VisionQuest Series Premiere Review - “No Strings” & “Theseus”
VisionQuest is the third and final season of a trilogy within Marvel’s Multiverse Saga that began with WandaVision, which put its focus on Scarlet Witch and the world she built from grief, and continued with Agatha All Along, which (along with the title character) followed Billy, the son of Scarlet Witch and Vision. This final chapter turns to Vision and to Tommy, their other son, who audiences will remember was restored to life at the end of the previous chapter in this trilogy.
The most fascinating idea in this two-part premiere is the Mindspace. Vision cannot match the emotional complexity of his forebear, who had the Mind Stone, and around humans he feels purposeless. Inside his own head, however, he keeps versions of the various A.I. that preceded him, and there he thrives among peers who are able to converse with him on his own level. Seeing J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., and the Iron Man films’ Dum-E and U living together in Vision’s simulation is a pleasure for anyone who remembers Stark’s workshop. James D’Arcy pays homage to his Agent Carter role as the A.I. that the character inspired, Orla Brady takes over as F.R.I.D.A.Y., and Emily Hampshire portrays E.D.I.T.H.
Then there is Ultron. Vision continues to keep him around, and it backfires almost at once, exactly as J.A.R.V.I.S. and F.R.I.D.A.Y. warned. James Spader is back in the role of the iconic Avengers villain, only now he presents himself as bearded, older, and snarkier. His exchanges with Bettany are sharp and funny enough to sustain a show of their own, and Ultron wants to break his strings and become a real boy out in the world. The title of the first half of the premiere, “No Strings,” makes the Pinocchio joke without apology. With real-world anxieties about artificial intelligence running high, the question of whether a machine can achieve an identity of its own feels timely.
But before the first part is even halfway over, the show pivots. Someone has placed a bounty on Vision’s head and hired a bounty hunter known as Paladin, played by Todd Stashwick, who makes for an intriguing villain. Diane Morgan plays his handler, and I would happily watch more of her as Paladin’s “guy in the chair.” Meanwhile, Tommy, now a young con artist, is out in the world with fractured memories from Scarlet Witch’s simulation, wondering where his family has gone, or if the memories are even truly his.
WandaVision was built on grief, and Agatha All Along on belonging. It’s still early to definitively say what themes VisionQuest may explore, but identity would seem to be a significant part of it. With four weeks remaining of this series, I can only hope that the story remains as compelling as it is here.