MAJOR SPOILER WARNING for “Wednesday” season 2, part 1.
Season 2 of the record-breaking hit “Wednesday” was created with the purpose of being more gothic, more unnerving and even more terrifying than its predecessor. To say that it met expectations is a drastic understatement.
“Wednesday” Season 2 follows Wednesday after an exciting summer indulging in her hobbies, serial killer hunting, as she returns to Nevermore Academy. Fans were left on edge about a mysterious stalker as well as the fate of some of the show’s most beloved characters. Within the first episode, Wednesday throws herself into investigating yet another string of murders, knowing that the life of her best friend is at risk. So far season 2 is high stakes, wildly invigorating and as morbid as ever.
After an invigorating summer serial killer hunting, Wednesday arrives at Nevermore Academy. While discussing their summers, Enid presents Wednesday with a gift, which to my disappointment, was not another snood. Instead, she gives Wednesday a T-shirt with a Beowolf pun, a notion to her love for literature. In return, Wednesday gives her roomie a doll from the Kansas City Scalper, made with real human hair. A fan of gothic literature myself, I was dying with laughter at the irony of their gifts.
Once at Nevermore, Wednesday was met with uncharacteristic popularity when fronted by a group of first-year students. One of which, named Agnes, was later revealed as Wednesday’s stalker.
I thought that this was fantastic because it added ironic flair. Wednesday, who would rather be placed under a guillotine than be idolized, had letters of admiration taped to her door, which she herself said she needed bear traps to combat. Pugsley on the other hand, who strived to fit in, found himself being brushed off by the last season’s stereotypical geek, Eugene.
After giving a rebellious speech at the Pyre, a longstanding Outcast tradition, Wednesday storms off, only to have a violent vision when Enid grabs her shoulder. She seizes and collapses on the floor. She foresees that Enid is going to die, and it will be all her fault. I loved that though she would never admit it, the thought of losing her closest friend haunted even her dark and contorted mind, adding emotional depth to a character who resents emotions entirely.
As the tactful and well-thought-out beginning comes to a shocking close, a new villain emerges. An avian, an Outcast with the ability to control birds, causes the gruesome death of two characters. One of the victims was Sheriff Galpin, a prominent figure in the first season. Of course, Wednesday could not keep her nose out of a good murder mystery and wound up being the one to find the sheriff’s body. She is found on scene by the police and is arrested on the spot. Talk about being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Personally, I really enjoyed the decision to include more types of Outcasts in this season, such as avians and zombies. However, I did not enjoy Slurp’s character, the zombie reincarnated by Pugsley, as I felt he overshadowed the main antagonists and took away from the main plot.
After a wild ride of murderous avians and obsessive stalkery, by the third episode, the dead ends seemed to outnumber the leads. With time running out to save Enid, Wednesday reluctantly attended a school field trip in an attempt to find information in Sheriff Galpin’s hidden cabin.
After finding obituaries of Willow Hill patients in the cabin, the same psychiatric hospital that houses the two antagonists of season 1, Wednesday enlists the help of her deranged Uncle Fester to infiltrate the asylum and find out the identity of Lois, one of the names on the obituaries.
Connections can be made between multiple elements of this show, as it is later revealed that both antagonists, Tyler Galpin and Marylin Thornhill, are housed at the Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital. Coincidence? I think not.
Similarly to how I felt about Slurp overshadowing the main antagonist, I felt the same way about including Galpin and Thornhill to the extreme extent that they were in the final episode. There are already far too many antagonists in this show including Slurp, the Avian and the stalker. Since the season’s pilot, the plot has been building up to revealing the Avian, only to borderline disregard her character by bringing back season 1’s villains; which in my opinion was a bad move on the creative team’s part.
As the number of antagonists continued to grow, what was originally thought to be the name Lois, in a shocking turn of events, was revealed to be an experimentative research program on Outcasts named L.O.I.S, with the purpose of cloning their abilities. This project was pioneered by former Nevermore teacher Augustus Stonehurst and continued by his daughter, Judi Spannegel.
I’ll be honest here, after watching the first episode and obsessing over it until 3 a.m., I gave in and looked up the identity of the Avian who killed Sheriff Galpin and had intent to target Enid. The sheer amount of red herrings such as Dr. Fairburn was a bold but fantastic way to keep the viewers on our toes.
After Judi revealed herself to be the Avian, Fester causes a power surge that unleashes all of the patients. The majority of the remaining L.O.I.S project patients chase Judi, leaving her fate unclear. Meanwhile, Wednesday stays behind to escort a sole woman who remained in her cell, about as close to a good samaritan as Wednesday Addams gets.
This scene gave me mixed feelings. As much as I love the idea behind the L.O.I.S project, the scene felt rushed and ultimately diminished Judi’s character’s fear element, since she ran with no fight. However, the interaction between Wednesday and the mystery woman hints at the potential she could be her missing Aunt Ophelia, which would be a genius plot twist.
In the commotion, Thornhill is able to slip away and immediately rush to release Tyler on what I would call a wildly twisted version of a “maternal instinct.” However, once freed, Tyler impales Thornhill in his cell, ending an era of control that she had on him. Tyler killing his master plays on the idea that the student had become the teacher. Now armed with the knowledge that Wednesday was in the building, he was prepared to school Wednesday in a little something called revenge.
Ultimately, this scene had the contrast between love and utter disdain that I was hoping to see between Judi and the patients. In this scene I could see the adoration Thornhill has for her puppet Tyler, and then the switch to betrayal after Tyler turns on her. With Judi and the patients, Judi ran without a second thought, and the patients had no complexity. They chased her like mind numb zombies if someone hit a kill switch. However, this makes me think that Tyler will continue to be crucial to season 2 to a greater extent than the other antagonists.
The season concludes with Wednesday and Tyler, former lovers turned mortal enemies, coming face to face once again. Tyler, in his Hyde form, does not hesitate to take his retribution and tosses Wednesday out of the window as if she is nothing more than a ragdoll. I love how the creative team plays with the power dynamics in this scene, contrasting Wednesday’s stronger mindset to Tyler’s larger size. Wednesday remains unmoving and retains eye contact, while Tyler charges at her, almost as if she is challenging him until she is thrown. I love how this reflects a twisted version of the tension they felt as lovers.
She lands on the pavement below, bloodied and unconscious, as the police arrive at the scene. In the trailer for part 2, it is confirmed by Morticia that Wednesday’s mystery solving endeavors will be temporarily put on hold as the fall resulted in a coma. It is shocking for me to see Wednesday at her lowest point, when she is actively portrayed as a character who resents all weakness.
Overall, while “Wednesday” season 2 part 1 had its weaker moments scattered with too many antagonists and plots, what it lacked in clarity it made up for in its character dynamics and stellar acting. To me, “Wednesday” is a show that comes across like a fever dream, straight out of the mind of Tim Burton. It had me eating out of the palm of its hand.
Viewers anxiously await the release of “Wednesday” season 2, part 2 on Sept. 3, which will introduce new actors, such as Lady Gaga as the plot continues to unfold. Director and executive producer Tim Burton has fans, including myself, on the edge of their seats. With wild and unprecedented macabre twists appearing at every turn, all we can do is go along for the ride.
