Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram | YouTube)
Summer vacations are for traveling, partying, dancing, video-gaming, live-streaming, karaoke-ing…. but teen psychic Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is busy tracking down a serial killer from a cold case. On brand.
Directed by Tim Burton, Paco Cabezas, and Angela Robinson, season 2 of the hit Netflix series spans eight episodes and follows protagonist Wednesday as she returns to Nevermore Academy for a new semester with younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez). When brutal killings erupt around Nevermore and a vision warns Enid’s (Emma Myers) life is at risk, Wednesday starts to investigate the murders with Thing at her side. In a surprise, parents Gomez Addams (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones) move into a guest house on campus after Morticia is invited to chair a charity gala for the Academy.
Also Read: Wednesday Season 1 Review: Wickedly Good
All the elements that made me fall in love with Season 1 of ‘Wednesday’ are back in Season 2: crime, murder, violence, horror, mystery, fantasy, teen drama, and an excellent soundtrack. I was hoping for more nefarious villains, but the antagonists in the follow-up aren’t as wickedly evil as they could have been. Still, I was more than adequately distracted by a zombie! Owen Painter plays ‘Slurp’, the zombie Pugsley secretly adopts as a pet on campus.
A whole bunch of new exciting characters are added to the Wednesday universe for season 2, including new Principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), new music teacher Isadora Capri (Billie Piper), Dr Fairburn (Thandiwe Newton) who looks after inmates at the Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, and Joanna Lumley as Wednesday’s grandmama Hester Frump. However, the standout new cast member is teen actor Evie Templeton as Agnes Demille, a new student who leads the Wednesday fan club at school.
This time, the show also delves into the rocky relationship between Morticia and her daughter, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is perfection as Mrs. Addams. For the first time, Morticia and Gomez in this live-action adaptation truly embodied the iconic cartoon counterparts I grew up watching as a kid (I loved The Addams Family on Cartoon Network, so yes, I have a nostalgic bias for this series).
Meanwhile, a side plot tracks Principal Dort trying to squeeze a donation out of Hester Frump, with some help from Bianca Barclay’s (Joy Sunday) siren abilities. Grandmama Frump, a fabulously wealthy mortuary mogul, delights in reminding people that “death is recession-proof.”
Friendship, family, and supernatural mayhem are the main themes in this season, with Wednesday’s need to protect Enid from a grisly death serving as the driving force in the tale. A lot of clues point Wednesday to the Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, where several dangerous ‘outcasts’ are patients. Hunter Doohan is also back as Tyler Galphin, kept imprisoned in the psychiatric facility, who once again gets to go on a rampage. However, they’re also new antagonists in this season, newer faces with their own private agendas, all scuttled by our nosy psychic protagonist. Fred Armisen reprises his role as the eccentric Uncle Fester, who breaks into Will Hill, to uncover its secrets and help his niece crack her latest case.
From lavish camping trips to grisly deaths, murderous crows, electric shock therapy, psychological duels, and sword fights, ‘Wednesday‘ Season 2 dials up the gothic violence. The soundtrack soars, with a standout scene in episode 4 where the new music teacher delivers a haunting piano rendition of “Zombie” by The Cranberries, underscoring bloody chaos in intercut sequences.
Episode six brings a riotous body-swap twist, with best friends Wednesday and Enid forced into each other’s shoes thanks to a meddling spirit. It’s a showcase of versatility for both leads. Jenna Ortega is hilarious as she channels the bubbly, colorful Enid, while Emma Myers nails Wednesday’s deadpan murder-eyes. Their impersonations are so convincing that, for a moment, it almost feels like they dubbed each other’s voices, but that’s not the case.
Forget romance, this season thrives on friendships and family drama, with even the villains stuck in their own messy households. One of the biggest twists grows right out of those ties. As for Pugsley? Nobody explains why he’s suddenly at Nevermore (though, sure, it’s convenient to keep both Addams kids in one school). Poor boy winds up as bait in the finale, and in classic Wednesday fashion, she seems far keener on sacrificing him than staging a heartfelt rescue.
Some fans may argue that the overcrowded cast leaves Jenna Ortega with less room to shine as the deadpan, murder-obsessed Wednesday. Still, the season closes with the promise of wilder adventures ahead, another semester ends, and Wednesday rides off on Uncle Fester’s motorcycle, ready to chase a case that’s more personal than ever.
Watch ‘Wednesday’ on Netflix.
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