After nearly three years, Wednesday has finally returned, well, at least half of it has. The rest won’t drop until early September because Netflix still refuses to embrace a weekly release. Instead, their version of “compromise” is splitting a season in two and staggering the drop by a month to keep engagement up. Going into this season, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I liked the first season of Wednesday, flaws and all, but a three-year hiatus is an absurdly long gap between seasons, and it made me a little uneasy. Now that the first half of season two has premiered… I’m not entirely sure how I feel.
We follow Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as she returns to Nevermore Academy after saving the school from Joseph Crackstone and the Hyde who set out to kill all outcasts. Over the summer, Wednesday has been learning to channel and control her psychic abilities, but nothing could have prepared her for the nightmare of being popular. Not a fan of her newfound status, she throws herself into honing her abilities, no matter the cost. But when she has a vision of Enid’s (Emma Myers) tombstone, Wednesday becomes determined to uncover the truth, even if it costs her life.
The one word that kept coming to mind while watching these four episodes was “overstuffed.” What made the first season of Wednesday work so well was its tight focus on Wednesday Addams, brought to life perfectly by Jenna Ortega. Watching her navigate adolescence and murder mysteries was a joy because the character is just that magnetic. But in this new season, Wednesday is no longer the sole star as she now has to share the spotlight with her castmates and make room for their storylines.
This season, Wednesday’s younger brother, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), joins the academy, and we follow him as he tries to fit in with his newly resurrected zombie pet. Bianca (Joy Sunday(, meanwhile, is juggling two problems: protecting her mother after rescuing her from a cult, and appeasing the new headmaster, Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), by raising funds for the school with her Siren voice. Wednesday’s parents, Gomez (Luis Guzman) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), are now stationed on school grounds, keeping a close (and unwanted) watch on her, stirring up some family drama. And Enid finds herself tangled in a love triangle, as finally being able to wolf-out has completely shifted her dating expectations.
With all these storylines, and several more competing for attention, the season never quite finds its footing. Instead, it feels scattered in every direction, darting from subplot to subplot in a rush to reach its climax. In that haste, the narrative never gets the chance to properly breathe or let any of its arcs develop in a satisfying way. The result is a first half that’s messy, frustrating, and, frankly, boring in stretches. It’s not that the potential isn’t there because when the show does find its footing, particularly in the final episode, it’s sharp, engaging, and genuinely fun. But for most of these episodes, it stumbles around with the chaotic, soap-operatic energy of Riverdale, and not in a self-aware way.
I won’t be giving Part 1 a rating, since it’s only half a season and Netflix is only splitting it into two parts so they can milk the engagement of weekly releases without actually committing to that model. What I’ve seen so far, though, isn’t exactly promising. Rather than moving away from the cheesy adolescent tropes such as love triangles, obsessive fan-stalkers, petty teenage drama and leaning into the dark dramedy of Wednesday Addams navigating school life, the writers have doubled down on the very same tired beats that bogged down season one. I’m still curious to see where the rest of the season goes, but this is hardly a strong start.
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