This article contains spoilers!
Ever since she was originally created in the 1930s, Wednesday Addams has been an iconic figure of intriguing dark humor and goth energy alongside the rest of her morbid family. In the 2022 hit TV Wednesday, television show adapters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar particularly zoom in on Wednesday, her friends, and their lives at Nevermore, a school for those with supernatural abilities.
In season one, Wednesday had a terrifying run-in with her love-interest-turned-Hyde, a monstrous humanoid creature, Tyler Galpin. Season two now opens with Wednesday returning to school. However, a year at Nevermore never begins without a hitch, and this year is no different. Wednesday notices strange one-eyed ravens who seem to follow her and her best friend, Enid. These bird sightings are followed by a foreboding vision showing a tombstone with Enid’s name on it. Despite her usual apathetic demeanor, Wednesday’s care for Enid, albeit rarely expressed, spurs her into action after seeing this vision. She and her sidekick Thing, a fully automated amputated hand, go on the hunt and discover that the outcast who was controlling the ravens was Judi, an admin at the psychiatric hospital where Tyler Galpin is being held.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley accidentally raises a zombie from the dead and decides to keep him as a pet. Pugsley names his new friend Slurp, after his appetite for human brains. Interestingly, the more and more Slurp eats brains, the less zombie-like and more human he becomes. With enough brains, Slurp becomes fully human again and promptly kidnaps his captor, Pugsley. Trying to save Pugsley, Wednesday also gets captured by Slurp and buried alive. By the final episode, a shocking truth is revealed. Slurp’s real name is Isaac Night and he was a student at Nevermore alongside Wednesday’s parents. It is revealed that Wednesday’s mother, Morticia Addams, cut off Isaac’s right hand to save her to-be husband, Gomez, from a tortuous electrical experiment. In the process, Isaac’s hand came to life with electricity. And so, the mysterious origin of Thing is finally revealed.
One of the many strengths of the show is popular actress Jenna Ortega’s portrayal of the lead heroine Wednesday. Ortega does an excellent job of bringing life to her character and her acting provides an eerie and dark-humored feel to the show that many viewers are drawn to. Additionally, many found her character development as she faced challenges—such as her psychic ability—refreshing and admirable. This season, her psychic ability began causing trouble when, ominously, Wednesday’s eyes began to bleed when using her ability. Meanwhile new cast additions, such as Steve Buscemi in the role of the new, quirky principal of Nevermore, were warmly welcomed by critics and fans alike. Another strength many critics praise is the development of friendships and romantic relationships between characters, such as the friendship between Enid and Wednesday.
However, there were also some flaws of the new season that were less present in the first season of the show. Critics argue that the two-part release schedule of the second season resulted in a distorted pace and disjointed narrative that made the show less suspenseful and gripping. Some also criticize that the plot contained an excessive number of sub-plots and minor details that bogged down the quality of the overall plot. While season two of Wednesday has its share of flaws, it continues to entertain viewers with its unique blend of horror and mystery elements, while still containing a mix of positive messages of character-growth, friendship, and storytelling.
