I clearly remember the first time I saw
The Prisoner episode, “Living In Harmony.” The classic, world-building intro is gone and the story immediately begins with star Patrick McGoohan, dressed like a cowboy, riding a horse somewhere in the American West. I was intrigued, then increasingly frustrated, as it seemed liked the narrative would never return to what I’d expected. Indeed, all the standard trappings of the series The Village, the spy vs. spy plots were absent until the episode’s shocking climax, which remains one of my favorite moments in the entire series.
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“Living In Harmony” loomed large in my mind as I watched
WandaVision Plays Sitcom as Horror and Nostalgia as Nightmare
The first two episodes of
WandaVision are a loving ode to television as a medium and to the sitcom as one of the defining modes of American television through the decades. These episodes are a treasure trove of homages and references to the genre, from an affectionate nod to Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) tumbling over an ottoman in
The Dick Van Dyke Show to animated opening credits riffing on
Bewitched through to the sort of integrated advertising one might have seen on
I Love Lucy.
The plotting itself is built around familiar sitcom devices. The first episode uses the trope of comedic miscommunication between Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) leading the couple to stage an improvised dinner for Vision’s boss, Mr. Hart (Fred Melamed), and his wife (Debra Jo Rupp). The second episode finds the duo enlisted to participate in a local talent show, which goes off the rails when Vision accidentally swall