Crime
Chicago P.D.
Chicago is full of crime, and it takes a law-breaking cop to deal with all of it.
For a guy who doesn’t actually draw breath, Vision has had quite an interesting life. Or should we say lives.
He started his story as a superhero AI in Avengers: Age of Ultron. He found love soon after with Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch) and suffered a hero’s death at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. A grieving Wanda creepily resurrected a version of him to fill her self-made TV sitcom world in WandaVision, while the covert governmental programmers at S.W.O.R.D. got to work rebuilding his physical body.
Now that second version of Vision—stripped of all the life and emotion his relationship with Wanda had provided him—is on his own, doing his best to recover his humanity. Or, at least, act human enough to not draw too many side-eyes.
But he’ll need to work quickly, because he’s got a son who needs him.
Yep, that’s pretty much Vision’s reaction, too. The idea that this walking, talking computer somehow fathered a child is just plain impossible. Oh, sure, the synthetic superhero knows that Wanda populated their shared little sitcom world with twin boys, Billy and Tommy, but Wanda made that world up. And no matter how powerful a witch she was, Ms. Maximoff couldn’t conjure up a truly new being, right?
The experiences of Thomas Shepherd beg to differ. When the kid was 12, he nearly drowned. But somehow, the fantastical spirit of Tommy Maximoff found its way into Thomas Shepherd’s dying body, creating one very confused, occasionally superpowered, tween. And now that Thomas is in his 20s, he’s not any less puzzled by these strange memories (or his mysterious love for old TV shows with laugh tracks).
That said, Wanda isn’t the only one who can throw together a whole new reality. Vision has managed to create a nice little virtual home for himself—a digital mansion filled with comfy couches, rolls of vibranium cooking foil and a bevy of helpful AI servants to help him cope. Oh, and he’s locked a far less helpful AI synth in his digital home’s digital attic: Titanic bad guy Ultron—or at least the last vestiges of what Ultron once was—is there, too, watching television, painting portraits and occasionally still mulling how to obliterate the human race.
Keeping Ultron around would feel, to some, like an unnecessary risk. Most of Vision’s AI servants would seem to say so.
And that may be especially true now, given that Vision’s attracting new risks of his own. First among them: a bounty hunter known as the Paladin. He’s been contracted to find Vision and reel him in—alive if possible, in pieces if necessary. And the man/woman/thing that contracted the Paladin doesn’t seem like the sort of guy/gal/entity that takes failure lightly.
VisionQuest is the final chapter in Disney+’s WandaVision trilogy of shows. The first was, of course, WandaVision—an Emmy-nominated creative triumph for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The second, Agatha All Along, was … less so. Certainly, the latter show’s occultic trappings and LGBT content was a big turnoff to plenty of would-be fans and families.
VisionQuest is, aesthetically, a return to WandaVision form. Its quirky, creative setting add a dusting of whimsy to this latest MCU chapter. And it comes with some strong, poignant themes, too.
Almost from the outset, we’re introduced to a handful of characters who don’t know who they are and are desperate to find out. Vision (played ever so well by Paul Bettany) has no concept of the love and living vitality that the first Vision (the one killed by Thanos) found in his own brief “life.”
“I have his memories but not his feelings,” the new Vision bemoans. “I have his face but not his virtue.”
Thomas also feels incomplete—unsure, at first, whether his WandaVision memories are real or just signs that he’s going insane. In a nice echo of Vision’s own existence, Thomas spends his days pretending to be someone, anyone, else (often to grift some money from an easy mark or two). Better to pretend to be someone else than try to make sense of who he actually is.
More peripheral characters deal with their own questions of consciousness and identity, which makes the show interesting. What makes the show heartening is its focus on family.
Vision cannot love as the show opens. He has no yen for a family. And yet, he finds one. And you just know that, as the show goes on, Vision’s own receptacles for love and fatherhood will grow. We see some other familial dynamics in action, too, even from Vision’s own AI companions. (One makes a sacrificial act near the end of the second episode, saying that he’s doing it for his family.)
All that cannot excuse VisionQuest’s unfortunate outlay of content concerns, however.
As is the case in most superhero stories, violence is a frequent cohabitant on the screen, be it big or small. The fact that this Vision comes into the story without a conscience increases the body count measurably, and the Paladin’s own methods of dealing with conflict are bloody indeed. (Add to that a serial killer who enters into the story some episodes later and is known for plucking out her victims’ eyeballs … well, there’s another issue for you.)
The language can be problematic as well, with s-words peppering just about every episode. The moral grid that even our heroes work from can be shaky at best—and Ultron’s looming influence moves the needle into ever-darkening shades of grey. And, of course, we hear plenty about Wanda and her exploits, all of which lean into her occultic, witchy nature.
VisionQuest isn’t the best MCU television offering, either aesthetically or ethically. But Vision’s titular quest—that for humanity and heroism and family—gives would-be viewers something nice to cling to, even as the bullets fly and the lasers cut.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
As our story opens, Vision is living and working in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the previous Vision spent many a happy day with his love, Wanda. But this Vision can’t quite grasp the concept of love: He’s trying to learn more about human nature from his employer (who consistently invites him over for Sunday dinners), while spending his off time in a virtual home of his own making. F.R.I.D.A.Y., one of Vision’s most conscientious AI assistants, remarks that Vision feels “untethered.” “Humanity is an anchor he can’t seem to grasp,” she says.
But Vision’s life in both real-world Edinburgh and his self-made mansion takes a huge hit when gunmen invade the pub where Vision works and kill his kindly boss. While Vision makes quick work of those gunmen, the shooters’ own employer—the Paladin—isn’t so easily dissuaded.
We see Vision’s boss, Mrs. Guthrie, get shot in the gut and watch as she gasps her last dying breaths. In a departure from what the old Vision might’ve done, Vision tears through a dozen or so terrorists, mostly off camera, killing them all. When the Paladin visits the crime scene, he bemoans the loss of innocent life and shoots the guy in charge of the assault in the head, spraying blood as he does so.
Ultron, who lives in an upper story of Vision’s made-up mansion, serves as Vision’s own conversational foil and devil’s advocate—albeit one that can offer what sounds like good advice at times. He talks about how humans are “grotesque, yet lovely.” And when Ultron is asked what he’d do if given his freedom, Ultron says he might visit a few art museums. He adds, “Or I’d hijack all their missile systems and burn them all to ash. Hard to say.”
Vision and Ultron look at a surreal painting by Hieronymus Bosch (one named, I think, “Garden of Earthly Delights”) which depicts a number of naked figures. The Paladin seems to compare Thanos to a scrotum. A man seems like he’s on the verge of complimenting some bodily attribute of his female business partner, but he’s prevented from doing so.
Two young people scam someone (who’s doing a bit of scheming himself) out of some money. (They flee when the victim and his cohorts realize they’ve been had.) We hear references to spells and hexes, and we hear talk of witches. As mentioned, Vision works at a pub, and we see plenty of liquor bottles around the place. We hear the s-word twice and some other sporadic profanities, including “a–,” “b–tard” and “d–k.” God’s name is misused four times.
The Paladin, still under contract to capture Vision, decides that Thomas Shepherd might be an effective lever. He grabs Thomas and holds him captive in a mental health facility, hoping that Vision will see fit to either turn himself in or fall into a trap. At first, Vision is disinclined to take the bait.
“Your plan is based on the assumption that I care about Thomas Shepherd,” he tells Paladin. “And in every outcome, it fails, because I do not feel.” But after a bit of a peptalk from Ultron, Vision decides that he should care—and he goes into the ward determined to rescue Thomas, even as he doubts the guy is really his son.
We see a bit of the backstory of Thomas Shepherd. He tells a friend he experienced a “teeny, tiny psychotic break,” where he was apparently remembering snippets of Tommy Maximoff’s childhood with Wanda and Vision. That psychotic break earned Thomas an earlier bus ride to the same ward he’s being held now—one where a sadistic guard shocks a man to a state of near unconsciousness. When he does the same thing to Thomas, Thomas’ own energy injures the guard, mottling the man’s face.
A massive fight breaks out at the ward. Several people are apparently killed, largely off screen—though we see bloody splashes on the ward’s windows. Both the Paladin and Vision get hurt, and the latter nearly “dies,” bleeding fluids from a wound in his abdomen. An AI servant sacrifices itself for the greater good. Vision’s own damage threatens the existences of his AI servants, as well.
Thomas and a friend escape from a bus. We hear references to Christmas and to the Greek hero Theseus. A couple of characters drink at a pub. Characters say the s-word four times. We also hear “b–tard,” “h—,” and the British profanity “bloody.” God’s name is misused, paired with “d–n,” twice.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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