WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 recap: Who’s in charge in Westview?

In WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5, “On A Very Special Episode”, moves into the 80s as S.W.O.R.D. become antsy about the goings-on in Westview. Meanwhile, Monica Rambeau, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy Lewis try to make sense of Wanda’s actions.

It looks like Wanda sending Monica out of Westview has fractured whatever spell was on the town. Vision has been becoming more suspicious since ‘Geraldine’ disappeared, and Agnes is barely concealing that the residents are merely players on a major stage.

Plus, we have Tommy and Billy, probably the only unknown quantities in Wanda and Vision’s life. Children are unpredictable at the best of times but under these circumstances? Who knows!

This Disney Plus show has many surprises and tricks up its sleeve—by the end of the episode, one is left with more questions than answers. We understand the world of Westview and beyond, but what’s really happening in this town?

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – Sleepless in Westview

Babies are a handful, as new parents Wanda and Vision find out in WandaVision Episode 5. Not only are Tommy and Billy not sleeping, but they’re keeping their parents up, as well.

Exhausted, Wanda tries to use her powers to quieten her sons. It doesn’t work. But why not? Are the twins immune from Wanda’s powers because they’re her children? Or because they’ve been born in Westview? We have so many questions.

Agnes arrives right on time—and Vision manages to change his appearance before she sees him—to watch the kids so the tired parents can rest.

That’s when things get weird. Vision doesn’t want Agnes handling the children—she’s come from a run and hasn’t even washed her hands. But Agnes ignores him in favor of getting Wanda’s go-ahead. “Shall we take it from the top?” she asks as if they were really actors on a TV show, and Wanda’s the director.

Wanda convinces Vision to let Agnes look after the twins, but it turns out they don’t have to worry about it. Tommy and Billy have already grown five years.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – “We’re a Family”

The twins are still a handful at that age, as their parents learn in WandaVision Episode 5. The boys find a puppy—who they name Sparky—and decide to keep him.

When Vision insists they have to be at least 10 years old before adopting a puppy, Tommy and Billy age themselves up. And they do it in front of Agnes, who happens to be in their house with a kennel—how convenient?

Then Wanda conjures up a dog collar with her powers while Agnes is in the kitchen with her. Are they not meant to be hiding their true selves from the Westview residents? Wanda doesn’t seem to think so, but Vision isn’t so sure.

But this all gets too much for Vision, who ends up at work on a Saturday. The boys are upset, thinking they’re the reason their father is avoiding home.

Wanda tells them that isn’t true—that sometimes she and Vision aren’t on the same page, but they still love each other because they’re a family.

Later, when Sparky ends up dying, the boys, who are understandably upset, demand their mother bring Sparky back from the dead so they can continue to be a family. Way to use your mother’s words against her!

Wanda insists that they have to accept this death, no matter how painful. Which seems a bit selfish considering her dead husband is marching around Westview. Or is there something more sinister at play here?

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – Beyond Westview’s Walls

Monica Rambeau wants to get back to work but seeing as she’s the only person to escape Westview, she needs to undergo a litany of tests. None of which give them any results. Has Wanda’s power disrupted these tests? Or has she changed Monica somehow?

We don’t find out because WandaVision Episode 5 moves into an essential briefing. As they go over Wanda’s history, Pietro is conspicuously cropped out. There’s a reason why—but we’ll come to that later.

According to Director Hayward, Wanda is clearly a threat, but Monica disagrees. The fact that she’s in one piece despite being thrown out of Westview means Wanda didn’t want to hurt her. Monica believes that Wanda’s barrier is keeping the people inside safe. But from whom?

Hayward quotes from Monica’s statement about being under Wanda’s control. It sounds like the experience was agony—that’s what everyone inside is going through.

Also, nine days ago, Wanda broke into S.W.O.R.D. and stole Vision’s corpse. Hayward believes that Wanda has gone over the edge. He wants a way to get answers.

Monica, Jimmy, and Darcy work together to find a solution. Everything that goes into Westview is changed according to the show’s setting, as we found out in the previous episode. But what if they sent something that was setting-appropriate?

S.W.O.R.D. finds an 80s-era drone, which they successfully send into Westview. Once the drone finds Wanda, Monica tries to speak to her, but Wanda’s having none of it. She’s ready to destroy the drone when Hayward opens fire—Monica didn’t even know the drone was armed. They lose the signal.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – The Barrier

Monica is enraged that Hayward tried to kill Wanda without getting any answers. But that’s the least of their problems. The barrier is breached.

S.W.O.R.D. sends every available agent to the breach. We know who’s coming out of there in WandaVision Episode 5—it’s Wanda! And she is displeased.

She throws the dead drone to Hayward and tells him to keep out of her home. Monica tries to convince Wanda that she didn’t know the drone was armed. She needs Wanda to understand that Monica is her ally, not like Hayward.

But Wanda doesn’t care—she needs S.W.O.R.D. to stay out of her home and accept that she isn’t the bad guy here. After all, she’s not the one with endless guns pointed at her.

Of course, Wanda does herself no favors by using her powers on the agents, so they aim at Hayward instead. She doesn’t make them shoot, but Hayward is nonetheless terrified.

Then Wanda reinforces her barrier and returns to her home.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – Vision’s Questions

If Wanda was hoping for a quiet night in after all that, she doesn’t get it. Vision knows something is up, and he’s questioning things throughout WandaVision Episode 5.

He notices the way Agnes behaves when he asks her to stay away from the children. Wanda does a little bit of gaslighting on Vision and pretends she didn’t notice Agnes’ odd behavior, but Vision saw what he saw.

Then at work, Vision and his colleague, Norm, receive an email from S.W.O.R.D. asking about the situation in Westview. Vision manages to disrupt the computer with his abilities, and he uses the same on Norm, who immediately freaks out.

Norm wants to be free of the mind control—whoever is in his head is hurting him. More disturbingly, his sister is out there in the world taking care of their ill father and worrying about her missing brother.

The freak out is terrifying, and Vision can’t fix any problems, so he sets Norm back to his Westview self. Vision can’t stand for this any longer.

When he gets home, he confronts Wanda about what she’s doing to the town’s residents. Wanda tries to deflect, but Vision loses his temper—he even starts flying, demanding to know what’s outside Westview and why he can’t remember his life before they came to town.

Of course, Wanda can’t tell him. How does she confess that Vision is actually dead, and this is his reanimated corpse?

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – After-Credits Scene

In typical Westview style, the couple’s argument is interrupted by the doorbell. Wanda insists she didn’t plan the disruption, but Vision doesn’t believe her. Talk about trouble in paradise.

WandaVision Episode 5 throws viewers one last curveball. When Wanda opens the door, an unfamiliar face with a recognizable coiffure greets her.

Neither Wanda nor Vision know who it is until the man steps forward and asks his sister for a hug. But this isn’t the Pietro we know from Avengers: Age of Ultron. This is Evan Peters’ Pietro from X-Men: Days of Future Past. That Disney and Fox merger has paid off in unexpected ways.

What is the significance of this different Pietro? Is it just a simple case of recasting, as Darcy notes? Or is there more to it? So many mysteries left to solve.

WandaVision Season 1, Episode 5 – WandaVision Episode 5 is a Suspenseful Ride

I like that WandaVision Episode 5 is desperately trying to move away from the trope we thought it would fall into—that Wanda has suffered a mental break due to losing her last family member, Vision, and has kidnapped and hurt a thousand people to live out her own fantasy.

But we still don’t know if Wanda is indeed pulling strings—she claims innocence, or at least attempts to abjure herself of purposely hurting the townspeople—or if she’s gaslighting Vision and the audience into taking her side.

A lot happened this episode, and it’s left us with more questions for the rest of the show. Not only do we not know who the big bad is, but why did Monica look upset when Jimmy mentioned Captain Marvel?

We still don’t know the purpose of the in-show ads—this episode featured “Lagos: tissues, with a tagline that called out Wanda accidentally killing Wakandans in Lagos in Captain America: Civil War.

Then, of course, there’s Pietro. Wanda clearly misses her brother, but how is he here? Is he even real? Is the appearance of the X-Men’s Pietro meant to signify the existence of the multiverse?

Or does it simply mean that Aaron Taylor-Johnson no longer resembles the character he played in 2015, so Marvel and Disney went with the next best option?

The next episode can’t come fast enough to answer all these questions!

What did you think of the WandaVision Episode 5? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

WandaVision is airing weekly on Disney Plus.