Anything interesting in the opening?

Wanda and Vision are given a scoop of ice-cream by a man whose face is identical to the beekeeper from the last episode.

Is this a coincidence, or did Wanda (or some other force) make him a part of the Westview reality? If it is the same actor, it might simply be another small role, unconnected to the last one.

Fun Fact: The actor, Zac Henry, has already appeared multiple times in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Also, the opening graphics are clearly inspired by the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the house is clearly inspired by The Brady Bunch (as was the doll that Vision practiced changing diapers on), and the usage of hexagons is undeniably purposeful now.

Is there any relevance to Dr Nielson’s name?

It’s most likely a reference to the Nielsen TV Rating system, which is how the TV showbiz collects data on viewership numbers.

Who is Herb, and why did he cut into the fence/wall?

It’s not fully clear why he chose to desecrate the fence/wall, but it’s possible that he did it make Vision question the world around him.

As for who he is, that’s also unclear.

The only relevant ‘Herb’ in the comics is a character The High Evolutionary. In the comics, The High Evolutionary is the one that gave Wanda and Pietro their powers – not Baron Strucker.

Less likely, and this is only mentioned for the trivia aspect, the Fantastic Four have a robotic teammate named HERBIE. HERBIE was an original character, created for the first Fantastic Four cartoon to replace Johnny Storm, the Human Torch (because Marvel didn’t own the TV rights for the Human Torch).

Obviously, the idea that their neighbour Herb is a Fantastic Four robot is completely absurd, but there’s a pretty big coincidence here. Johnny Storm is actually the second Human Torch. The original Human Torch was a robot, and his body was eventually used to create – wait for it – Vision.

Anyway, if Herb is the High Evolutionary, then that means that the events at Westview are most likely more complicated than we’ve considered so far – and it also means that they might qualify for the name ‘Big Red’ as well

Is there any relevance to the butterflies?

Probably not, beyond a simple metaphor/trope – butterflies are often used to signify change, often ‘a new life’ – or perhaps two new lives on this occasion.

Why doesn’t Dr Nielson suspect anything is weird when Vision uses his superspeed?

Vision seems to be able to use his powers without any suspicion, as seen at his job, and now here.

It also happens in the opening for the first episode, where Vision is out the front of his house in full view of neighbours without his disguise on. Is it only Wanda’s powers which make people suspicious? If so, why is that?

With the amount of detail happening in this show, that would be a very weird oversight indeed.

Why couldn’t Wanda make the stork disappear?

It’s probably for one of two reasons: Because her powers weren’t working properly, or because the stork was controlled by someone else.

It’s also possible that the stork even was someone else – someone who might have an interest in making sure the pregnancy is going along as planned. Note that whenever Wanda used her powers on the stork, there was a flash of red smoke – that’s not what Wanda’s powers looks like when they’re used. Or perhaps that’s just what happens to Wanda’s powers when they fail.

Do you know whose powers do use red smoke (at least in the comics)? Mephisto.

Before you start thinking ‘There is no way that the stork was Mephisto’, just check out the next question.

Is there any relevance to the children’s names?

In the comics, Wanda and Vision’s children (who are named William and Thomas) were actually demonshards, which were used to bring two demons back to life.

Is something similar happening here? Is that why Wanda was unable to make the stork disappear – because all of this isn’t actually about her, it’s about her children?

Or are the High Evolutionary and Mephisto in cahoots – Mephisto for the kids (‘for the children!’), and the High Evolutionary for Wanda?

Why was Geraldine vaguely surrounded by red energies when she landed outside Westview?

Because Wanda used her scarlet-hued powers to kicked her out of the Westview reality.

Remember: Gerladine is Monica Rambeau, who will most likely become the superhero Photon.

Perhaps this is how that happens.

Any hexagon-related theories?

It may be nothing, but this is the first episode not to finish the TV show segment with a hexagon.

Assuming that the ‘Hexagon means AIM is involved’ theory is true, does the lack of a hexagon imply that AIM are no longer in control of the Westview reality?

Or, if it was referring to the character named Hive (as represented by the beekeeper in the previous episode) is it related to the fact that the beekeeper’s actor now appears as a friendly and powerless ice-cream vendor in the intro?