“Agatha All Along” finale screened at the Lucas Theater

Written by Abby Chadwick. Photos by Michaela Lynch.

On November 2nd, the Lucas Theatre hosted a screening of the season finale of “Agatha All Along” as part of the last day of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. In any other case, District would give a review of whatever piece of media was being screened. However, I am a stubborn hater of spoiler alerts. So, in addition to giving you an in-depth look into the interview with star Kathryn Hahn and the show’s creator Jac Schaeffer, I will also be providing a review, except this one will be of the first episode rather than the last (just in case any readers decide they’d like to tune in eventually).

From the get-go of their interview, it was clear that Hahn and Schaeffer are not only close friends but truly in awe of one another. When asked their first impressions of one another, Schaeffer chimed in, jokingly recalling 

“I just remember [her] being so close to me with [her] little eyeballs, and she gives hugs kind of pelvic-forward, so I was just like, ‘Oh my god, this woman!’ I’m like inside of this woman already… There’s an intimacy to Kathryn Hahn that is like a revelation.”

Between belly laughs, Hahn, with the raspiest of voices (from what she claims comes from squealing over all the trick-or-treaters in her neighborhood), gave the audience insight into what it was like being a part of Schaeffer’s intricate vision for the show.

“There were some times when I was playing Agatha, and during this time, I felt like I was looking through Jac’s eyeballs. I felt so close to the language that she had written, like I know exactly what she meant, tonally, cause there are a lot of fine lines in this piece to walk on and – even within a scene – many different turns and the path that she – ‘The Road’ as it were – that Jac laid out for us just made that so easy, just so simple.”
The very first episode of “Agatha” truly exemplifies what Hahn means when she refers to these turns. The pilot opens like a true crime T.V. show, following the murder of a mysterious, unknown woman in the woods. The only thing keeping audiences from wondering if they accidentally clicked on the wrong show is the landmark that is Kathryn Hahn. Even as a small-town detective, she captivates audiences to the point where I wouldn’t have minded if the rest of the show carried on following this true-crime plot. Apparently, Hahn wouldn’t have minded either, saying in the interview how much fun they had taking this ruse of a subplot so seriously.

From its murder-mystery beginnings to its witchy reveal, the first episode of “Agatha All Along” truly showcases Schaeffer’s vision, as well as her tendency to have fun with the story and its characters. After listening to her talk, the story feels like her. She spoke of how, when it comes to storytelling, Marvel is simply “looking for people who understand moments.” While working on Wandavision, she was unsure if people would even respond to the story she was trying to tell. Schaeffer recalled, “‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ was supposed to come out first, we were the weird kids in the corner.”

But people did respond (passionately) and thank god for that because it led to “Agatha.” It led to this beautiful, dark, witchy, lively show with Kathryn Hahn as its beating heart. Schaeffer shared, “The whole show comes from Kathryn. It wouldn’t exist without her. We would tell people when they ask ‘What’s the tone of the show?’ and we were like ‘Kathryn Hahn.'”