FULL SPOILERS AHEAD

So, uh, you may have noticed that the internet kind of lost its mind about this episode. Something happened that either could change the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its implications, or the showrunners are fucking with us. Either way, there’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s dive right in.

We’re now in the 80’s with an intro ripped straight from Family Ties and aesthetics similar to Step by Step. Vision and Wanda are having trouble with fussy babies Tommy and Billy, but Agnes shows up just at the right moment to help out. Things get awkward when she asks if the scene needed to be redone, a thing Vision is very confused about. Wanda pretends nothing happened and the moment is forgotten as the babies are now suddenly 5-year-olds!

The middle of the episode swaps back and forth between the pocket reality (called “the Hex” by Darcy, a reference to Wanda’s hex powers in the comics, no doubt) and actual reality, so instead of doing the same I’ll summarize what happens in each locale. In the real world, Monica wakes up to Jimmy, Darcy, and test results done to her that don’t show anything. Like, the scans of Monica are blank, which is a bit worrying and probably going to be a thing later on. Acting Director Hayward has taken control of the operation and is a dick about it. Turns out Wanda stormed into a SWORD facility several days ago and stole a dismantled/dead Vision (directly referencing a similar occurrence in West Coast Avengers #43, 1989). Monica realizes that the bulletproof vest she was wearing when she got sucked into the Hex got transformed into her 70’s outfit, suggesting Wanda is manipulating matter to fit the time period at a new and terrifying power level, but not adding any new matter… except for her twins. Hm. SWORD then sends in a drone from the 80’s, and sure enough Wanda’s reality doesn’t need to modify it. In sitcom land the twins find a lost dog and want to keep it, but Vision says they can’t have a pet until they’re 10. So they transform into 10-year-olds. Like, right in front of their parents and Agnes. Vision goes to work and while installing new computers he intercepts a SWORD e-mail. He zaps Norm’s temples with his phasing ability, giving us the “Norm is really Abilash and he’s freaking out” scene eagle-eyed viewers noticed on the whiteboard the previous episode. Most likely a continuity oopsie. Back with the Maximoffs, Wanda tells her kids a bit about Pietro, saying he’s somewhere far away. Then the dog runs off, leading the family outside and encountering the drone. Turns out Hayward armed the drone without telling Monica, and the whole encounter goes poorly.

Wanda exits the Hex and basically tells SWORD to fuck off (she also has her Sokovian accent, something missing from the “sitcom,” so mentioning that in case it’s important later). There’s nothing they can offer her, because she has all that she wants. Plus about a thousand people trapped against their will, but details, details. Monica tries to connect with her–I have a theory but this post is already too long so I’ll save it for later–but Wanda reenters the Hex after making some threats and sending SWORD into a bit of a panic. Back in the Hex the boys find their new dog dead. They beg Wanda to bring him back–something Agnes is shocked to find out Wanda can do, kind of, sort of–but she tells them that dead things should stay dead. Right on cue Vision shows up and the family has a touching moment. Very “On a Very Special Episode,” which happens to be the title so it works. Back at home Vision tells Wanda that he knows this is all some sort of lie but ending credits try to interrupt him. He presses the issue, revealing he has no memories from before moving to Westview. That doesn’t bode well for his survivability, but before we can deal with that the doorbell rings. It’s Pietro! And he’s played by… EVAN PETERS???

Okay, so, this is a big deal not just for this series, but it could have major implications for the entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To make a long story short, after Marvel almost went bankrupt in the 90’s they sold off movie rights to their most popular characters: Sony got Spider-Man and 20th Century Fox got the X-Men, among others. All Marvel Studios had left were C-listers nobody cared about–you know, like Iron Man and the Avengers. That’s not a joke by the way; back then the Avengers were not the icons they are now. Later when Disney bought Marvel they started the MCU with Iron Man, and you probably know the rest. Spider-Man was eventually loaned back from Sony through a partnership too complicated to go in here, but 20th Century Fox was happy doing their own thing with their own continuity. The only real overlap between the two companies/franchises were the Maximoff twins, since they were mutants (owned by Fox) but also Avengers (owned by Disney). Disney ended up focusing on Wanda while Fox focused on Pietro–renamed Peter–which conveniently meant there wasn’t a fight over who got whom. Eventually Disney bought out 20th Century Fox and got the film rights for the X-Men back, but the official word is that we won’t see any of them until years from now.

So we have two Quicksilvers, yeah? Mr. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was the MCU/Disney Pietro Maximoff while Evan Peters was the X-Men/Fox Peter Maximoff, both ostensibly the same character. So Evan Peters showing up and saying he’s Wanda’s brother has HUGE implications. Is this the same Peter Maximoff from X-Men: Days of Future Past? If so, how did he get to Wanda’s front door, let alone her world? Was he yanked out of his own? We’ve been told this series will tie into the upcoming movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Wanda is messing with the barriers that separate alternate realities. And since the Fox Quicksilver was absolutely a mutant and not a person experimented on by Hydra, is this how the MCU plans on incorporating mutants and the X-Men? Or is this just a casting choice that made executives laugh because they knew people like me would be writing hundreds of frantic words? He doesn’t really act like the X-Men‘s Peter Maximoff, so… maybe the last one? Y’all, I’m on the edge of my seat and cannot wait for next week.

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