene—one moment, it’s not the rise of The Scarlet Witch and the defeat of evil or the tragic goodbyes that will hopefully find hellos. It’s the ambiguity and the hope found in two women sharing grief and not knowing where they’ll go from here.
If this were any other show, a different genre perhaps, this series finale wouldn’t work. But this is the Marvel Cinematic Universe and there are still stories to tell—especially for Wanda and Monica. This isn’t their end, it’s their beginning. So while “The Series Finale” didn’t do what its title potentially promises, it left us with hope, and where media is concerned, that’s ultimately a brilliant way to go.
“They’ll never know what you sacrificed for them.” Monica could never hate Wanda because anyone who knows grief knows that if given the chance, there’s nothing they wouldn’t do to see that person one more time. To feel complete and whole and happy again. There’s no chance they wouldn’t take—however selfish, however grim, especially for a moment, a single small moment. And especially for the people who never got to say goodbye. The people who’d want just one more chance to do so, to say everything they want and need to reach closer in any way.
This was never something Wanda did knowingly. We discussed it last week by pointing out the fact that in her grief, she unknowingly created—and when she learned the truth, when she really figured it out, a few days longer and she made things right. She could have stayed. She could’ve damned it all for a happy ending with her husband and children, but instead, she sacrificed. She sacrificed and she apologized. She gave her all to give back. “I’m sorry. For all the pain I caused.” And she is, with her whole heart, with her whole being, Wanda is sorry. She broke and grieved and loved. She is trying. She is healing. And while she doesn’t know or understand what will happen—she’ll fight and try and she’ll be okay.
“I don’t understand this power, but I will.”
So much of Wanda’s arc was the world attempting to villainize a woman in pain—the attempt to take her grief and pin her out to be selfish. The attempt to declare her destiny as treacherous and her powers dangerous. But she is so far from what others have believed her to be. And she’ll be okay. Wherever she goes, whatever she does—she’ll be okay. She’ll learn and grow and navigate through her powers as best she can. She will fight through hell and high water for the life she’s been given, now fueled by the moments of adoration in Westview that brought her back to life. For Vision. For Billy and Tommy. And for every person who has known great loss.
WandaVision’s “The Series Finale” and this moment were about hope—the very thing we could all use and need right now. WandaVision was never going to be a show that wrapped up with a neat little bow. It’s a show about hope and the uncertainties of life. It’s a show that promised everything would be okay, and in its hopeful ambiguity, we can be certain that it will. It’s a show about women fighting for power and women fighting through their grief. It’s a show about potential friendships, great love, and the strength it takes to choose the right road even when it’s unbearably difficult to.
We don’t always understand the weight of something while we are living through it, but in time we will. And that’s what this episode highlights beautifully—the idea that if it’s not today, it’s someday.
Now streaming on Disney Plus: What are your thoughts on WandaVision’s “The Series Finale?”
GISS. GISS. GIIIISSSSS….
(Picture me saying that with my hands over my face while rocking back and forth in my feels.)
“We don’t always understand the weight of something while we are living through it, but in time we will.”
This is everything. It’s the perfect summary of this show as a whole but also exactly what I needed to hear myself today. I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been stuck trying to understand the “meaning” of this whole lost year lately, and I just keep coming up with nothing. But you’re right. I might not understand it right now. And that’s ok. Because I will. It’s that hope that keeps us driving forward through hard times.
This is such a beautiful tribute to a scene that is not being talked about enough for how moving and powerful it was. Monica’s own journey through loss and her ability to empathize with Wanda was such an important part of this show, and I feel like Monica’s own grief is getting lost in discussions of this scene, so THANK YOU for making sure it’s a focal point of your analysis. This is such a powerful testament to one of my favorite moments in this episode, and I’m in awe of the way you were able to break it down so brilliantly. <3
It’s fine. I just cannot stop crying because I genuinely didn’t think anyone would resonate with this post because it’s not what people were talking about, and so to see you’ve connected with it this way really turned my whole week around. Thank you for this, Katie. From the bottom of my heart. This one means so much, I can’t even properly express my gratitude.