"WandaVision" takes "Twin Peaks" and sticks it in the MCU. The result is that a lot of things don't make sense. Why is Herb (David Payton) using his hedge trimmers to cut through a concrete wall? Why don't Vision (Paul Bettany) and Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) remember when they were married? Why is Wanda suddenly four months pregnant? Why does Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) disappear from a hospital and then reappear five years later? Oh right, we know the answer to that one — Thanos! Infinity Stones! Exposition!

That's the thing: "WandaVision" is a mash-up of various modes of storytelling. As a result, it's sometimes hard to tell if things don't make sense because of absurdist quirkiness, if things don't make sense because of superhero technobabble, or if things don't make sense because a writer or director made a mistake. The uncertainty is part of what makes "WandaVision" fun. But it can also be frustrating, especially when the show uses ambiguity to sidestep its tangled plot threads.

I've tried to tease out which things about "WandaVision" that don't make sense aren't actually supposed to make sense, which things actually do, and which things that supposedly make sense actually don't. Or, y'know, maybe it's all just magic. Magic can explain everything.

Hydra Soak! So Luxurious You'll Never Ask Why!

The first seven episodes of "WandaVision" include commercials for clever fake products: the Toastmate 2000, Hydra Soak, Yo-Magic Yogurt, and so on. The ads complement the sitcom universe Wanda has created; they're part of the show's dead-on parodies of past eras of TV.

A bunch of red herrings are hidden in these commercial breaks. For instance, Hydra Soak is a reference to the evil organization HYDRA, which gave Wanda her powers. If you're watching the series for the first time, you might take the ad to mean that HYDRA is responsible for this weird alternate universe, and that Wanda has been brainwashed or captured. But we eventually learn that HYDRA isn't behind anything. Wanda is the (sort-of) evil force who is controlling the people of Westview.

Wanda finds the sitcom universe comforting because she watched American TV shows as a child. But there's nothing particularly comforting about the advertisements. So, why are they there? You could argue that the ads are a product of Wanda's subconscious, but they're not especially meaningful. For viewers, they're obviously meant to serve as Easter eggs, but in-universe? Still, they're cool and fun — and the general sense of unreality in the early episodes means that "WandaVision" can get away without explaining them.

Vision Vs. Chewing Gum

In the 2nd episode of "WandaVision," Vision accidentally swallows a piece of gum, which slides into his stomach and gunks up his clockwork robot gears. As a result, he malfunctions, behaving as if he's drunk. It's funny, but there's one problem: In Episode 1, we saw Vision use his dematerializing power to reach into his boss' throat and remove a stuck piece of food. If Vision could do that for someone else, how hard would it be just to reach his hand into his own guts and pull out the gum? Or even better, dematerialize and let the gum fall right through him?

You could argue that Vision was incapacitated by the gum before he could bring his superpowers into play. Or maybe it's Wanda's fantasy; she wanted him to save his boss, and then she wants him to get gummed up to create further sitcom-style hijinks. The laws of nature and of digestive tracks bend to Wanda's whims, whatever those may be. That does mean that Wanda wants to humiliate her dead husband, though, which seems a little unsatisfying. No explanation makes those gears turn quite right.

Wherefore Art Thou, Bee Guy?

One of the weirder images in "WandaVision" is a guy in a beekeeper suit pulling himself out of the sewer in front of Wanda and Vision. Wanda yells, "No!" very forcefully. No wonder, because that scene is creepy.

Later, we learn that the beekeeper was originally a S.W.O.R.D. agent; S.W.O.R.D. dressed the man in a hazmat suit and sent him through the sewers, hoping that Wanda's hex didn't extend underground. But it did, and the poor guy ended up in a beekeeper's outfit, because magic works in mysterious ways.

The real question, though, is what happens to that guy? Wanda banishes him, but unlike when she shoots Monica out of the hex, we never see this man again. Was he freed when Wanda released Westview? Is he out there somewhere keeping bees? Will he return as the supervillain Bee Guy? Even "WandaVision" executive producer Mary Livanos isn't sure. "Hopefully he's OK," she said to TVLine. "We all hope for the best for him."

Wanda Forgets To Remember To Make You Forget

In "WandaVision" Episode 4, FBI investigator Jimmy Woo (Randall Park) and Monica (Teyonah Parris) discover that something weird is going on in Westview. Specifically, they talk to a couple of police officers who assure them that Westview doesn't exist, even though they're standing in front of a big sign saying, "Welcome to Westview, Abandon All Hope, Suckers."

Eventually, we learn that Wanda is making everyone forget that Westview is there. But! If Wanda can make people forget Westview exists even when they're outside the hex, why doesn't she just give all the S.W.O.R.D. agents amnesia? Then they'd leave her alone, which is what she says she wants.

Maybe there's a limit to how many people Wanda can control. Or maybe there's a limit to the radius she can control. Or maybe — just maybe — a show in which all the antagonists just forget what they're doing would have been hard to stretch out to nine episodes. Most likely that last one.

Vision's Got The Touch! He Has The Power!

Vision figures out that Wanda is controlling the people of Westview when he uses his powers to free his coworker Norm (Asif Ali). But how does that work? How does Vision even know he has that power if he doesn't know that Wanda is controlling people?

We later learn that Vision is created by Wanda's subconscious, so maybe that's it. ScreenRant points out that Vision can change his density, so he could put his hand inside someone's head, which might disrupt Wanda's powers. But when Vision touches Norm, his fingers glow — they don't go inside Norm's brain. And would sticking a finger in someone's head really free them from mind control? Wouldn't it just kill them? Vision seems like a careful guy; it's hard to imagine him experimenting on innocent lives to find out.

Maybe this is one of those husband-wife things. If your life partner can mind control people, you can un-mind control them. This does fit with one of the most important themes of "WandaVision," and of sitcoms in general: namely, marriage is weird.

What Is Vision — Like, Literally?

In Episode 6, we learn that Hayward (Josh Stamberg) has been able to track Vision inside Westview by using Vision's vibranium signature — but that Vision isn't actually made out of vibranium. He's a product of Wanda's sorcery (and her sadness and love, but mostly sorcery).

Okay. Maybe Wanda just conjured up some actual vibranium, you say. After all, she created Monica's funky '70s outfit, right? If she can make clothes, what's to stop her from making her robot husband out of whatever material she likes? But Wanda didn't create Monica's costume from scratch. She made the clothes out of Kevlar. When they shoot Monica's cool duds in the lab, bullets bounce off of it, because it's still Kevlar.

Besides, if it was real vibranium, then why would Vision start to dissipate when he leaves the hex to try to get help? Maybe he'd lose consciousness, but there should still be a hunk of vibranium outside the hex, too. By the end of the show, Vision is thoroughly confused about what he is and isn't. Who can blame him? We are, too.

The Mystery Of Señor Scratchy

Again, in Episode 7, Agnes reveals she's a witch named Agatha Harkness. Even more surprising, in Episode 8, we learn that her pet rabbit, Señor Scratchy, is actually her familiar, who eats bugs — and perhaps other things — whole.

In earlier versions of the script, Señor Scratchy played a bigger and more elaborately devilish part, according to director Matt Shakman. Wanda's kids and a bunch of other characters were supposed to find the rabbit in the basement. "And they're like, 'Oh it's Señor Scratchy, he's the best!" And they reach over [and] scratch him," Shakman says, "and he hisses and this whole 'American Werewolf in London' transformation happens where [the] rabbit turns into this big demon." Shakman shot the scene, but never finished the effects. Eventually, it had to be cut — there wasn't enough time in the finale.

So, now, in "WandaVision" as aired, Wanda defeats Agatha in a hard fought battle. But where does Señor Scratchy go? He appears to just scuttle down a narrative plot hole after he eats that bug. Did he hop off to chew carrots (or carrion)? Is he hiding out with Bee Guy? Oh, Señor Scratchy, we have to ask: What's up, doc?

Say, That's Some Kind Of Getup You're Wearin'

At the end of Episode 9, Wanda forces Agatha to turn back into Agnes and traps her in her suburban alter ego. As soon as Agatha is Agnes again, she is taken aback by Wanda's pleather outfit. "Say, that's some kind of getup you're wearing," she chuckles.

She has a point. What is with that getup? Wanda's just fought a traumatic battle in which she's realized that she's enslaved and tortured an entire town. She's learned that she's going to have to destroy her husband and children. Why would she magic up an outfit change under these circumstances? And why this weird, skin-tight, sexy Halloween thing?

There is an answer here, but it has more to do with superhero tropes than narrative logic. Powerful, morally questionable women in comics always demonstrate their abilities by donning ridiculous seductress outfits (see also: Frost, Emma). It's a tiresome cliché, and it's especially inappropriate here. The writers do seem to realize they made a misstep; Wanda changes into something less ridiculous almost immediately, but not before Agnes, and the viewer, have time to wonder what on Earth Wanda was thinking.

Monica Stays Grounded, To WandaVision's Detriment

Monica's arc in "WandaVision" doesn't defy logic. But as storytelling, it's more than a bit baffling.

Beginning in Episode 4, it looks like Monica is going to be a major character. Because of the death of her mother, she's experienced traumatic grief like Wanda, with whom she strongly identifies. She's brave and resourceful, and through her encounters with the hex she gains impressive powers. She uses her abilities to protect Wanda's kids — and then it turns out that the children are mystical projections and they're zapped out of existence anyway. All of which makes Monica's contributions kind of pointless (although it does set up her role in "The Marvels").

Monica was supposed to have a much bigger role in the finale. In some versions, she fought the demonic form of Agatha's rabbit, Señor Scratchy. But, as it is, Monica doesn't have much to do; her only real role in the finale is to reassure Wanda that it was okay to enslave a town to serve her own emotional needs. The one major Black woman on the show does nothing of consequence except apologize for a white woman's involvement in what's basically slavery. A lot of the contradictions in "WandaVision" are fun for fans to speculate on. This one, not so much, unfortunately.

How'd You Get In Here?

In Episode 9, the White Vision created by S.W.O.R.D. heads to Westview, programmed to destroy Wanda. He flies through Wanda's magic barrier and — wait a minute. He flies through her magic barrier? How, exactly?

Up to this point in the series, most things that go through Wanda's hex get transformed. When a bunch of S.W.O.R.D. personnel went through the barrier, for example, they were changed into circus performers. In addition, any people who go through the barrier immediately fall under Wanda's sway and begin acting like suburban housewives, clowns, or whatever role Wanda wants them to play in her sitcom. White Vision, though, just swoops through, unchanged in mind or body. Outside of Westview, he's a homicidal vibranium android. Inside? Same thing.

There are some possible explanations. White Vision is powered by Wanda's hex energy, so maybe he's immune to her powers. Even so, you'd think that S.W.O.R.D. would express some concern that their billion-dollar attack robot might get changed into a stop sign, but everyone seems to have forgotten the central premise of the whole series: you can't just waltz through the hex (unless you're White Vision, I guess, who seems to have wandered in through a plot hole).

Read this next: How The Final Episode Of 'WandaVision' Failed Wanda Maximoff

The post 10 things that make absolutely no sense in WandaVision appeared first on /Film.