Wednesday: Season 2 – Review and Summary

While watching season 2 won’t cause woe, it does present itself as season 1.5, as it seems unsure what to do with anyone not named Wednesday, and who isn’t fodder for her.

ByAmari Allah Hours Posted on Hours Updated on

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Wednesday: Season 2 Details

Season 2 Storylines/ Summary

Like in season 1, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) finds herself caught up in one mystery after another, which ranges from having a stalker to a former student of Nevermore who murders multiple people as they seek a cure for their sibling. But, while Wednesday is more than capable of playing detective, due to losing her raven psychic abilities, she finds herself reliant on both new and old characters.

As for the others? While Gomez (Luis Guzmán), Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) are more prominent, they don’t necessarily have autonomous storylines. Gomez is there to support his family, with nothing going on strictly about his own development. Morticia finds herself facing her past as her mother, Hester (Joanna Lumley), joins the show, and Wednesday reminds her of her sister Ophelia, who hasn’t been seen in years. Pugsley? He joins Nevermore and partly gets to have his own life in part 1 of the season, but later is absorbed into one of Wednesday’s mysteries.

Moving beyond the Addams family, Enid (Emma Myers) is trying to navigate now being able to wolf out, new relationships, and Wednesday being weirder than normal towards her. Ajax (Georgie Farmer)? Well, with Enid changing so much over the summer, their relationship is on rocky ground, and with Enid bonding with a fellow lupin named Bruno (Noah B. Taylor), they could be over, which leaves Bianca (Joy Sunday). While Morning Song is on the brink of collapsing, thanks to Bianca exposing them and getting her mother out, it doesn’t mean she and her kind are free.

You see, the replacement for Weems (Gwendoline Christie), Principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), is desperate for donation money for Nevermore and coerces the scholarship recipient, Bianca, to get certain characters involved in the upcoming gala. Thus giving Wednesday the show, and character Wednesday, a lot to handle and no time at all to ever be in class.

Review

Highlight(s)

Wednesday’s Tongue Is Sharp as ever [84/100]

I would submit that most of the investment put into Wednesday is put into its title character, and understandably so. Wednesday is a cultural icon, the star of the Addams family, hence why people have made, or attempted to make, spin-offs of her character more than Gomez, Morticia, or any other character. Never mind, after the first season, she reinserted herself as not only a cultural icon, but also a money-making IP.

So, regarding season 2, it only makes sense that one of Wednesday’s key features, beyond the death stare, her sharp tongue, got sharpened. Mind you, outside of Tyler (Hunter Doohan), once or twice, does Wednesday often kill by a thousand cuts? No. However, you can tell there was effort put into making most of Wednesday’s lines worthy of a smirk, and there was a push to make sure she continued to come off clever as she verbally sparred with other characters.

Agnes [86/100]

Agnes (Evie Templeton) taking note of something she saw while invisible - Wednesday

While there are many new characters introduced, most clearly weren’t crafted to last beyond the season, and even when including them, the only one who truly stood out was Agnes (Evie Templeton). As an Outcast capable of disappearing, she became Wednesday’s right hand, sometimes becoming more of an aide than Thing in Wednesday’s various mysteries.

You could even say, in season 2, Agnes became the new Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) in terms of Wednesday, albeit this time less voluntarily, finding herself with a younger sibling type who looks up to her. For in Agnes’ desire to impress Wednesday, replace Enid as Wednesday’s best friend, and do whatever it would take, including putting her life on the line, to please her, it was a wonderful mix of sad, sweet, and sometimes creepy.

In many ways, Agnes feels like the type of character you’d expect Wednesday to produce. Someone who both fits the style of Tim Burton characters with big eyes, this sense of innocence, and is easily misunderstood, paired with the Addams family vibe of being creepy, quirky, yet ultimately a good person.

But what really drives things home regarding Agnes is that she presents the type of emotions and feelings that other characters don’t get the opportunity to. Wednesday may tap into frustration and anger, but she rarely explores the gauntlet of feelings. The same goes for Enid, who may show signs of worry and anxiety, but generally sticks to positive emotions. Thus, both of the leads are rather stuck with a limited palette.

Agnes, on the other hand, gets to expand beyond the extremes and explore how human a lot of Outcasts are, as the show goes into her need for belonging, feeling invisible, potentially unloved, and needing purpose. The second half of the season especially gives her a spotlight as her relationship with Enid goes from contentious to Enid also becoming like a big sister to her and ultimately setting up Evie Templeton as a, if not the sole, breakout of season 2.

Good Setup For Season 3 [83/100]

In many ways, season 2 felt like more of the same, and considering the storylines it had, you would be justified in considering season 2 more as season 1.5. However, with seemingly leaving old villains behind, if not dead and buried, the setup for season 3 pushes the idea that Wednesday is going to truly find itself in season 3.

How so? Well, there is the tease of leaving Nevermore, perhaps for just a season, which means seeing Wednesday amongst normies and a villain who may actually be treated as formidable and not a 1960s Batman-style villain. For if there is one thing that is becoming clear, it is that Wednesday desperately needs strong characters, not just recognizable actors playing characters who aren’t much more than fodder.

Low Point(s)

Big Names With Little Impact [65/100]

From Lady Gaga to Thandiwe Newton, a lot of big names were cast this season who, honestly, didn’t do more than bring some marketing to the show. Famously, Lady Gaga is in less than 5 minutes in the episode she appears in, and Newton, while a renowned doctor focused on Outcasts, her contributions to the show ultimately are negligible.

Though, to be fair, the men don’t do much better. Yes, Christopher Lloyd seems perfect for both the world of the Addams family and Tim Burton, after all, he is the former Uncle Fester. Also, he has everything you’d expect in an actor Tim Burton would repeatedly cast. Yet, similar to Christina Ricci, it’s far more about the actor’s name and the familiarity than the character.

Leading to the need to wonder if those behind Wednesday aren’t good at building more than one good original character a season, with Larissa hitting the quota for season one and Agnes for season 2. If not, to be fair, the expectation that it shouldn’t be on the writers to completely make a character pop, for that is the actor’s job.

On The Fence

The Storylines [74/100]

One of the best things about Wednesday’s storylines is their brisk pace. The show seems to recognize that plotting isn’t its strongest suit, so instead of dragging things out, most arcs are resolved within two to four episodes. Tyler’s storyline may have overstayed its welcome, but that only underscores the bigger issue: Wednesday rarely faces truly formidable villains—only those who can overpower her physically.

Generally, the mysteries—whether tied to revenge plots, family secrets, or life-or-death threats—feel hollow. The stakes sound high on paper but play out low, partly because we know Wednesday isn’t in real danger. Her adversaries, whether Sheriff Santiago (Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo), her mother, or Tyler’s family, don’t feel like threats. At best, they can challenge her in a fight, but Wednesday’s sharpest battles are verbal, and without equals to spar with, too many scenes reduce others to props highlighting her superiority.

This imbalance carries into the supporting cast. Enid, for all her color and energy, rarely feels like the protagonist of her own life. Her potential Alpha wolf storyline and love life only matter when the camera decides they do. Bianca, who had presence in season 1, is neutered here, reduced to serving Principal Dort’s plotline rather than her own. Even Hester, touted as the richest Outcast, spends most of her time as a pawn in Wednesday’s battles with Morticia. Now, Morticia and Hester’s family drama could matter in season 3, especially with Ophelia introduced, but in season 2, it barely rises above background noise.

And perhaps what is the most frustrating is, as shown by Agnes, and I would even say episode 6, when Enid and Wednesday do a body swap, you see these actors are capable of taking on more. Whether guest star or series regular, there is the sense that, if the writers wanted to, the actors could be in impactful stories. Yet, rather than craft characters and storylines that could create multiple breakouts, what we get are almost generic storylines that make it feel like, if you aren’t a blood relative of Wednesday, an essential part of Addams Family lore, you are expendable.

Overall

Our Rating (77/100): Mixed (Stick Around)

I wouldn’t say there is notable growth with season 2 of Wednesday, but I wouldn’t call it a sophomore slump either. To be fair, I think the first season was an unexpected hit, and in some ways, they tried to recapture that magic. However, between its guest stars, the majority of its storylines, and the lack of effort to make it so that Wednesday isn’t the sole hook of the show, the second season struggled.

Mind you, not bad enough to cut it off, but certainly enough to feel like this was more so a continuation of season 1 than truly the show starting a new chapter and understanding what worked and didn’t work, beyond omitting Wednesday being part of a romantic relationship.

Video Summary/ Review Text

  1. Intro Slide
  2. Summary: Wednesday returns, and in season 2, there is more murder, more mysteries, and new characters to help compensate for Wednesday’s psychic abilities waning from episode to episode.
  3. Summary: But, as Wednesday goes after killers, Enid is trying to get a grasp on being a potential alpha wolf and the Addams Family, as a whole, continuing to deal with past decisions that keep poking their heads from the grave.
  4. Summary: Not to forget, alongside Wednesday handling mysteries, she is also knee deep in family dynamics as she finds herself between her mother and Grandmama, who brings her own mysteries and secrets to the show.
  • Review: Dialog, specifically Wednesday’s sharp tongue, remains the main, and for some episodes, sole highlight of Wednesday as a show.
  • Review: But, unfortunately, while Wednesday’s dialogue is praiseworthy, it can often feel like it is meant to compensate for storylines that don’t feel dragged out, but also rarely feel satisfying.
  • Review: Then, with characters, old and new, it seems, outside of Enid and a new character named Agnes, if you aren’t part of the Addams family, you’re an obligation that will receive minimal investment.
  • Review: This hampers not only the 1960s, live-action Batman styled villains, but also big-name guest stars, like Lady Gaga, whose casting feels strictly for marketing purposes.
  • Review: Ultimately leaving Wednesday sometimes feeling too reliant on its title character and not understanding, she needs strong supporting characters to not only play off, but to keep the luster from wearing off.
  • Overall (77/100): The second season of Wednesday solely improves by erasing Wednesday’s interest in romance, but otherwise feels like a continuation of season 1 and shows minimal growth or lessons learned.

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Amari is the founder and head writer of Wherever-I-Look.com and has been writing reviews since 2010, with a focus on dramas and comedies.