"On a Very Special Episode..." is the fifth episode of the American television miniseries WandaVision, based on Marvel Comics featuring the characters Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch and Vision. It follows the couple as they try to conceal their powers while living an idyllic suburban life in the town of Westview, New Jersey. The episode is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It was written by Peter Cameron and Mackenzie Dohr, and directed by Matt Shakman.

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their respective roles as Wanda Maximoff and Vision from the film series, with Teyonah Parris, Evan Peters, Randall Park, Kat Dennings, and Kathryn Hahn also starring. Development began by October 2018, and Shakman joined in August 2019. The episode pays homage to sitcoms of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Family Ties, Growing Pains, Roseanne, and Full House. It introduces Peters as Maximoff's brother "Pietro", who was previously portrayed in the MCU by Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Peters played a different version of the character in the X-Men film series, and he was cast for WandaVision because of the meta and thematic implications. Maximoff and Vision's children Billy and Tommy also have roles in the episode. Filming took place in the Atlanta metropolitan area in Atlanta, Georgia, including at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, and in Los Angeles.

"On a Very Special Episode..." was released on the streaming service Disney+ on February 5, 2021. Critics praised the episode for its opening titles and theme song, and for its progression of the series' storylines, while Peters' appearance as "Pietro Maximoff" was widely discussed. It received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Plot In the fictional WandaVision program, now set during the 1980s/early 1990s, Wanda Maximoff and Vision struggle to stop their newborn sons Billy and Tommy from crying. Their neighbor Agnes arrives to help look after the boys, but appears to break character and asks Wanda if they should redo the scene. Vision questions Wanda about Agnes's behavior, but they are interrupted when Billy and Tommy suddenly age-up to five years old. Agnes does not express surprise or concern about this.

Watching the WandaVision series from outside the town of Westview, S.W.O.R.D. director Tyler Hayward calls Maximoff a terrorist, while Monica Rambeau does not believe Maximoff has malicious intentions. Hayward claims that Maximoff recently stole Vision's body from S.W.O.R.D. headquarters and resurrected him, disregarding Vision's living will. Rambeau discovers that her clothing was transformed to match the design of WandaVision and wonders if they can bypass this by using something era-appropriate.

The boys ask to keep a dog that appears at the house, and Agnes suggests the name Sparky. Maximoff almost reveals her abilities to Agnes, concerning Vision. When Maximoff and Vision decide the boys are too young to care for Sparky, they age up to 10 years old. At work, Vision reads an email from S.W.O.R.D. that reveals the situation in Westview. He breaks the trance over his co-worker Norm, a real Westview resident named Abilash Tandon, who begs Vision to stop "her". Vision then reverts Abilash to Norm.

S.W.O.R.D. sends a drone from the 1980s into Westview and attempts to kill Maximoff on Hayward's orders. She emerges from the static field surrounding the town with the drone and warns Hayward to leave her alone. After Sparky unexpectedly dies, the twins ask their mother to bring him back to life, but she says they cannot do that and urges them to deal with their grief.

Vision confronts Maximoff about controlling the town, revealing that he cannot remember his life or identity before coming to Westview. Maximoff says that not everything is under her control, and she does not know how it started. They are interrupted again when her dead brother "Pietro" arrives at the front door. Watching the broadcast, Darcy Lewis notes that Pietro has been "recast".

A commercial during the WandaVision program advertises Lagos paper towels.

Production Development By October 2018, Marvel Studios was developing a limited series starring Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany's Vision from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films. In August 2019, Matt Shakman was hired to direct the miniseries. He and head writer Jac Schaeffer executive produce alongside Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Victoria Alonso. Feige described the series as part sitcom, part "Marvel epic", paying tribute to many eras of American sitcoms. The fifth episode, "On a Very Special Episode...", was written by Peter Cameron and Mackenzie Dohr, with the scenes set in the sitcom reality paying homage to the 1980s and early 1990s.

Writing Schaeffer felt the entire decade of 1980s sitcoms was an inspiration for the episode, highlighting Family Ties, Full House, Growing Pains, Who's the Boss?, Roseanne, and Just the Ten of Us in particular. Bettany noted that some 1980s sitcoms had "teachable moments", which were sometimes marketed as "a very special episode" when they covered difficult issues. One of the topics that the characters in "On a Very Special Episode..." discuss is not being able to skip the difficult parts of life.

The writers felt that this episode was an important turning point in the series' storyline since it returns to the sitcom reality after the previous episode revealed what is happening in the real world of the MCU, and because it combines the two storylines. It also directly addresses Maximoff and Vision's understanding of what is happening in the series, with Maximoff starting to acknowledge that she has control over the reality while Vision begins to work that out himself. Dohr noted that 1980s sitcoms such as Family Ties and Growing Pains often featured the central family together in a lot of scenes, and that is what Maximoff wants to happen to her family in this episode, but the more she tries to control them, the more she loses control such as when the twins age-up. Early drafts had elements of the house such as the plumbing starting to go "haywire" as another sign that Maximoff was losing control, but this idea was eventually moved to "Breaking the Fourth Wall". Other ideas from early drafts that did not make the final episode include Maximoff trying to distract Vision by having neighbors appear at the house, such as Phil arriving with a band or Dottie coming to hold an exercise class. Agnes appears in a Jazzercise outfit as a reference to the latter. Dohr tried to balance the sitcom scenes with the logistics of Rambeau's storyline, during which the sitcom reality is given the nickname "The Hex" which Dohr came up with. Both storylines connect when Maximoff emerges from the Hex, which the writers decided would happen early on in the series' development and referred to as the "Hex flex".

Schaeffer was interested in starting to show differences of opinion seep into Maximoff and Vision's marriage, leading to a more "authentic" domestic picture of them compared to the depiction of their relationship in earlier episodes. Bettany added that the series would take advantage of the fact that couples seen in sitcoms beginning in the 1980s " necessarily that fond of each other" compared to those in sitcoms from the 1950s to 1970s. Cameron wrote the scene where Maximoff and Vision argue at the end of the episode, and his initial version did not have any superhero elements in it, so he could focus on the grounded drama. He described the scene as an argument between a wife who does not want to talk about a "really touchy subject" with her husband, who is "hell-bent" on discussing it. He added other issues that the couple had also not been discussing into the conversation, since that often happens in most "meaningful" arguments in relationships. Cameron then went back and added superhero elements at the main pivot points of the argument, such as Maximoff rolling the end credits of the sitcom instead of slamming a door on Vision, and Vision levitating instead of slamming his fist on a table. Bettany later added a line where he says "I'm scared", which Cameron felt was a beautiful addition to the scene since it shows Vision's vulnerability within the argument.

The series features fake commercials that Feige said would show "part of the truths of the show beginning to leak out", with "On a Very Special Episode..." including a commercial that advertises Lagos paper towels with the slogan "for when you make a mess you didn't mean to". Charlie Ridgely at ComicBook.com found this to be the most devastating commercial of the series so far, using Maximoff's guilt about her actions in Lagos during Captain America: Civil War (2016) to put the previous commercials into perspective.

Casting

The episode stars Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, Paul Bettany as Vision, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, Evan Peters as "Pietro Maximoff", Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, and Kathryn Hahn as Agnes.

Pietro was previously portrayed in the MCU by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, while Peters played a different version of the character named Peter Maximoff in the X-Men film series. Lewis notes onscreen that Maximoff has "recast" Pietro, but this was not meant to be interpreted as a real-life recasting of Taylor-Johnson. Schaeffer and co-executive producer Mary Livanos decided early in the development of WandaVision that they wanted to have Pietro return in the series, and decided to have the character be "recast" within the fictional WandaVision program. Feige wanted to ensure there was a sensible reason for the character appearing like this, and Schaeffer noted that it plays to the sitcom tropes of recasting characters without "much fuss" and also of having a relative arrive in town who "stirs things up with the family". She also called it the "biggest thrill" to have Peters join the MCU, and something that would be "so much fun for the audience and the fanbase". Peters was equally up for the appearance, feeling it was a "very interesting, sort of shocking and almost weirdly meta" way of returning to the role. In addition to working on that meta level for the series, Peters portraying Pietro instead of Taylor-Johnson worked thematically for discussing Maximoff's grief since she accepts that this is her brother even though he does not look as she remembered, which shows how her grief is "cloud[ing] her judgement".

Maximoff and Vision's sons have roles in the episode, with Julian Hilliard and Baylen Bielitz as Billy at ages 10 and 5, respectively, and Jett Klyne and Gavin Borders as Tommy at ages 10 and 5, respectively. Also appearing in the episode are Josh Stamberg as S.W.O.R.D. Director Tyler Hayward, Amos Glick as the mailman Dennis, Asif Ali as Norm, Alan Heckner as S.W.O.R.D. Agent Monti, and Selena Anduze as S.W.O.R.D. Agent Rodriguez. Victoria Blade, Ithamar Enriquez, Sydney Thomas, and Wesley Kimmel portray the actors in the Lagos commercial.

Design