AGATHA ALL ALONG Creator Jac Schaeffer Talks About Hiding the Identity of Joe Locke's Character
The Marvel show Agatha All Along kicked off last week with a strong start. We got to see Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) shaken loose from the spell she was under, and we were introduced to her new coven, including Patti LuPone’s Lilia, Sasheer Zamata’s Jennifer, Ali Ahn’s Alice, and returning actress Debra Jo Rupp’s Sharon.
We were also introduced to Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal, as well as Agatha superfan, only named Teen at this point, played by Joe Locke. Not only was this character’s identity kept secret from fans, but as we watched the first two episodes, we watched Agatha discover that she is incapable of learning Teen’s real identity as well.
When he says his name, his mouth is covered by a swooping black line that looks similar to a signature, and later, when he tells Agatha about where he’s from, his voice becomes inaudible.
The show’s creator, Jac Schaeffer, recently sat down with Variety to speak about the show and the “Teen” mystery, and she said:
“I don’t like hiding things from the audience, just to then be, like, ‘Boo!’ There’s no artistry to that. So when we talked about obscuring who he is, the first question is, why? What is the utility of that? The answer is, it’s about the effect that his mystery has on Agatha. What does that do to her? How does it motivate her? How does it hit her emotionally?”
Fans have assumed from the beginning that Teen will end up being Wanda’s son, Wiccan, but since the episodes dropped, people have been been wildly speculating, with some even attempting to measure the movement in Teen’s cheeks and chin when his mouth is sealed to see if they can figure out what he’s saying. When asked about whether this kind of speculation will bear any fruit, Schaeffer laughs, and says:
“This is what I would say: That’s not the first place I’d look. It’s not entirely irrelevant: But there are other places to look.”
She is no stranger to rampant fan theorizing: By its final episodes, WandaVision spawned a small cottage industry of fevered conjecture about what surprises could be in store in the final episodes — pretty much all of which (Doctor Strange! Magneto! Mephisto!) wound up being wildly incorrect.
“It still stops my heart,” Schaeffer says. “My preoccupation is maximum viewer enjoyment, so I get nervous when people get ahead of it. I have to trust that humans are capable of deciding what kind of experience they want. But I comfort myself with the knowledge that it’s a circuitous path, and I hope that that path is enjoyable.”
She sighs.
“It makes me a little heartsick when I catch reactions of people who were ultimately disappointed by things. It gets to me a little bit. But in approaching ‘Agatha,’ it was not front of mind. I really can’t control that. That’s a level of fandom that is beyond my reach.”
I think we just have to wait and see how this story pans out. I love being along for the ride in a show that’s exciting and captivating with characters that keep us guessing. Episode 3 of Agatha All Along is set to drop this Wednesday, with a new episode every Wednesday, and the show wrapping up with 2 episodes on October 30th.