Wednesday season 2 (Part 2)

Wow was this a weird second-half of a season. 

Of course Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) didn’t die after the climactic rendezvous with her nemesis/lover Tyler (Hunter Doohan) at the end of the first half of season 2 of Wednesday, but the plot developments of these four new episodes are surprising, paying off some odd choices from the first part in bold ways. 

I won’t spoil them for you, but in general it’s a mixed bag. Even though fun is a constant here, the stories themselves sometimes fall into cliches or very strange places that left me scratching my head. 

On the bright side, Enid (Emma Myers) is back on the spotlight, having a much more interesting plot this time around. Episode 6 is wild, for her and Wednesday in particular, with strong performances from both Myers and Ortega and a strong emotional core. You’ll know what I mean when you see it. 

We also get important development from Agnes (Evie Templeton), one of the standout new characters from the first four episodes of the season. She’s the best thing, actually, always stealing the scenes where she’s in and having a clear arc as a character. Her complex relationship with Enid is even more interesting than the one that she has with Wednesday. 

Luckily, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) gets more to do as well, and the relationship she has with her mother is something particularly engaging. A good teaser for what’s to come. 

Now, there are three dynamics at play that could’ve been handled better. There was a lot of promise on the evolution and subsequent threat of Tyler, given what happened on the first half of the season, and even though we get a deeper exploration into his family, plot twists get in the way of him becoming a fully fleshed-out villain and he becomes an accessory more than a character, sadly. Hunter Doohan is a carismatic pressence so it’s sad to see him so sidelined. 

The new villains of the season aren’t that convincing either, with their motivations suddenly feeling rushed and forcibly linked to the main characters‘ history and narrative. There’s especially an irritating moment surrounding them and Thing (the hand who’s Wednesday’s sidekick) that feels so cringey.

Steve Buscemi’s (Principal Dort) storyline resolution commits the same sin, all of a sudden finishing and becoming the main point of focus in episode 7. It seems the show only wanted to make him a villain so it had more to tell, yet it feels more cartoonish and underdeveloped than anything.

And let’s talk about Gaga: she does a fine job with what she was given, playing an ominous character who challenges Wednesday on episode 6. However, there was a lot of buzz surrounding her and her appearance that what we ended up getting was just not enough. 

As an icing on the cake, I hate when shows retcons you, and the twists here make you lose stakes and all sense of danger. You’ll notice what I mean once you’re caught up. 

At the end of the day, Wednesday season 2 part 2 made good on its promise to resolve the narrative threads of the first. It fixed some mistakes albeit added plenty of other ones, leaving its mark as a fun but flayed show. Its saving grace though continues to be its characters, remaining strong enough for me to want to keep tuning in.