‘WandaVision’ Episode 3 Explained: “Is There a Doctor in the House?”

The Brady Bunch wasn’t exactly a hit when it originally aired, neither with audiences nor with critics. The show never cracked the top 30 in the Nielsen ratings during its five seasons. The show may’ve been doomed from the start with critics due to its connection with Sherwood Schwartz, the mastermind behind the critically reviled (but modestly successful) Gilligan’s Island. Even though The Brady Bunch totally defined the era with its questionable hairstyles and even more questionable fashion, the show was also completely out of touch with its era. Nixon’s presidency and Vietnam both ended after The Brady Bunch was canceled—but LOL if you think the show ever addressed either all-consuming issue.

Still, The Brady Bunch was an instant hit with kids and enjoyed a second, wildly successful life in syndication—one that led to two revival series, a made-for-TV movie, and a pair of pitch perfect theatrical parodies that are hella meme-able (“Sure Jan”). It’s also not a stretch to say that The Brady Bunch redefined the family sitcom, shifting it from being mostly about the parents to mostly about the kids. You can clearly see the show’s unique marriage of slapstick and schmaltz in pretty much every TGIF sitcom. The Brady Bunch endured and became one of the most iconic sitcoms of not just the ’70s, but of all time—critics and ratings be damned.

But ’70s sitcoms weren’t just about groovy lessons taught by families with record deals. The format took the progress made in the 1960s by shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show and Bewitched and ran with it, pushing the medium further than ever. Maude, All in the Family, Sanford and Son, M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, The Odd Couple—these shows were made for adults, full stop. And the ones that weren’t constantly pushing political boundaries were at least written and performed with critically-acclaimed care. That of course includes The Mary Tyler Moore Show, an unapologetically feminist show about a woman (played by Mary Tyler Moore, duh) who put her career and friendships above romance at a time when TV housewives were still the norm. More so than in the ’50s and ’60s, the sitcoms of the 1970s were deeply divided between fluff like The Partridge Family and grit like Barney Miller—and that’s the vibe that WandaVision Episode 3, “Now in Color,” goes for.

That’s evident right from the get go, as the opening credits—y’know what? I’m gonna say it—beautifully merge the aesthetics of The Brady Bunch and The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s openings. The logo fans out in a technicolor rainbow just like MTM’s did, before segueing into the stacked picture boxes (or hexagons, in this case) that are recognizably Brady. The Brady Bunch opening just kept chucking heads in blue boxes at you. MTM’s opening showed Mary out on the town, shopping and waving hello, hanging out with her gal pals. That’s what we see Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) doing in these credits, when they aren’t grooving to this very Partridge Family-esque theme song.

The episode opens in Wanda and Vision’s now completely Brady-fied abode, mere hours after the events of Episode 2. As Dr. Nielsen (get it? Nielsen ratings?) reports to the happy-yet-baffled couple, Wanda is now four months pregnant even if, as Vision worriedly points out, she’s only been with child for 12 hours. Dr. Nielsen (Randy Oglesby) doesn’t hear these concerns (remember, real world anxiety has no place in a 1970s family sitcom!) and instead uses a fruit metaphor so that the “little lady” can understand how big her baby is inside her tummy. Wanda does a side-eye take after hearing this clearly insulting bit of sexism that is very reminiscent of Mary Richards, like when Mary learned that her predecessor was paid way more than her. This is definitely not a reference to Carol Brady. Seriously, The Brady Bunch has an entire episode that casts the girls as reluctant, skeptical feminists and all the boys as aggressive MRAs. It’s… not a fun watch in 2021.

On his way out, Vision takes Dr. Nielsen aside and asks him to keep Wanda’s condition a secret. After all, it’s hard to fit in as a totally normal couple if your wife goes from zero to four months pregnant overnight. But maybe Vision shouldn’t be so concerned about seeming odd, because his neighbor Herb (David Payton) is trimming his hedges as well as the cement barrier between their yards.

It’s unsettling, and another hint that things are definitely not what they seem.

Vision quickly forgets about that—ahem—Lynchian sight when he steps foot back in his home, because Wanda is somehow even more pregnant than she was before. She’s so pregnant that she knocks some of that sexist fruit off the table, and “proud papaya” Vision catches it.

Just to get this out of the way now: The Brady Bunch was not funny. It was not a well-written show. And since WandaVision remains faithful to the time periods it’s celebrating, “Now in Color” is also not filled with the LOLs of the first two episodes. “Proud papaya” is exactly the kind of groan-inducing, proto-dad-joke nonsense that would get passed off as a punchline on The Brady Bunch.

With the babies coming sooner than anyone could’ve ever anticipated (Friday afternoon, according to Vision’s calculations), the expectant parents get busy nesting and decorating their nursery. Wanda uses her bibbidi-bobbidi-boo to magic together a crib and get to work painting a stork on the wall. The magic continues when she feels the child fluttering in her belly. That causes the butterflies on the mobile above the crib to come to life and flutter out the window. It’s a lovely moment but also, uh, Wanda just created life. Again.

Then we get a moment that will make every Marvel fan freak out: Wanda and Vision discuss baby names. Vision wants to name their kid Billy, after William Shakespeare. Wanda wants an all-American name, like Tommy. In the comics, Wanda and Vision do have twin boys, and they do name them Tommy and Billy—but not for those reasons. In the comics, they choose Thomas because it’s the middle name of Dr. Phineas Horton, the man who constructed Vision’s body. They choose William after Simon Williams, a.k.a. Wonder Man, a.k.a. the guy whose brain patterns were duplicated to give Vision sentience. Since MCU Vision’s body was created by Ultron and he has JARVIS as his brain, those reasons don’t really translate to live action. And the kids have to be named Tommy and Billy because those twins are a big, big deal in the comics. Anyway—since they can’t agree on a boy’s name, Wanda says that they should just hope for a girl with all the cutesy conviction of Florence Henderson.

Major Easter egg alert: the next scene starts with Vision practicing his diapering skills on a Kitty Karry-All doll, the exact doll that was attached to Cindy Brady’s hand for five seasons of The Brady Bunch.

Vision’s speed trials are interrupted by Wanda’s false labor, and not even a breathing exercise can stop their house from freaking out. It turns out when the super-powerful god-like being in charge of your fake sitcom reality goes into labor, it has dangerous ramifications! But these two meet those ramifications head on by striking a literal Avengers battle pose.

I adore this moment.

Wanda’s false labor affected way more than just their house. The power’s out in all of Westview. Thank god the blackout saved Phil from having to tell Dottie if her earrings make her look fat!

Easy jokes aside, this development is serious—and Vision recognizes that. He’s worried that Wanda’s earthquake contractions and their sudden family will blow their cover. Worse than that, Vision feels like something is off. The dinner with the Harts, Herb’s brick-trimming—Vision’s making the mistake of thinking seriously about his surroundings. And, suddenly, the episode skips and rewinds a second, like an unsettling, jerky digital glitch. Vision’s not worried! He’s here to console his wife—and just in time, too, because her water’s breaking! This is, of course, conveyed via sprinklers.

This moment is, obviously, a repeat of what we saw at the end of “Don’t Touch That Dial” when Wanda refused to accept that a creepy ass beekeeper had any place in her idyllic Westview. But instead of getting the full rewind this time, the show uses a choppy jump cut, one that actually made me think that Disney+ or my wi-fi had glitched. It’s a remarkable bit of fourth-wall breaking, except the fourth wall is your TV or laptop screen. It also subtly implies that Wanda doesn’t need to do the whole rewinding rigamarole anymore. She’s gotten good at blocking out the concerns of the real world.

In fact, one could say she’s the goddess of this world! At least that’s what Episode 3’s commercial implies. This time around, we get a commercial about a harried mom who just needs a trip to he at-home spa via the luxury bath powder Hydra Soak. The voiceover says Hydra soak is for “when you want to get away but you don’t want to go anywhere,” and the tagline is “find the goddess within.”

This marks two weeks in a row of HYDRA products (watches and bath bombs—HYDRA really does it all!). It seems clear by now that HYDRA has trapped Wanda in this reality and is trying to unlock her inner, reality-warping goddess so they can snatch up her children. That sounds wacky, but it’s what the hidden messages in these commercials are telling me!!!

Back in WandaVision, our leading lady creates a gust of wind, Storm-style, and dries everything off. Vision then rushes out to fetch Dr. Nielsen. Alone in their home, Wanda hears a commotion in the nursery—and then the doorbell rings. Wanda grabs a big coat to hide her belly and finds Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) at her door. Why is she there? As Geraldine says, “But first, I gotta borrow a bucket!” I dunno, Parris’ line delivery there absolutely floored me. It’s the funniest moment in this episode.

Then we get some of the hijinks that The Brady Bunch was known for. Wanda goes to elaborate lengths to hide her pregnancy, essentially doing all the stuff that IRL sitcoms have done to hide pregnancies of actors. But her reality-warping contractions keep getting in the way, causing her jacket to pop into different forms. Wanda settles on holding a big bowl of fruit in front of her—and then she sees the stork.

Just like the butterflies and her forthcoming child, Wanda’s haywire powers have also conjured up a stork that’s a match for the one she was magically painting on the nursery wall. Wanda tries to distract Geraldine from the stork, letting her friend tell her a story about how she landed a surprise promotion at her temp job while trying to scare the hiccups out of her boss. I gotta note that Geraldine talking about work—as deeply silly as this story is—is the first time a woman on WandaVision has talked about a job. That’s a clear MTM shoutout, overshadowed by some wacky Brady Bunch stork buffoonery.

But anyway, there’s a baby coming and Wanda can’t hide that forever! As soon as Geraldine sees this (it’s hard to miss a woman going into full, witch-powered labor), the show snaps into something else, something a bit deeper. The sitcom pretense is dropped and Geraldine just… helps Wanda give birth. Vision arrives with Dr. Nielsen and he gets to meet his son—as his synthezoid self, as Wanda so beautifully puts it. Vision says hello to Tommy (yes, Wanda’s preferred name)… and then Wanda screams in Vision’s face. Surprise, Billy is on his way!

Cut to: two healthy baby boys. In another not-so-subtle moment, Dr. Nielsen tells Geraldine that she “might have what it takes to be a nurse,” which leads to Geraldine and Wanda sharing a very Mary and Rhoda-esque WTF look. The doctor leaves, but he knows he can’t go far. As he tells Vision outside, it’s “so hard to escape” Westview.

We’re fully into dread mode now, as Vision spots Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) talking to Herb next door. There’s real tension, real uncertainty, real confusion in this scene. Agnes warns Vision about Geraldine, saying that she “has no home” (the absolute weirdest way to put whatever she’s trying to say). Similar to how that dinner scene in Episode 1 felt very Twilight Zone, this creeping dread feels a lot like those ’70s psychological horror movies—The Omen, Don’t Look Now, The Shining, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, etc. I mean, TBH, Paul Bettany is dressed way more like ’70s Donald Sutherland in this episode than Mike Brady. Then Herb tries to say more, but Agnes, panicked and a bit intimidating, shuts him up. Anyway—Agnes has gotta get moving! Wink wink!

Back inside, Wanda looks at her new twins and remembers something that I thought the MCU had actually forgot: Wanda is a twin. She had a brother, Pietro Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Olsen drops the Mary, Carol, and Lucy vibes she’s been delivering all episode and is just Wanda—Wanda at her most hurt and haunted. Her vaguely European accent, wisely ditched in her latter Marvel movie appearances, even comes back a bit as she softly sings a Sokovian song to her twins until Geraldine interrupts: “He was killed by Ultron, wasn’t he?”

That’s the worst thing to say, especially because Geraldine—who we know is actually named Monica Rambeau because of, like, everything Marvel has said about this show—doesn’t fully know what’s going on. She can’t answer any of Wanda’s questions about who she is, why she’s there, who she works for—and then Wanda notices Geraldine’s necklace. What’s that symbol? We know it’s a S.W.O.R.D. logo, but Wanda probably just knows that she’s seen it on a toy helicopter and the back of a beekeeper’s uniform. Now it’s hanging around Geraldine’s neck. Why can’t Wanda escape this symbol? And why did Geraldine just say the name of the monster who murdered Pietro?

Vision hurries back into their home to find Wanda alone with the twins. Geraldine had to rush home, Wanda tells him as the aspect ratio blows out from the claustrophobic 4:3 to a cinematic widescreen. It’s night in a tarnished old Westview, and Geraldine—Monica—has been ejected from Wanda’s reality. Literally.

She crashes to earth, still in her 1970s clothes (which implies that what Wanda’s doing inside that bubble is for keeps) as swarms of soldiers, agents, and helicopters descend upon her. The episode ends to the tune of The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer,” sung by Davy Jones, Marcia Brady’s biggest crush.

Where in Wanda’s world do we go from here?

Stream WandaVision on Disney+