One of my complaints about VisionQuest, which has remained consistent since its premiere, has been the show's constant references to WandaVision. In the finale, however, when we get another sitcom-y series called UltraVision to process the grief of Ultron, who, in mourning, unleashes another human-extinction plot, I saw this sitcom trope as a "philosophical" argument that comedy shows can uplift your mood, alleviate your grief, and cure depression. According to creator Terry Matalas, it's TV that will save you during long stretches of gloom and sadness, which makes you wonder whether this is the reason so many people prefer rewatching episodes of, um, Friends: because they offer a sense of joy and comfort from the stress and sorrow they accumulate from the outside world. In WandaVision, the "sitcom" was seen as Wanda's reluctance to confront her loss. In VisionQuest, though, the "sitcom" becomes the means to save both the planet and Ultron. That shift, from confronting delusion to embracing it as a means of salvation, only points towards the superficial, candy-colored sweetness that VisionQuest peddles as its "beating heart." In other words, it's the kind of sugary goo that says, "Family is not found in a house or blood or duty. It is found in the moment their joys, their heartbreaks, become your own," and "Change is one of the hardest things humans go through, because it often asks us to leave behind that which feels safe," in anticipation that viewers at home, like a live audience reacting to a show in a studio, will respond with plenty of "Awws."
I don't think I have anything new to add about this show. I have already said everything I could say in my reviews of the other episodes. What I would like to point out is that E.D.I.T.H. lights up the screen when she makes a "sitcom entry" in UltraVision, and T'Nia Miller wins you over when her Jocasta is forced to dance at the instruction of Virgil Horton, aka The Client, displaying both the spring in her step and an inner resistance to the command. It's a cracker of a scene, infinitely more amusing than the manufactured gaiety of UltraVision and the entirety of VisionQuest. But many viewers will probably not walk away from this show—or this finale—with images of either a glowing E.D.I.T.H. or an excellent Miller. They will be more excited by one particular end-credits scene in which, are you ready for it, Doctor Doom resurrects Wanda from Mount Wundagore. If VisionQuest ultimately succeeds in anything, it's in making already-eager fans even more eager for Avengers: Doomsday, which releases next month. It's basically another fluffy Marvel-sponsored advertisement for future Marvel productions. No wonder you don't take it seriously—and forget almost everything as soon as the advertisement ends.
Final Score - [3.5/10]