We Interrupt This Program

By October 2018, Marvel Studios was developing a limited series starring Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany's Vision from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films.[2][3] In August 2019, Matt Shakman was hired to direct the miniseries.[4][5] Shakman and head writer Jac Schaeffer executive produce alongside Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Victoria Alonso.[6][4][7]^:50 Feige described the series as part "classic sitcom", part "Marvel epic".[8] The fourth episode, titled "We Interrupt This Program", was written by Bobak Esfarjani and Megan McDonnell, and shifts the series' perspective to outside the sitcom reality of the previous episodes.[9][10]

After the release of the series' first three episodes, Schaeffer said they would need to provide answers to questions soon to clarify the events of those episodes,[11] and Olsen said the fourth episode would be "quite a shift. It's a really fun perspective swap and I think a lot gets understood at that moment."[12] Schaeffer explained that she found the central idea of Wanda being responsible for the series' sitcom reality to be a simple concept, and felt it would be satisfying to fans to introduce it as a mystery first before explaining the story from the perspective of Monica Rambeau and S.W.O.R.D. in the fourth episode. She acknowledged that this turned the episode into an "enormous info dump" for the audience, but hoped that all the answers would help viewers see the rest of the series as an "emotional and a psychological journey, rather than a sneaky mystery the whole way".[13]

The episode begins by depicting Monica's experience of returning to life following the Blip, due to the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019). Schaeffer said this sequence was a concise way to set the tone for the rest of the episode, establish when the series is set within the larger MCU timeline, and dig into Monica's character by setting her up on a "rough road". As part of the latter point, the writers decided to reveal that Monica's mother Maria has died during the time that Monica had disappeared, which Schaeffer said was a tough decision to make due to her feeling strongly about Maria from her appearance in the film Captain Marvel (2019) as well as the relationship between Monica and Maria. After many conversations about how to portray people returning from the Blip, the writers and producers decided to set the sequence in a hospital as an interesting place to depict the scariness and confusion of the event from Monica's perspective.[14] This is different from the portrayal of the Blip in Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), which had a more comedic tone, and Schaeffer explained that Marvel Studios was happy for the series' tone to be different as long as the visuals of the sequence matched with those seen in Far From Home.[15]

For S.W.O.R.D. and their base outside Westview, Schaeffer was influenced by the film Arrival (2016). She was also inspired by series with structural shifts, like Russian Doll and its fourth episode "Alan's Routine", for moving this episode away from sitcom homages to provide answers and a different perspective.[15] Monica, Jimmy Woo, and Darcy Lewis represent the series' viewers since they are watching the fictional WandaVision sitcom and have similar questions to viewers of the first series' three episodes.[16]

The episode stars Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes.[17][18]^{:29:38–29:55} Also appearing in the episode are Josh Stamberg as S.W.O.R.D. Director Tyler Hayward,[1] Alan Heckner as S.W.O.R.D. Agent Monti, Selena Anduze as S.W.O.R.D. Agent Rodriguez, Lana Young as Dr. Highland,[17] and Zac Henry as S.W.O.R.D. Agent Franklin / the beekeeper.[19][17] An archival recording from the film Captain Marvel of Brie Larson as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel speaking to a young Monica Rambeau is heard at the start of the episode.[20]

Soundstage filming occurred at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Atlanta, Georgia,[21] with Shakman directing,[4] and Jess Hall serving as cinematographer.[22] Filming also took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area,[23][24] with backlot and outdoor filming occurring in Los Angeles when the series resumed production after being on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]^:50[25] Dennings found it difficult to act against the monitors seen throughout the episode since she only knew loosely what would be shown on them, with the actual footage added in post-production. She felt that the actors trying to imagine the footage helped the feeling of solving a mystery.[26] Visual effects for the episode were created by The Yard VFX, Industrial Light & Magic, Rodeo FX, Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies, Framestore, Cantina Creative, Perception, RISE, Digital Domain, and SSVFX.[27][18]^{:31:54–32:10}

Composer Christophe Beck said that, as a Marvel fan, the episode's opening sequence gave him goosebumps when he first watched it, and he was pleased with the intensity of the music he wrote for the scene and how it "brought out the chaos in that moment".[28] "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" by the Jimi Hendrix Experience is featured in the episode.[1] A soundtrack for the episode was released digitally by Marvel Music and Hollywood Records on February 5, 2021, featuring Beck's score.[29]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating with an average score of 8.44/10 based on 15 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "'We Interrupt This Program' takes a break from Westview to give the excellent Teyonah Parris' Monica Rambeau some welcome backstory, while introducing a few familiar faces to the world of WandaVision."[35]

Giving the episode an "A−", The A.V. Club's Stephen Robinson felt it both provided answers and ramped up the suspense. He compared it to The X-Files as well as The Prisoner episode "Living in Harmony". Vision appearing deceased made Robinson "gasp in horror", and he felt the visual "hits even harder after seeing a funny, lovable Vision over the past three episodes".[36] Matt Purslow at IGN believed the episode's title, "We Interrupt This Program", was a very accurate description for the episode and was a "statement". He said learning Wanda had created the reality to deal with her grief lined up with many of the theories for the series heading into its premiere, and said the reveal was "strongly presented", pointing out that Olsen's portrayal of a darker Wanda was similar to when she faced Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. Purslow enjoyed seeing Monica Rambeau, Darcy Lewis, and Jimmy Woo interact to solve the mystery, as well as the other references to the MCU in the episode. Purslow gave the episode an 8 out of 10.[37]

Alec Bojalad at Den of Geek described the episode as "wildly thrilling and entertaining" and the most coherent episode of the series so far, which he felt made it the best. Bolalad highlighted the performances of Park and Dennings, and gave the episode 4.5 out of 5 stars.[38] Entertainment Weekly's Christian Holub also felt the episode's title was perfect. His colleague Chancellor Agard said the episode was the one he had been waiting for due to its focus on Darcy and Jimmy, and felt Dennings returned to her role effortlessly. Agard said he was normally not a fan of episodes that recap past events such as this one, but enjoyed this because it meant the series was not withholding basic information from the audience for too long and also that the mysteries were not "the point".[10] Writing for /Film, Evan Saathoff was positive that the episode "breaks the whole thing open", but was disappointed that the series' sitcom format would most likely not remain for the rest of its episodes.[39] The Hollywood Reporter's Richard Newby praised Darcy and Jimmy's character growth since their last appearances in Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), respectively, which came from the MCU's long-form storytelling.[40]

Vulture's Abraham Riesman was disappointed to learn that the sitcom reality was being created by Wanda, and was not being done to her, which he felt was the "easy way out with this rich and fascinating character" and was a "dull and predictable [choice], not to mention questionable on gender-stereotype grounds". He also felt the jokes in the episode fell flat and were a parody of the MCU's humor: "all dumb punch-up asides and 'soooo, that happened' buttons". Riseman gave the episode 3 out of 5 stars.[1]

James Whitbrook at io9 said the opening scene, in which Monica Rambeau return from the Blip, was brilliant and the closest thing Marvel Studios had made to horror. Whitbrook contrasted it with what was shown of the Blip in Spider-Man: Far From Home, which played the moment for comedic effect, noting instead the claustrophobic nature, Monica's confusion, and the scene's soundscape of screaming against the sound of Monica's heartbeat. He felt the scene established Monica's state of mind for the rest of the series and also reflected WandaVision's tonal shift from sitcom homages to the "dark, stark reality".[41] Newby believed the scene offered a new perspective on the Blip from what was seen in Far From Home, and opened up "myriad storytelling possibilities" for the MCU with a "new status quo, new agencies of power, new adversaries, and familiar supporting faces ready to emerge as more prominent heroes". He said the Blip was the greatest storytelling decision in the MCU since Nick Fury appeared in the post-credits scene of Iron Man (2008).[40]

Newby said having Monica, Darcy, and Jimmy serve as surrogates for the audience in the episode showed how much the MCU had changed for its human, non-superhero characters.[40] Margaret David at Comic Book Resources described the three characters' roles in this episode as a "cheeky acknowledgement of fandom". David highlighted Darcy's transition from discovering the WandaVision broadcast with astrophysicis to watching the fictional series and becoming "every theorist on Reddit looking for the clues", as well as Jimmy's use of a whiteboard and pin wall to organize information which is standard for police procedurals but in this case is "recognizable as every Marvel YouTuber breaking down viewer questions". David said this was "next-level metafiction", and compared it to a scene in the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode "Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack" which was also directed by Shakman. That episode is the source of a famous meme in which Charlie Day's Charlie Kelly wildly gestures at a similar whiteboard.[42]