“Wednesday” returned for a second season, continuing the story of the ambitious young Wednesday Addams. The season was released in two parts, with the first four episodes airing on August 6 and the final four episodes on September 3.
Jenna Ortega reprised her role as Wednesday, notably joined by Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams and Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin. While Percy Hynes White played a major role in the first season as Xavier Thorpe, his character was entirely absent from this season and is not expected to return.
The acting was as spectacularly campy as ever, something the show has been both acclaimed and criticized for. I personally think the over-the-top expressions and cheesy dialogue adds to the charm, making it a delightful coming-of-age story masquerading as a murder mystery.
While the first season focused predominantly on Wednesday’s relationship with her fellow students, including an unnecessary love triangle that only served to provide shock value when Tyler was revealed to be the Hyde, season two focused more on Wednesday’s relationship with her family.
Wednesday’s complicated dynamic with her mother Morticia takes center stage along with the introduction of Hester Frump (Joanna Lumley), Wednesday’s estranged maternal grandmother. We are also given much more backstory for Morticia and Gomez during their time at school, with Gomez’s former roommate playing a key role and revealing much about the dark past of the Addams family. Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley, played by Isaac Ordonez, also has a much larger role in this season as he becomes a student at Nevermore and must grapple with his own social standing and developing magical abilities.
Personally, I really liked the inclusion of more of the Addams family. It called back to the roots of the show and provided an interesting aspect of intergenerational trauma that I was not expecting but thoroughly enjoyed watching.
Unfortunately, Wednesday’s relationship with Enid—in my opinion one of the most compelling elements of season one felt more like a plot device in this season than an actual relationship. Much of the season hinges on Wednesday’s fear of Enid dying, a concept that would have been much more heartwrenching had the creators taken the time to fully explore their dynamic rather than turning Wednesday’s race against time to save her best friend into a commentary on her hubris. However, with the way the show ended, I am hopeful season three will develop their relationship more fully.
Overall, I found “Wednesday” season two to be a fun watch. While I was not wildly impressed with any one aspect of the show, I found it to be a faithful continuation from season one and I am extremely curious to see where the third season takes the characters outside the frame of Nevermore Academy.
