The Undercurrent of Grief in WandaVision

*contains spoilers for WandaVision*

I first learned about the five stages of grief during an episode of The Simpsons. Specifically, season 2, episode 11 entitled One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish, where Homer ingests a potentially toxic cut of pufferfish and is told he has 24 hours to live. The doctor cautions him that he may experience the “five stages of grief”, which he then does - over the span of about 15 seconds. 

Obviously, there is more to the episode than that, and the moment is clearly played for laughs - though it is taken more seriously as the episode continues. But the point I am trying to make is that even in my own personal experience, WandaVision is not the first time I’ve seen generally more lighthearted media tackle the subject.

A common refrain surrounding WandaVision is how the series tackles this subject of grief, specifically that of our protagonist Wanda Maximoff. And while the series does take her through the commonly recognized five stages, I would argue that she is not the only character experiencing it, even though she is the focus.

A disclaimer before we dive in: I am not any kind of expert on the subject of grief, just someone who has personally experienced it. I also recognize that this is no longer the definitive way in which grief is clinically categorized or explained, but it is the most commonly recognized in a pop culture setting. 

Showrunner Jac Schaeffer recently said in an interview that her initial pitch was to map the episodes to the stages of grief, and it developed from there. Though it is quite natural for things to change between the pitch and the final product, I would say the mapping still holds up. 

The first two episodes, Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience and Don’t Touch That Dial are denial. Other than a brief glitch halfway through Audience, and some disturbance on the radio in Dial, both play out like fairly conventional sitcom episodes, at least from Wanda’s point of view. The very end of Dial is when the stage of denial is explicitly stated, with Wanda seeing the “beekeeper” (in reality a SWORD agent) as intruding on the reality she has created for herself and uttering a simple “no”, rewinding the last few minutes to make them fit better with her fictional sitcom world.

Though we do learn by the end that Wanda did not take over the town intentionally, she does embrace the world she has created, a world in which she can have the man she loves back. Hence why her denial still makes sense here even if her actions are not malicious. She doesn’t quite know how she got to this point, but damn it if she won’t fight to keep it. 

The third episode, Now in Color, moves Wanda into anger when her new friend Geraldine - in reality, Captain Monica Rambeau who was pulled in from the outside world - asks a few questions too many about Wanda’s past, specifically mentioning Pietro and Ultron. Wanda is angry at Monica for shattering her illusion, angry enough to expel her from the Hex. Being reminded of the circumstances of the loss of her brother pushes her into that next stage because she is forced to confront that reality.

She doesn’t stay in that stage long as by episode 5, On A Very Special Episode... SWORD Director Tyler Hayward sends a drone in to confront Wanda. She tells him all she wants is to be left alone, quite literally trying to strike a bargain to keep her reality intact. Vision starts to suspect that something is amiss, she tries to convince him there isn’t anything to worry about, and it drives a wedge between them. 

This results in a fallout and by the time we reach episode seven, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Wanda has well and truly fallen into the depression stage (No, Wanda, it’s not just a case of the Mondays). The story then takes a sharp left turn into comic book territory after that, all special powers and backstory, and big fights in the sky. But through it all, in confronting the reality of all she’s been through and all she’s done to the town of Westview, Wanda realizes she needs to undo her spell and release the town.

Even if that means letting go of Vision, their kids, and the life they’ve built together. 

In the most heartbreaking part of the final episode, The Series Finale, Wanda has her moment of catharsis, her chance to say goodbye to Vision. She isn’t happy about any of it, but she knows that the system she’s built around herself isn’t sustainable. She’s reached acceptance at last.

This is all stuff that the audience - at least online - has gone through and picked over since the series started airing. When the first two episodes premiered and the double-bill concludes with someone very clearly in denial about their situation, it’s hard not to take a five-stages reading of the series as a whole where Wanda is concerned. 

But, I would also make the case that Wanda is not the only one undergoing grief in the series. She is just the only one who finds acceptance by the series conclusion. 

Take Director Hayward. He is fairly dismissive of Wanda and Monica’s pain, claiming that everyone lost someone, and that the last five years have been hard on them all. Granted, the show did not dive as deep into this as I thought they might, but it’s still made fairly clear that Hayward has suffered a loss as a result of the Blip, though we do not know the exact circumstances. This is a man who is residing firmly in the anger stage of his own grief. If he cannot have his lost loved one back, then no one can, because that isn’t fair. While there are arguments to be made on the grand scheme of “fairness” in cases like this, I have no doubt, knowing what we do about Hayward, that if he had Wanda’s powers, he would bring back whomever he lost and too bad for those who can’t.