After 3 wearying years, the much-anticipated second season of the mystery series Wednesday has finally arrived . This time, the main character, Wednesday Addams, returns to Nevermore Academy to stop a murder scheme involving her best friend and roommate, Enid.
Now a trained Raven with cynical psychic abilities, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) returns to Nevermore alongside her brother Pugsley (Issac Ordonez), who’s now capable of controlling electricity. While Pugsley struggles to fit in with his bug-controlling Swarmer roommate Eugene (Moosa Mostafa), Wednesday grapples with unwanted fame and reconnects with her werewolf friend Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), who’s now part of a pack.
When a string of murders by a murder of crows and the death of former sheriff Galpin surfaces, Wednesday discovers she’s being stalked by an obsessive fan, the Vanisher Agnes DeMille (Evie Templeton). Following this discovery, a terrifying vision reveals that Wednesday will be the cause of Enid’s death. Meanwhile, Pugsley accidentally reanimates a zombie genius named Slurp (Owen Painter), who turns out to be Issac Night, Gomez’s old friend (Luis Cuzmán)Issac is trying to save his sister, Francoise Galpin (Frances O’Conner), who is dying from her hide ability— a monstrous form that requires a master to survive. As the
siblings’ adventures intertwine, they uncover dark truths about their family and the past that binds them all.
Structurally, Season 2 mirrors the first, centering on Wednesday’s life at Nevermore—ironically, the first school she’s ever willingly returned to. Almost immediately, she’s plunged into another mystery involving the crow murders, including that of ex-sheriff Galpin. However, two additional threats soon emerge: the accidental resurrection of the zombified Isaac Night, and, most importantly, Enid’s foretold death. This prophecy becomes Wednesday’s primary motivation, leading her to distance herself from Enid in a desperate attempt to save her. Agnes’s arrival as a potential “replacement best friend” only deepens the rift. Enid, unaware of Wednesday’s true intentions, feels increasingly alienated until the inevitable “body swap” episode, where Wednesday-as-Enid’s action ultimately saves her life and mends their friendship. This serves as the main motivation of the season, where Wednesday tries to keep her friend safe through her last option, near-total estrangement. In addition to the separation, newcomer Agnes’s competition for the spot as Wednesday’s new best friend strains Wednesday’s friendship with Enid. Furthermore, Enid begins to feel alienated because of Wednesday’s endeavors to prevent her from seeing the vision, not knowing that it’s for her well-being. It’s not until the inevitable “body swap” episode that the girls are able to reconcile, and in one fell swoop, Wednesday-as-Enid’s actions manage to save her friend from death.
Among the cast, Enid undergoes the most significant growth. While her sparkly, rainbows-and-unicorn personality remains constant across the season, her character experiences numerous challenges—two breakups, competition from Agnes, the revelation that she’s an Alpha werewolf (risking permanent transformation under the full moon), and the prophecy of her death. However, she stays optimistic throughout, growing to accept her life and going out of her way to help Wednesday until the end, even if it means sacrificing her humanity in doing so.
Newcomer Agnes had several major character developments across the series as well. Originally a Wednesday yandere superfan who tries to emulate everything about her heroine, from her sardonic, emotionless personality to her signature braided hairstyle. Agnes slowly learns that she may be (ahem) stepping a bit too far while fangirling, to the point of Wednesday herself telling the freshman girl to stop. Only then does Agnes embrace her own self and become a unique and useful character. Agnes also possesses the ability to become invisible, making her the perfect spy (and stalker) to help relay information to Wednesday from suspicious sources she’s overheard. While she can be very mysterious and sometimes downright creepy, Agnes has proven herself as a valuable asset and a loyal friend to Wednesday.
Thing, surprisingly, gets a backstory here as well–he was originally Isaac Night’s hand, before a freak accident separated him from Night’s body and made him sentient. In fact, Thing’s name is an anagram of Night! Honestly, this is the first time we get an actual backstory to the hand, and I have to admit, it surprised me. Isaac usually has a glove over his right hand, so normally, I would assume he’d regenerate it, so it didn’t occur to me that the glove, actually filled with animated dirt, acted as a prosthetic hand for the zombie until he took it off. One thing’s for sure, (pun not intended) it really brings more life to the beloved hand.
Cameos and Easter eggs are also rampant in Season Two, the most significant being Lady Gaga as Rosaline Rotwood. The pop artist made the Addams Family famous by being the creator of “Bloody Mary”, the song most commonly associated with the Wednesday Dance TikTok trend. Seeing her fictionalized calls back to that trend, making her both an Easter Egg and a celebrity cameo. Others include Steve Buscemi’s look, apparently based on Edgar Allen Poe, several nods to the original 1960s show inside Morticia’s new cottage, including a stuffed bear, and Francoise’s patient number, 1938, and the year the Addams Family arrived at the New York Times.
The episodes themselves were enjoyable to watch, although I was unsure about the first half. Some parts felt a tad weaker than the rest, like revealing that a character, Judi Spannagel (Heather Matarazzo), who hasn’t been focused on as much throughout that arc, is the perpetrator behind the crow murders. There were, however, red herrings scattered vigilantly around the first half. For example, a birdcage next to the asylum doctor Rachael Fairburn (Thandiwe Newton) is seen when Wednesday interrogates her after an attack at Nevermore, leading to several false starts, just like the first season. However, when we discover the culprit and she’s defeated (and killed by Isaac), we almost immediately drop everything about it, and turn to the Enid’s death-oriented second half immediately, as well as releasing all three big bads of the second season: Isaac, the Hyde Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) from the first season, and his mother Francoise.
The second half, however, is much more enjoyable than the first. Wednesday has her first real brush with death by landing into a coma post-being thrown out of a window, the Night-Galpin family reunites and reconciles, and Enid’s still in a precarious position. While there were some episodes I wasn’t too sure if they were going to be successful, such as the now-cliche trope of the main characters switching bodies in Episode 6: “Woe Thyself”, they turned out to be some of the best of the season. For example, “Woe Thyself”, in switching Wednesday and Enid, not only saves Enid from her fate, but reconstitutes their friendship after their experiences in each other’s bodies, after admitting what they admired about each other. In addition, Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendolyn Christie) returns from the dead as Wednesday’s new spirit guide (apparently they’re 13th cousins twice removed), adding a new tone of lightness as the two bicker throughout the remainder of Season 2. Morticia and Wednesday also share a case of mommy issues: Morticia with Joanna Lumley’s Grandmama Hester (who looks nothing like the original Charles Addams cartoon) for not taking good enough care of her now-deranged sister Ophelia, and Wednesday with Morticia herself for being too restrictive about her powers and for keeping secrets from her. However, the season’s finale finally shows that the three apparently come to an understanding and use their visions to help them find and stop Isaac and Francoise.
Overall, Season Two is creepy and kooky in all the ways an Addams Family feature could be. But like Season One, it’s lighthearted and fun. The mysteries are intriguing, the fear factor is prevalent, and the acting is phenomenal. Overall, Wednesday’s second season serves as a great addition to an already legendary legacy, and with a greenlight for a third season underway, we can’t wait to see what’s next.
