TL;DR – There are a lot of responses you can have to an episode of television, but one you never want to hear is “oh…..”.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service used to view this series

VisionQuest Review Introduction

We have reached the end of our penultimate episode drop of VisionQuest as calamities are colliding and the story is heating up. Well, I wish I could say that about this episode; however, one of these did not happen, and I am not quite as hyped as I once was.

So, to set the scene, at the end of Firewall, Vision (Paul Bettany) made a choice that could change everything: he lowered his firewall and let Ultron (James Spader) … and FRIDAY (Orla Brady) … escape into the internet. The last time they pursued the internet they decided to destroy all of humanity [look, fair]. What will happen this time when there is another synth, Jocosta (T’nia Miller), also out there causing trouble? Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

A Crash of Stories

Today all of our stories are colliding in Madripoor, which has only appeared in the MCU once before in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Those colliding stories did make it feel like we were finally starting to put the foot on the accelerator with the narrative. Vision and Paladin (Todd Stashwick) finally have a meaningful interaction, only to get interrupted by the surprising return of Raza from Iron Man. I thought that dude died? Vision and Thomas had a meaningful discussion about Vision’s past. Handler (Diane Morgan) was freed from her prison. Oh, and Ultron and Jocasta delighted in their duplicity.

A Failure of Sticking the Landing.

While watching this episode, I was captivated. Even the absolutely ballsy “I am, I am” statement landed in the context, even though I know that is going to ruffle more than a few feathers. However, for all that build-up, you need to land something with substance, and this is where the episode fumbled for me. For all the great showmanship of who “the client” is, not revealing this at the most prominent moment felt like a real anticlimax. We then have some profoundly odd inclusions of gamification of murder; did we not learn anything from Generation Kill? Adding to this is the profound letdown as to Jocosta’s final plan. Their big plan feels more like a Temu-Borg outing and a weak-sauce hive mind. And in an era where shows such as Picard and Pluribus exist, this falls flat.

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend VisionQuest? Well, so far I have been really enjoying the series; however, this is the first episode that made me pause and question if the show will have the strength to stick the landing in the final two episodes next week. Have you seen VisionQuest yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of VisionQuest
Directed by – Vincenzo Natali
Written by – Nicole Falsetti
Created by – Terry Matalas
Based On – WandaVision and Agatha All Along by Jac Schaeffer & Marvel Comics
Production/Distribution Companies – Marvel Television & Disney+
Starring – Paul Bettany, James Spader, Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, Lauren Morais, T’nia Miller, Orla Brady, Art Malik, Diane Morgan, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Mary McDonnell, & Emily Hampshire
With – Faran Tahir