Jenna Ortega’s psychic teen detective returns for the first part of Wednesday’s second season. Splitting the part into two seasons will likely leave fans wanting more than just four episodes. Although our time with Wednesday Addams is fleeting, we still get time for macabre balls, gory mysteries that need resolving, shenanigans on a camping trip, and a whole new cast of oddball characters.
We reunite with Wednesday (Ortega), tied up in a serial killer’s basement. The show flashes back six weeks earlier, with a hilarious scene in which the young Addams daughter unloads all her weapons at airport security. This mini plot is a deceptive introduction to Wednesday’s wackily macabre work.
The opening episode is an eccentric slice of distinctively Burton slapstick that feels more important to season 2 than it actually is. The Scalper is a character the show soon moves on from, but one thing that lingers from Wednesday’s encounter with him is that her psychic powers are waning. This gothic Nancy Drew’s psychic powers now come with adverse side effects, including black tears and a horrible prediction. This opening scene (which was released prior to the season landing on Netflix) is one of the many red herrings and fakeouts the show uses to deceive audiences.
The real plot kicks off when Wednesday arrives back at Nevermore Academy for outcasts. Joining her this time is her little brother, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), who is trying to harness his powers alongside his new roommate Eugene. Some things have changed in the gothic halls of Nevermore Academy. Gone is Gwendoline Christie’s Larissa Weems, and instead, Steve Buscemi takes over the role as Principal Dort. Joining the staff at the school for outcasts is Billie Piper’s Miss Capri, a mysterious music teacher, and Christopher Lloyd as an uncanny valley teaching head called Professor Olaf. Those waiting for Lady Gaga’s appearance will have to wait for the next part of season 2, next month.
Wednesday Addams is back in her dorm room with the delightfully chipper Enid (Emma Myers) and her handy companion Thing. She thinks she’s going to spend the next school term working on her novel (which she is struggling to find a publisher for) and avoiding her classmates, but soon a note from a stalker distracts Wednesday. When her psychic powers show her an unpleasant future, she must follow the clues and fight to stop it from becoming a reality while battling her new stalker.
It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Jenna Ortega playing Wednesday. She totally embodies this character with her deadpan humour and glass-eyed stare. Very few actresses could deliver such hilarious lines with such an expression of distain. It’s a feat that the actress can command the screen during the many monologues without moving her face, blinking or losing the audience’s attention.
Thankfully, the out-of-place love plot has been pushed aside, with both of Wednesday’s former love interests, Tyler and Xavier, out of the picture. It never sat right with fans that so much of her storyline relied on a love triangle and the show listened. But the show isn’t necessarily sure what to do with the character’s personal life instead.
In season 2, Wednesday is strangely sidelined in her own story. This season puts much more focus on her parents, Morticia (Catherine Zeta Jones) and Gomez (Luiz Guzman), and her brother Pugsley. Morticia and Wednesday’s relationship is heavily explored over the three episodes, with the matriarch forced to look at her relationship with her own other (Joanna Lumley) and her yet-to-be-seen sister Ophelia. Jones is bewitching, sadly overshadowing her on-screen daughter in every scene they share together.
An appearance by Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen), who helps Wednesday out on her investigation, totally steals the final episode in part 1. No one is having more fun on TV this year than Armisen as the eccentric goth infiltrating the local insane asylum. The rumoured spin-off for this delightfully wacky uncle can’t come soon enough, judging by his one-episode appearance.
By sidelining Wednesday, the writers also struggle to know what to do with Enid. Fans of their dynamic will be disappointed that she gets put on the shelf (alongside her new boyfriend) instead of joining in the shenanigans. Although the plot explains why she takes a backseat on Wednesday’s missions, their relationship is sorely missed. Instead, Siren Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday) gets a bigger role in this series, helping the morally dubious with the new principal in the promise of achieving her political ambitions.
Wednesday never feels as fully formed as some of the side characters, especially in her life outside of being a detective. She still feels like a flat stereotype, not given the layers Ortega’s performance deserves. The opening episode tells the audience that Wednesday is now a local celebrity thanks to her work in season 1. It also tells the audience that she has a stilted relationship with her mother, but neither is organically shown on-screen. The show is too worried about Wednesday delivering zingers than making her another more layered than outcast detective.
This season also feels much more like it belongs to Tim Burton than the first. It has all the trademarks of his creative touch, from the wonky buildings to the elaborate costumes and the stop-motion flashbacks. There is no doubting the quality of the world-building and the attention to detail. But when you strip back all these bold aesthetic choices, Wednesday feels like a formulaic YA story with a misunderstood yet genius heroine and a cast of side-characters who underestimate her.
This show also struggles to understand who it is for. Some elements feel like a grown-up crime show with far-fetched clues, sinister characters, and bloody deaths. But much of the setting and dialogue feel more suited to younger, teenage audiences. Then a really silly sequence comes in, and Wednesday feels like a show made for small children. The opening scene with the Scalper is the perfect level of shenanigans for a grown-up audience but a later sequence on a campground feels like it belongs in a kids TV show.
Wednesday, season 2, part 1, is much more of an ensemble show than the previous season. Unfortunately, this forces Wednesday Addams and Ortega to take a step back and battle for screentime alongside Hollywood heavyweights who chew scenery and steal scenes.
Wednesday Season 2 Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
Learn more about the show at the official site for the title.
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