Wednesday Season 2, Part 2 Review

At the beginning of September, Netflix released the long-awaited second part of the second season of "Wednesday." We already reviewed the first four episodes. The highly anticipated continuation of the show had its merits, but there were also plenty of drawbacks. The final four episodes were supposed to put everything in its place. Did they really manage to repeat the success and maintain the quality? There’s plenty to discuss, so let’s get to it.

After freeing the victims of a mad scientist’s experiments from a psychiatric hospital, Wednesday once again faced her enemy and former love interest—Tyler, aka Hyde. This time, the monster boy threw his would-be girlfriend out of a second-story window, leaving the girl in black in a coma.

However, she didn’t remain unconscious for long—just enough time to meet her new “guide.” In the show’s lore, this is what they call Wednesday’s guardian spirit, who helps her with her psychic abilities. If previously it was an ancestor of the Addams family, now it’s none other than Nevermore’s former principal—Larissa Weems. This solution seems rather clichéd but not bad, as Gwendoline Christie’s character turned out to be very distinctive and memorable, though she clearly didn’t get enough screen time in the first season. Roles of extravagant and sarcastic women suit this actress much more than the genderless Lucifer fantasies in the recent “Sandman.”

However, only a relative can be a guide, and here the writers added some white threads, immediately explaining that Larissa and Wednesday actually share common roots somewhere in the 13th generation. Just like that. Now the heroine can see the principal, but no one else can, which creates predictable situations where the girl is repeatedly asked, “Who are you talking to?”

In our review of the first part, we already wrote that the central new investigation felt extremely blurry. All four episodes, Wednesday does something, but nothing important or specific, just a set of quests in Tim Burton’s signature world. And so it turned out. The real conflict arises and develops only in the final episodes, which makes the plot of the second season rather strange.

The story takes a long time to get going and introduces characters very slowly without developing them. For example, we got a mysterious outcast villain who controls birds, a zombie named Sploosh, the still-evil Tyler, and a new Nevermore principal who exploits the sirens’ hypnotic abilities to improve the school’s budget. And that’s basically all the characterization the new antagonists get by the end of episode four.

The second part suddenly picks up speed and dumps a ton of exposition in a rush, trying to fit into four episodes what could easily have been spread over six or even ten. We repeat—in the first season, Wednesday very smoothly got involved in the investigation and search for the mysterious killer, and all events were clearly interconnected. Now, the first and second chapters feel like separate works, both average, but for different reasons. The rush is probably the main drawback of the final episodes. However, you can’t accuse the finale of lacking important events. Everyone turns out to be connected, controversial questions are resolved, and secrets are explained. It’s just a shame that due to the limited runtime, it feels more like a race than a detective story.

However, there were some nuances. We'll try to avoid spoilers, so we'll just say that the main villains generally turned out well—they have clear grievances against the Addams family. However, this is mostly thanks to the actors and their performances. The motives and actions raise questions. If Tyler really is a tragic villain who was used for personal gain for a long time, now we just have a group of outright freaks wreaking havoc for their own selfishness. They have the opportunity and resources to act differently, but they simply don't want to.

Wednesday and her friends are no better in this respect. At a key moment, she ignores logic and, instead of giving the opponents what they want without unnecessary casualties, solving the problem and eliminating the threat at the root, she only fuels even more hatred toward herself and her family. As they say—without this, there would be no show, we get it.

The ending is downright puzzling, as it's very hard to understand the motivations of the heroine and Tyler. The latter switches sides on the fly, which only makes things worse for himself. It's already quite obvious that Hyde-boy will become the Voldemort analogue and the show's main recurring villain, but the setup for this remains dubious, as does the writers’ strained desire to add a new level of ambiguity to Wednesday and Tyler’s relationship.

However, we’d like to highlight Owen Painter, who played Sploosh. Hopefully, it’s not a spoiler to say that the character has a deeper story and personality than we were shown in the first chapter—it was obvious. The actor did a great job as a complete, arrogant villain, and we think he’s perfect for the role of young Tom Riddle in the upcoming Harry Potter series. The energy is just so similar. We hope Netflix gives Owen more work in the future and doesn’t overlook such potential.

As for the strange Nevermore principal, even in the early episodes, this storyline seemed unnecessary. Nothing has changed. If you cut out the whole conflict between Barry Dort and the siren Bianca, nothing would fundamentally change, though the runtime would be much shorter. The need for the older Addams family members to be present would also disappear. This once again proves that the central plot was short and rather poor in nuances, so side activities had to be added.

The long-awaited appearance of Lady Gaga was also disappointing. The singer and actress was rumored to play a teacher, but she was apparently replaced by another character—Isadora Capri, played by Billie Piper. Gaga herself appears for a few seconds and doesn’t even have time to show her trademark charisma. Did Netflix run out of money? At this rate, we’re expecting Johnny Depp in season three, who will flash by for half a second from the back. But in the promotional campaign, they'll talk about it so many times you’ll lose count.

The rest of the characters, as we wrote earlier, are wonderful. Wednesday’s parents are revealed a bit more than one might have expected after the first chapter, but these characters were already fine. Morticia and Gomez are absolutely spectacular, and every scene with them is a genuine delight for the viewer. Much more attention was finally paid to Enid and the new almost-friend of the roommates—the invisible girl Agnes. If in the early episodes Agnes’s obsession with Wednesday’s life was more annoying, now the character has found her place and organically fit into the mad duo of the werewolf and the psychic. The girl is already being praised all over the internet, so we’ll definitely see her in season three.

Enid also got more screen time, once again reminding us that she’s actually the show’s second main character, not just an appendage to Wednesday who only helps when necessary. The roommates had a serious, grown-up heart-to-heart and became even closer in Burton’s signature crazy style. Little Addams finally made some progress in her character and gained new traits, which we’d be interested to see develop in the future. Even the new viral dance was shown, but it’s unlikely to spread among fans as much, since this time the stars were not Wednesday but Enid and Agnes. In our opinion, it turned out a bit more feminist than necessary, since Agnes basically replaced Enid’s boyfriend, but it’s still beautiful and effective.

Unfortunately, Pugsley—Wednesday’s brother—has finally faded into the background, remaining a passing character without any special or memorable traits. The boy is needed only as a plot device and nothing more. Pugsley fades even more next to his sister when they’re in the same scene, making him frankly secondary and unnecessary. The guy has his own arc and tragedy, since the family often forgets he exists, but this conflict is never developed, which is rather sad. Another good opportunity to expand the runtime that was somehow missed. Even when Wednesday practically sacrifices herself to save her brother, it leads to neither dialogue nor a reevaluation of the situation.

But Thing was revealed in a completely new way. The hyped living hand from the first season became the show’s main feature. In the first four episodes, we got a small hint about Thing’s feelings regarding its past. The second chapter fully explores this topic, doing so originally and creatively. One of those moments that turned out to be unexpected and memorable for us.

The show is still shot just as effectively and colorfully. The second part of the second season is in no way inferior to the first; the visuals are pleasant. The music also surprised us, though there could have been more reworked famous tracks. Overall, it’s a solid job without laziness, where the creators continue to stick to their chosen style and color palette, skillfully placing accents and highlighting details. It’s clear that they didn’t skimp on sets, cinematography, or costumes.

Summing up the entire second season of “Wednesday,” we’re left with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s a full-fledged continuation of the original concept, expanding the lore, adding new world details, and slightly deepening the characters. On the other hand, the plot turned out too choppy and isn’t always able to maintain the right pace and intensity. Fans will likely be disappointed by the lack of content, and casual viewers probably won’t be too impressed. However, it must be noted that “Wednesday” remains one of the main fantasy shows of today: expensive, high-quality, with a superb cast—each actor in their place. We sincerely hope that the writers and Tim Burton himself have already planned the overall story development for the future and will stick to the plan as the creators of “Stranger Things” do. Right now, it’s too obvious that after the first season finale, the story was developed from scratch, and no one thought ahead. Maybe we’re wrong, but that’s the impression. Still, the show does the main thing—it really makes you want to see more. Let’s just hope Jenna Ortega doesn’t grow up completely and start a family by then. Otherwise, her schoolgirl image will have serious problems.