Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Agatha All Along Episode 4.

Agatha All Along Episode 4 turns up the heat — and we’re not just talking about the fire trial. Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza) is officially joining the party, and while the coven treads new ground, she and Agatha spend much of it retreading well-worn paths. While this episode gives us some answers, particularly concerning Alice’s (Ali Ahn) tragic backstory, it raises a lot more questions surrounding Rio and Agatha’s past as well as the Teen (Joe Locke) of it all. Let’s get into it.

Who Is the New Green Witch in ‘Agatha All Along’ Episode 4?
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Episode 4 confirms Sharon’s (Debra Jo Rupp) head did indeed roll after the water trial. Most of the coven are mourning her, but Agatha couldn’t care less. Everyone’s pretty upset with her for this, but come on — don’t tell me you’ve never wished one of the partners in your group project would bite the dust. Agatha reminds them that they only needed the whole coven to access the Road; once they’re there, it doesn’t matter if there are casualties. After all, only one witch left with her last time. The coven starts a rematch of the blame game they started when the Road wouldn’t open, now arguing about whose fault it is that Sharon didn’t make it. Teen, who’s lovingly digging a grave for Sharon and adorning it with flowers, interrupts and tells them they’re all at fault for not looking out for each other. The excitement he felt when they first got to the Road is gone; now, he just wants to go home — something that seems to concern Agatha greatly.

They decide to channel this energy into something more productive by attempting to summon a replacement Green Witch. Is that actually allowed? Who cares? They’re all covenless witches and, by extension, rulebreakers. Teen cracks open his spellbook, and they get to work. Lilia (Patti LuPone) hopes the newbie will be strong, wise, and good at her craft; Agatha hopes she’s smart, not annoying, and not super political; Jen (Sasheer Zamata) basically wants her to be hot (real of her); and Alice is just hoping for her to bring some Advil (also real of her). With the wave of her hand, their prayers are answered — but “be careful what you wish for” is a phrase for a reason.

Who crawls out of the ground but Rio Vidal? “Surprise, my lady,” she says, offering Agatha a flower. Agatha immediately lunges at her. Couple goals! The rest of the coven toes the line between being attracted to and terrified of her — as they should be, considering Rio is unhinged, whistling, hopping around, and clarifying that she’s less a Green Witch and more the Green Witch in a truly demonic voice. The coven debates whether they can trust her and decides that the fact that Agatha hates her is probably a plus. Teen goes straight to the person who knows best, asking Agatha if they’re in more trouble now that Rio is here, but she pulls a Meredith Marks and disengages.

What’s Alice’s Trial in ‘Agatha All Along’ Episode 4?
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Lilia reminds Alice that her mom could still be out there on the Road somewhere, but Alice reveals that’s an urban legend — the truth is, her mother (Elizabeth Anweis) died in a hotel fire while on tour but always told Alice that the Road would save her. It’s clear Alice struggles to talk about this, as she refuses to put a squabble between Jen and Agatha to bed when they argue over the lyrics of the ballad, even though she would know best since her mother wrote the most popular version of the song.

Unfortunately for Alice, life has a funny way of forcing you to confront what you want to least. Another house shows up — one Alice knows is for her — and despite the fact she’d rather do just about anything than go inside, she can’t escape it. Seeing the waxing moon phase on the door, they realize they’re naturally at the fire trial. That’s pretty sick and twisted, but at least they all get some really cool ‘70s rocker costumes out of it.

Once they get inside this pinnacle of architecture (I want to live in a non-scary version of this place so badly), they split up to look around for another clue. Lilia and Jen seem to have some strong emotional reactions while looking at the trippy art on the wall, and Alice is drawn to a photograph of her mom. Lorna was trying to open the Road with her concerts — her fans were her coven. It looked glamorous, but everything wasn’t as it seemed, as they had to keep selling things in order to keep a roof over their heads when Alice was a child. Lilia has another vision, blurting, “Alice, don’t!” But Alice doesn’t understand what she’s talking about, and neither does Lilia herself.

Rio is trying to flirt from the jump, but Agatha isn’t having it, brushing her off. Rio eventually follows her into the control room, revealing that she’s growing impatient and wants to cause some damage. Agatha tells her she’s too early, annoyed that she’s now tagging along, but Rio doesn’t have a choice when a witch summons her “down… or up.” Rio questions why she brought the boy along, and Agatha makes some lame excuse about having “many hands.” Sure, Jan.

Agatha then switches gears to the fawning technique she displayed during their fight in Agnes’ house. “Maybe the Road is like Switzerland,” she says, pitching that they call a truce and have “a big adventure… like old times.” Work and play could be nice, right? She just needs the rest of these witches to get her to the end of the Road — Rio can tell her what happens next.

Agatha secretly turns on the intercom so everyone in the main room can hear, attempting to expose Rio’s plan. Rio suggests that Agatha kill these witches — she gets her power, and Rio gets her bodies. Perfect, right? The coven is understandably not too happy that the duo is seemingly in cahoots and planning to pick them off one by one, which makes for a clever strategy on Agatha’s part. “Hey, that’s my coven you’re talking about! I’m not that kind of witch anymore!” she dramatically cries for added effect. Always a performer.

Before the coven can get too deep into another fight, Teen makes their ears bleed (just metaphorically this time) by playing a record. They quickly discover that it’s not just any record — it’s Lorna Wu’s version of “The Ballad of the Witches’ Road.” The reason it sounds like garbage is that the record is playing backwards. As the metronome starts, the timer does, too, with their second trial officially beginning. Everyone is losing their minds — everyone except Rio, who’s smiling. The coven debates whether she’s a tourist or a complete psycho.

To make matters worse, they all begin to get burns on their shoulders, with the only way to stay safe being for them to draw a circle and stand in it. Agatha accuses Alice of infecting them all with her curse, and she cries — she didn’t think it was real, but this is proof that it is. This is why she can’t keep a job and why she ruins everything she touches. This is why she couldn’t save her mom. The spot on her shoulder was never a birthmark at all — it was a generational curse, with her mother having an identical blemish in the exact same spot. Lorna knew firsthand how traumatic this could be, and her version of the ballad was a protection spell, with her intention to save her daughter. She made such a powerful bop it ensured that, somewhere in the world, someone would always be playing it. It doesn’t get more rock and roll than that.

Things escalate quickly from here, with Teen going flying through the wall. The only way to save themselves is for them to get their dysfunctional little band back together and play Lorna’s banger this time. They each grab an instrument and play this version of the ballad even while fires blaze around them. Alice sees the curse manifested as a truly terrifying creature with wings and becomes determined to kill it with the power of song, even as this creepy thing sets her on fire. After singing for their lives (RuPaul would be proud), the monster is expelled, and the top of the piano opens, allowing them to escape. An upgrade from the oven for sure!

What Happens to Teen in ‘Agatha All Along’ Episode 4?
Image via Disney+

Their exit celebration is short-lived when it looks like Teen might join Sharon on the Witches’ Road in the sky — he’s in rough shape, dropping to the ground and bleeding. Agatha freaks out, tearfully pleading with Rio not to do… something by simply saying, “Don’t.” They scramble to assemble some ingredients for Jen to make a healing potion, and lo and behold, it works, with Teen’s injuries getting miraculously patched up. (Though from a look Agatha and Rio share, I’m awfully suspicious the latter has more to do with that than Jen’s alchemy. No offense, Ms. Kale.) Lilia also sees the Three of Swords.

The coven (sans Agatha and honorary coven member Teen) has a little slumber party girl talk around a campfire. (Personally, I think it seems a little soon to willingly be around flames again, but okay.) Jen talks about being an 11th-generation root worker and midwife, lamenting about the day she lost her power. She was invited to the Obstetrics Association of Greater Boston to share expertise, but it turned out to be a trap. She still doesn’t know how the man who bound her did so without magic. Alice reveals that when her mom died, she stopped believing everything she taught her because she was so angry. She hoped the Road wasn’t real so she could stay that way, but now that she knows everything her mom did was for her, she’s sad. “Sad is better than angry,” Lilia assures her before once again ranting against the misconceptions surrounding witches.

Meanwhile, Agatha watches over Teen (aww). When he wakes up, he asks her if she’s the one who put the sigil on him. She denies this once again before admitting there’s no way she could actually know for sure. The sigils work on the witch that casts them, too, which means they’re super irritating. What’s more: Sigils are destroyed — not lifted — when they’re no longer needed. Despite this, Agatha tells Teen that you don’t have to know someone’s name to know who they are. “Careful you don’t say something nice to me,” Teen quips. It’s a sweet moment that, of course, doesn’t last long. The moment Teen dares to ask what really happened to her son, Agatha closes up, her cold demeanor returning once again as she leaves him to join the rest of the group.

When they ask how he is, she simply states, “Mouthy,” which they all think is a pretty good sign. They invite her to share her own battle scars, and she shows them one of a knitting needle she took to the elbow while fighting the Daughters of Liberty. When the group admits they’ve never heard of them, she replies, “Exactly,” which makes them all laugh. Agatha is clearly not used to this kind of camaraderie, as her own laugh is awkward as hell and extremely forced.

It doesn’t help that Rio is sulking throughout the conversation. She admits she has a scar, too, which Agatha immediately and confidently clocks as a lie. (Agatha seems to be very familiar with her body… of work.) Rio explains that she loved someone and hurt them by doing something that he didn’t want to do even though it was her job. “She is my scar,” she states. Overwhelmed with emotion, Agatha has to get up and walk away. Rio follows her — but not before Lilia reminds her she hasn’t forgotten what she said in the control room. Lilia’s got her eyes on her. Rio doesn’t love this, giving her a feral hiss. Once Rio finds Agatha, they share a long, intimate hug. Agatha brushes her hair back, and it looks like she’s about to go in for a kiss before Rio stops her. “That boy isn’t yours,” she tells her, voice firm but soft. Agatha pulls away, giving her an indecipherable smile before walking away once more. What a cliffhanger!

How Does ‘Agatha All Along’ Episode 4 Stack Up?

Don’t get me wrong, I miss Sharon, but I quite missed Rio since we last saw her in the pilot, and I’m so glad it looks like she’s with the group for good. (Though whether she’s actually on their side remains to be seen.) Agatha’s dynamics with Rio and Teen remain the most intriguing parts of the show for me. But despite the stellar costumes and incredible music, this trial itself fell a little flat. Though fun in concept, it doesn’t feel like we spent enough time on the task itself (a common problem with the short episode runtimes), resulting in something that feels more disjointed and rushed than the potion-making, culminating in a less suspenseful experience all around.

That said, what it lacked in plot, it made up for in character — that scene around the fire feels like that’s what this show is all about, and I hope there are more opportunities to slow down and live with the characters in the future. I also hope we get more complications and chances to connect with Alice and her story. Despite this being her trial, she still feels a bit removed and distant from the rest of the group, relegated to the background with all the big personalities (meant as a compliment!) surrounding her, and Ali Ahn deserves a chance to shine!

New episodes of Agatha All Along drop every Wednesday at 9 PM ET on Disney+.

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