Head’s up—spoilers!

WandaVision kept us at the edge of our seats, dreading the Please Stand by at the end of each episode, and counting down the days until Friday. But WandaVision was more than just a show that emulated several iconic sitcoms throughout the decades; it was more than just a show to tide us over ‘til more movies come out; and it was more than just a bridge to Marvel’s Phase Four. As WandaVision progresses, we see her idyllic world unravel and through Wanda, we see the five stages of grief after her heartbreaking loss in Avengers: Infinity War.

The first stage of grief is denial, clearly displayed in several episodes. When Wanda sees Vision’s corpse for a moment, she quickly turns away and tries to brush off this glimpse of reality. She does the same when she sees Pietro’s bullet-riddled corpse in a later episode. In another instance, Wanda sees a man appear through a pothole (who may potentially be a threat to her perfect world) and responds by rewinding to the previous scene. Similarly, when Vision realizes something amiss and tries to tell Wanda, she immediately cuts and redoes the scene. Wanda’s denial is apparent in several episodes, but it quickly turns into anger.

In Episode 4, Wanda ejects “Geraldine” (who is truly Monica Rambeau) from Westview, after she mentions Pietro’s death. When SWORD and the FBI try to interfere with Wanda’s world, she exits Westview in order to threaten them. Wanda releases her rage yet again when Pietro makes a comment about Vision not being able to die twice, blasting him across the town center. Then Monica re-enters Westview in Episode 7, in an attempt to save Wanda from SWORD and meets with her wrath once again. 

The next stage of grief is bargaining, which Wanda exhibits as well. When she exits Westview to warn SWORD and the FBI to stay away, she tells them, “You don’t bother me, I won’t bother you.” Further, Wanda bargains with Monica, warning her, “Don’t make me hurt you.” In both instances, Wanda tries to protect her reality, doing anything she can to keep Vision by her side.

Wanda’s depression is clearly shown in Episode 7. The episode begins with her lying in bed, trying to justify her expansion of Westview, ignoring her kids and looking quite disheveled in her sweats. During that episode, Wanda tries to keep a hold of her unraveling reality, and a commercial for an antidepressant named Nexus is shown. But fortunately, she is almost out of the tunnel.

In the final episode, we see Wanda’s acceptance. She returns Westview back to normal, despite having to lose Vision (again) and her kids in the process. Wanda embraces herself, fully becoming the Scarlet Witch that we have all been waiting for. 

WandaVision brought us on a thrilling journey, providing us with some insight into Wanda’s past and setting the stage for Marvel’s next phase. But more importantly, it taught us about grief—in quite a relevant time—and brought us some valuable words of wisdom: “What is grief, if not love persevering?”