Full spoilers ahead for VisionQuest Episode 7!
Paul Bettany may nominally be the star of VisionQuest, but we can all probably agree that this has largely been The James Spader Show up until now. Spader’s gleefully acerbic Ultron has been the best and most pressing reason to follow the series. But we shouldn’t count out Bettany. He has a lot to bring to the table, and Episode 7 allows him to really stretch his legs and prove that he can dominate the screen every bit as capably as Spader.
“Immolation” opens with a WWII-era flashback, where we finally meet the elusive Phineas Horton in the flesh. And – surprise, surprise – he turns out to be played by Mr. Bettany. This is the first of several opportunities Bettany has to play a different character in Episode 7, and he doesn’t waste it. There’s such a palpable sense of haunted suffering emanating from Horton in this scene, and it nicely sets the tone for the rest of the episode.
From there, the show forces Vision to look inward and finally deal with all the emotions and memories he’s been suppressing since he first climbed off that operating table at S.W.O.R.D. If VisionQuest is literally about the character undertaking a stereotypical vision quest, then this marks the point where he consumes a bunch of peyote and goes off in search of true enlightenment.
I enjoyed the way Vision’s descent into his own mind is framed here. It feels a bit like the MCU doing a riff on Hideo Kojima’s P.T. Vision keeps circling the same hallways, with each loop bringing an extra dose of dread and psychological unease. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s really fun how the series chooses to give visual representation to the complex digital processes unfolding in the minds of Vision, Ultron, and Jocasta.
During this journey inward, Bettany gets the chance to switch roles again and play the classic, pre-Infinity War Vision. That makes for a very entertaining clash between Visions. I won’t say Bettany’s two performances are wildly different here, but there is a subtle distinction to how he plays the older, wiser, more emotionally well-adjusted Vision.
All of this psychological turmoil culminates with White Vision getting to the root of his subconscious and encountering not just the digitized remains of Horton, but also his signature creation, J.I.M. All these years removed from Captain America: The First Avenger, it’s quite a treat to see the original Human Torch (not that he’s named as such here) introduced as an actual character and not just a background prop.
It’s here that Bettany really digs in and starts chewing some scenery. You have to admire his ability to take what is essentially four variations of the same character and make each into such distinct roles with their own vibe and cadence. And even just in terms of White Vision, it’s a nice change seeing him dig into the emotion of the role and let loose everything the character has so carefully bottled up over the years. This episode is truly Bettany’s finest hour on the series so far.
Comparatively, the rest of Episode 7 is a bit underwhelming. On the Ultron/Jocasta front, we just don’t spend enough time with the characters for their parallel journey to resonate as strongly as Vision’s does. That all ends too abruptly for its own good. As for the events unfolding in Paladin’s (Todd Stashwick) hideout, it gets the job done as far as adding a bit of extra drama and tension to Vision’s jorney, but it’s very much secondary to the real meat of “Immolation.”
Things certainly end on an inriguing note, though. We finally meet Paladin’s elusive benefactor, and he’s not Phineas Horton or J.I.M., as expected. Who is this seemingly human version of Ultron? We’ll surely find out in the finale next week.