Tumblr decided to tell me that I have made 500 posts over on this sideblog, and frankly that's horrifying (I mean, great!). I just wanted a place to sort out my thoughts on Agatha All Along after the finale, and nearly two years later here I am... still trying to pick apart everything. 🫡 Thank you to everyone for chilling, looking at my art, reading my rambles and fanfics, and all of that. I really appreciate y'all for making it chill to hang around.
I think the ultimate tragedy of Agatha and Rio's relationship is so deeply human. It's so deeply mundane. The loss of a child stands between them, rips a chasm of hatred and pettiness and anger.
We don't know what they were like before, and I doubt the possessiveness and weird dynamics are new, but everything became worse after that.
They have a poetic quality. They have a deeply mundane quality. They're just fascinating.
I've seen a few people theorizing that the reason that Agatha never calls Rio by her name to her face during the run of AAA is because that's not the name she used call Rio. (The only time she uses the name is during the morgue scene, and then it is spoken to Billy, not Rio.) And I think it is a fun consideration, but I feel the answer is a lot simpler.
Agatha spends most of her time during the show denying Rio's personhood. She cannot make that mistake again. She cannot allow herself to view Rio as a person, allow her that vulnerable part of her heart. At least, outloud she cannot do that.
She denies Rio's heart. She denies her scar. She denies her name. She even calls her a "bad boy" to write off Rio, to joke around and not really acknowledge what their relationship was (because in a lot of ways Rio is the opposite of a bad boy--she's the laws of nature, she's puckish and fay in her behaviour certainly, but she is a rule follower). She can only afford, for her own heart's sake, to see Rio as Death.
And it is interesting then that Rio's name is Rio Vidal. A name that means River of Life, because acknowledging that, beyond even her own fear of allowing Rio back in--it is also acknowledging Rio isn't simply Death. She is The Green Witch, she is the cycle of all living things. She is (99.9% likely) the other parent to Nicholas.
Agatha in her sensitive, guarded heartbroken heart cannot let herself see Rio as a person--when she does, when she listens to the scar story--she immediately allows herself to embrace her love again. She is still so deeply in love with Rio, but she is so afraid of it.
But yeah, those are just my thoughts. I still have so many thoughts about Agatha, Rio, Nicholas, and Billy especially that I eventually need to sort out (including all of the textual nods in the series to Rio and Nicholas' connection/Rio as the other parent).
Shoves this here too, because it is really cool that I am finally done with the packing phase of the KS (and just gotta post everything now). But thank you to everyone who supported the KS!
How Twigs Approaches Rio: Presentation, Concept and Identity
I think the concept of Rio summed up as a “manic pixie nightmare girl” is a fantastic start to understanding how I approach and read Rio Vidal. While that is not the depth or the fullness of Rio, it does help shape the way I approach writing and thinking about her way of moving through the world. When I write or draw Rio Vidal, I come at it from the angle of her being a concept made into a person, and the inherent strangeness of that sort of identity and self construction. But also the reality of that construct of self, because what is any identity if not a self construction.
As well, with the “manic pixie nightmare girl” there is the implication of fey-ness, and that specific lens very much colours how I come at Rio. To be otherworldly, fated, and strange, and to work within a set of rules and understanding of the world that is not quite like others around her, to me, is very much how Rio operates. “Puckish” is a word used to describe Rio even in interviews, and I think it is very apt!
Fairies and fay are often a broad category of various folklore and mythological spirits and stories. But often they are connected to nature (The Green Witch) and sometimes death! They’re both helpful, but capable of trickery and cruelty. And I find that shape, that strangeness and potentially mercurial nature really is quite suited for Rio.
So, let’s begin!
Death may be a concept, but Rio is an identity, and behaves and presents within certain ways, and that to me is the interesting part of who she is. It is also important for me to point out that I read Rio and Death as one and the same, because while Rio is an identity, I cannot separate her from Death.
While Rio is considered a form of Death, it’s the only one I am personally interested in exploring. Because I think, from my viewing of the show, I read Rio as her own formed person. She can appear however she wants to others to help them pass on, but the reality of who she is: is Rio. And it is the part of her that is connected to Agatha, but in my personal readings of her, it has to also be something and someone she is interested in being beyond Agatha (why else hold onto that form even while separated, or continue to hold onto Rio’s upper face and eyes upon Agatha’s death).
To me, I do not think of Rio as genderless. Rio is a construct of Death. Death is not a genderless thing, but a concept, and by its nature is outside of gender. It simply is. Gender is a human concept. While it is a facet of identity, it is also a social framework that concepts and the cosmic entities would have no reason to exist or consider themselves within the confines of, because it is deeply a human way of explicating us and the world around us.
Until they begin to exist in relationship to humans/witches/et cetra, they have no reasons to exist within that sphere of understanding. It is the point of meeting/integrating with humans/witches that language and construction begins to matter in that way.
This is not an attack on that headcanon or conceptualization, but merely my way of thinking about it. Gender and sex and sexuality and all of that are very human conceptualizations.
For something that exists outside of human and Earth constructs and socialization, gender comes when they create and try to form or be socially within the world. But outside of that? They just are. It’s just a concept. People can and should interpret Rio how they want; this is merely my way of approaching her.
Rio Vidal is the identity Death constructs, and, I posit, she does have something of a gender within that construction (or gestures at it), because she makes choices in how she performs and exists within the world. Whether that is in relationship to Agatha, or to other witches—it is still a self. Her gender is not typical, because of what she is becoming who she is—she exists outside of human society and moves herself within. I would suggest that is especially true because the identity of Rio hinges on witchcraft and witchhood, which already puts her in an even more interesting gender space that historically largely hinges on womanhood and femininity, while questioning the traditional roles and social constructs thrust upon women.
And that to me is what is curious about Rio: how something outside of mortality, and specifically human mortality, outside of human personhood, builds itself as a person. And then goes that step beyond: builds herself as a witch.
Where Agatha interests me in how she breaks the traditional mold of witchhood, and instead embraces more masculinity, Rio interests me in how she seems to construct herself as a witch and as a feminine entity. While Agatha is beyond gender, because of the life and lives she has lived over 350 years, Rio is outside of gender because of her existence as a concept. And that juxtaposition is an interesting space to me.
So for me the parts of Rio that I am interested in engaging with are that she is Death and that she is a Green Witch (The Green Witch) at the same time. I find it fascinating from a conceptualization standpoint that they used both Santa Muerte and Mother Nature/Gaia to craft Rio as a character. The whole of her is more than Death then—instead, she is the cycle of everything. “Growth and decay in constant flow” to quote Jen. (It’s why while I know people mention there is a Life character in the comics, I feel like she’s sort of a moot point, since Rio’s purview is the entirety of the cycle within this version of the universe.)
I think it is also interesting from a sense of neutrality that they leaned into the nature and natural aspect of that. Death is neither cruel nor kind, it simply is. Nature too does not exist to be cruel or kind, and our relationship to it is what we make of it. The exploration of death and endings, of grief and sorrow, acceptance and the way we think about our lives is, clearly, very central to Agatha All Along. And I think we get that really beautifully in Rio: she is this gentle and feral person both at the same time (in the way nature is both beautiful and calming, but potential for destruction and pain). (This also plays into her fey nature!)
We also see this in her emotional states. She is capable of patience, of being a quiet forest or calm breeze. But she is also a storm waiting to happen, tempestuous and driven by her vulnerability with Agatha.
When Lilia’s maestra in the show asks Lilia if she is “rooted in nature,” it raises something that is fundamental to a witch: nature and their connection to it. In this way, Rio as the cycle and flow of life and death, as The Original Green Witch: she could be considered a, or the, prototypical witch. She is a wild woman covered in dirt with little regard for social constructs, who bares skin without care, and is deeply embedded in her craft (to the point she is her craft).
This is interesting in comparison to Agatha who struggles to fit in with her witchkin, who struggles with her identity. Rio defines herself as the witch for her craft. Death has found herself an identity and place within witchhood!
But then the question is how does and who does Rio present herself as?
Contrasted with Agatha’s more dapper and utilitarian looks, Rio’s outfits are all “work” looks (she’s literally her job) but, I would argue, always have a hint of personality and preference for her presentation. Take for example the first outfit we see Rio in, Agent Vidal is very much about a professional look; however, the look is incredibly tailored. On top of that, there are still “hints” of personal touches in the heels and red lipstick. As well, her nails are also kept long and well-cared for.
Where Agatha is presented as more working class in her costuming during these scenes, Rio is not. While they are not entirely themselves and are playing at caricatures of their identities in the first episode, the way they are presented is meant to offer insight into each. Where Agatha is lower on the ladder, Rio is higher up within the power dynamic. She is after all in reality, entirely singular: she is Death.
And if we look to the outfit that Rio appears in on the Road, we get more of Rio’s personality. We know from the artbook that the image they had of Rio prior to being pulled into the hex was one of her wearing a blazer and leather pants—a fierce outfit. Rio, as described by the art book, is envisioned as a cool girl. And even though her outfit becomes natural life, I would argue it is very couture looking.
Beyond that, while she isn’t afraid of being dirty or covered in grime, she also still has a face full of make-up and her nails done up even while crawling out of a grave. Rio goes through so many nail changes over the course of the show, it is honestly sort of funny (atop of having finger jewelry with which to cut the tethers of souls from their bodies). I will admit the idea of Death having a bit of vanity is very funny to me. She just likes being pretty!
To me, I read Rio’s near contemporary appearance, keeping up with the time and make-up, as an effect of being Death. Unlike Agatha who has something timeless and a bit dated about her preferences for clothing, Rio does not carry time the same way. Again to quote Lilia, “the flow of time is an illusion.” Out of all of the characters, this is the most true for Rio, who exists outside of time–she is as old as the universe, but also new in the moment she constructs herself. She is ageless, and death itself is an ever present constant.
Present and seductive. One of the notes on promotional material made for Rio has her down as seductive. Billy calls her a “dangerous but charismatic lady.” Jen and Alice comment on potentially wanting her phone number.
Rio has the top buttons of her shirt undone as Agent Vidal. In her assassin, Road, and Death looks: Rio has swathes of flesh exposed for show (a design choice made to show her ribs to hint at who she is as Death). Rio is attractive and aware of it, and dresses to accentuate that (and I think it is fun to think of her as also dressing with an awareness of hinting at herself as Death with her ribs on display).
The call of the void, the attractiveness of dangerous but deadly things–death is seductive in its own way, and I think with Rio that is made clear, and that she presents and plays in the world accordingly.
I also want to briefly touch on Rio’s outfit as Death. Her look on the Road is meant to decay to reveal her true form as Lady Death. And while there is something couture, especially to the jacket, in Rio’s Road outfit, Lady Death’s look is nearly an art piece. There’s something avant-garde about the strangling root/vine/tree that grows up and wraps about her throat. About how her hood is meant to mimic the hollow of a tree that she might look out of. And even more so than her other outfits, this is on where she is showing skin: ribs but also legs. This is Rio at her peak: beautiful and deadly. She’s not a cool girl here, but instead otherworldly and powerful in her fashioning.
So, there you go! My approach to Rio. I think of her as very much a pretty, fey, dangerous but potentially gentle character. She is beautiful and deadly in the way the natural world is. She is otherworldly and weird for it, but also is very present and aware of others and how they perceive her (caring about it or putting weight to it, is another thing altogether). She’s deeply witchy: wild, rooted in nature and her craft. She’s Rio! Death herself.
"A child riding a white horse and holding a red banner is a more auspicious symbol for this card. It is a symbol of the supernatural destiny of the East, the great and holy light. It lights the way of the endless procession of humanity, which emerges from the walled garden of sensual life and sets out on its journey home."
Costuming, Connections, and Constructing Meaning
Agatha All Along Thoughts
This isn’t an essay. This is just rambling and plucking at the threads of thoughts I’ve had since the end of Agatha. Also apologies for the fact this is all over the place. I just really wanted to start sorting out some of the visual signifiers I was fixated on when looking at the Agatha All Along designs.
The costuming design, art, and choices made on Agatha All Along are phenomenal. And it is clear from just reading through Daniel Selon’s instagram how much thought and effort went into the work of making those looks stand out as strong as they did. In particular, I have been fascinated by two looks of Agatha’s—her witch’s look (first introduced in Wandavision) and her spirit’s look. In particular, I want to consider them through the lens of what they say about Agatha and potentially where she is going, but also, hypothetically, her relationship to the original Green Witch, Death, Rio Vidal.
Agatha Harkness, Wandavision
As noted above, Agatha’s witch look was first seen in Wandavision. This is important in the context of Rio, because as a character she had not been introduced or even conceptualized yet. Despite that, I do think there are some interesting design choices on the costume that with the introduction of Rio, can be reanalyzed through that relationship (and to Nicholas, Agatha’s (and likely Rio’s) son). Specifically if we look at the neckline/chest design of the piece—there is a fascinating embroidery work. Tendrils of vines or roots mask off her chest, reminiscent of a scar. This is where her locket with Nicholas’s hair centrally sits (which, in episode 8, has fallen off and not worn during her battle with Rio).
During episode 9, we see Agatha create a cairn over the burial of her son Nicholas. In this moment, she sings through tears that she “buried my own heart here with you, my child.” A central point of Agatha Harkness’ character throughout her journey in Agatha All Along, is that she is closed off to the point of using deceit to manipulate and obscure attempts to know or truly see her. And to turn back to the costume—this design work indicates the hidden nature of her heart.
We can look too, beyond her witch’s costume, to her costuming within the fourth episode during the fire trial. Agatha’s heart is momentarily exposed, but she closes it off and hides it, specifically when her ex-lover, Rio, attempts to create a floor with her. It is interesting then to note that Rio has her heart on full display that entire conversation.
Rio Vidal and Agatha Harkness, Agatha All Along episode 4
And to go further, we can also note that Rio’s costuming as Death in episode 8, quite literally exposes her obsidian heart. Where Agatha’s heart is hidden (scarred over, perhaps), Rio’s heart is on full display. Looking back at Rio’s episode 1 appearance near the end, she declares that her heart is black and beats for (you) Agatha.
Rio Vidal as Death, Agatha All Along episode 8
This is the fundamental crux of the struggle between these two characters in full display in the design choices of their costuming. Agatha’s heart is no longer on display or truly reachable (it has been buried, by Nicholas’ death, by Rio’s existence as death), versus Rio’s heart on constant display (open and yearning). To me, this is what makes the costuming and design choices of Agatha’s outfit as a spirit in episode 9 very interesting, because it suggests a shift, an evolution of her character (that may not have come into view fully yet, but can be explored moving forward).
Agatha Harkness, ghost costume behind the scenes
Agatha’s costume as a spirit has shifted from the closed, vine-covered design, to a more open space. Through death, through Death, accepting her lover, Agatha has found herself at a new point within her existence. One that allows light in, one where her closed off heart is no longer hidden under the weight, vines, and scarring of the loss of her son (and I would argue the trauma of her struggle to accept and feel comfortable in her love of Rio).
The costuming change between her witch’s outfit and her ghost outfit also has a shift in the overall patterning of the upper portion of the design. As a spirit, the bodice now has an intricate line pattern, which could be argued to be reminiscent of Rio’s branching patterns.
Agatha and Rio's looks side by side
Daniel Selon noted on his Instagram the ghost design for Agatha that the costume’s letting in of light was her letting go of the weight of those she had taken the lives of over the years, I think too it more importantly could indicate the potential for her to begin to actually emotionally connect again with her heart no longer hidden. And if we look to the fact she both pointed out that she did not kiss Rio for Billy’s sake (further pushed by Jac Schaffer in an interview), and the fact she noted it was not Billy who released her from the hex (he merely loosened the lid), on top of her understanding that “sometimes… boys die”—this all could allow for her and Rio to reunite in the future on better footing.
This of course hinges on the fact Agatha does begin to do some of the emotional work on herself that she has been avoiding, by helping Billy and giving herself the thing she felt she lost when she lost Nicholas. But the possibility for her to do that work is now there. She took a step in no longer denying her own emotions through her kiss with Rio, and has the possibility to work through her grief more fully through Billy.
It should also be noted again that by and large, Agatha is not a very communicative person when it comes to her emotions. This is even more so true when acknowledging her feelings around Nicholas and Rio. She only calls Rio by her name once throughout the show, and not even to her face. She never divulges the truth of what happened to Nicholas to Billy, despite the youth seeking that knowledge. So, it is important then for her to wear visual markers of both on her, even where she will not voice their story—she is wrapped up in them all the same, still.
It will be interesting to see where these characters go from here, because it is doubtful this is the last of any of them. And either way, symbolically, I think there is a lot of positive potential, tucked away into the costuming and design choices. Thanks for reading my weird little ramble!
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