Woe and Behold – Tepid Take on Wednesday Season two 

At best, Wednesday is an entry point for the Addams Family IP for a new generation that features Burton’s branded aesthetic with a protagonist who values her own independence, intelligence, unique spirit combine with a biting wit. At its worst, it’s a frustrating mess that has no real focus other than vibes and over reliances on cheeky one-liners mixed with light horror. 

Characters

Oh boy, the characters. Wednesday, in theory should have been a character piece where Wednesday grows and learns as character. And while is season one she does to some exact, in season two she is very stagnant and just makes sarcastic quips. By her own admission, she “cocoons.” I suppose the writers gave the people what they want by keeping her consistent. But in show that touts itself as show about Wednesday Addams, she takes a back seats to the rest of ensemble. However the show tries to hold on to its thesis that it’s about Wednesday but do her stagnation it can’t focus of her for too long so it oscillates to the other characters who also don’t have that much in the way of character growth. Enid has an arc, of sorts, though it isn’t all that enjoyable as she starts the season cheating on her boyfriend only for her new guy to cheat on her and by the end of the season she swears off guys for a while. Not that matter since by season’s end she trapped in her werewolf form as a set-up for season three.

The two other characters sho have any kind of development are Thing and Agnes. Thing’s is learning about his “origin” and Agnes accepting her true self. I hope the writers can keep Agnes’ characterization on track for season three as she is great balance between Enid and Wednesday.      

In show that should have been character-driven it’s awash with regard to character development and arcs. 

The Plots

But maybe Wednesday isn’t a character driven show or even ensemble based show maybe it’s a plot-driven show.  No, not really. Both season center around a mystery with a detective angle. Season one diluted this Wednesday’s psychic power giving her insights and answers while season two is populated with red herrings and misdirects. What did the outcast LOIS avian experiments really have to do with the in the plot for the late season? It alls just seemed like a misdirect and set-up for bring back Tyler’s mother and zombie mad scientist uncle. But once the Zombie fully regenerates that plot is entirly dropped.  

I have two theories has why the writers wrote season two with all these diversions. Theory One is much like WestWorld season two, as the writers elected to trip up the audience so that the viewers couldn’t guess the twists.  If information is withheld from audience then it makes the writers/showrunners appear smarter by comparison because no one could figure it out. 

Theory Two is that anything and everything pitched in the writer’s room was used. Sort a “Yes And” approach to the writing. One person wanted to do a zombie plot line while another wanted a mad scientist. Well why no both!? So they did. Every idea was used and retrofitted into the script to make it work. This could because they didn’t know if they get a third season so why not shoehorn every horror trope into already crowded show. Or maybe writers panic after the scandal surrounding Xavier’a actor so they had to course correct with a new plot and just went with everything. This why Agnes as Wednesday’s stalker makes little sense if you think about for two seconds longer than the show did.        

Throwing in a ton of plot elements into show all while trying to be a show that hinges on being mystery where all the elements, clues and set-ups matter only for all that to be dropped in the service different narrative thread at the end makes the plot sloppy. If the show was either more episodic or more absurd in its humor the sloppiness would be less apparent.  And just become this show’s audience skews for young adults and teenagers is no excuse, they deserve well-made and thoughtfully written shows.  

Comedy

One liners and witty quips doesn’t a comedy make. The “comedy” is very few and far between in this show. There are a few sight gags, one bit of physical comedy though the framing was more dramatic than comedic, and some subversion but for an Addams Family property that should be where most of the laughs come from. A lot of the humor comes down to the Addams eat weird things, which fair but the joke wear on throughout the season. At least Fester and Agnes help maintain some level of humor throughout the season’s duration. 

Final Thoughts

In many ways Wednesday is a Rorschach Test. It can be a jaunty black comedy, a supernatural horror, coming-of-age  school drama, mystery, family drama, with aspects of urban fantasy. It tries to be all those things at all times but ends up spreading itself ultimately very thin to points where it whatever the viewer wants it to be while being nothing but vibes and fun dance numbers.  

I don’t dislike the show, if anything I’m neutral to it as form entertainment. It’s more of a background, turn off your mind, don’t think too deeply about the plot and character progression, vibe show and is nearly forgotten as soon as the credits role.

Season two is ultimately very guilty of wasting its 8 hour runtime and barely moves the needle at all. All that really happened was Wednesday losing her powers, Enid’s werewolves issues, Tyler on the run and Agnes’ introduction. We did learn about Thing’s origins but does that change anything for him? Also season two ends the same way that season one ends with Principe dying and school going on an extended break. So that means that the students got three months of school in each season not that it matters because there are only every two teachers tops and the students never go to class or have homework. Nevermore is more of social club than a school.

Netflix productions are a zero sum game, if a show is popular another not as popular show but equally or better show will be canceled to allocate resources. While this is nothing new, Netflix does make it hard for show to find their footing if they not popular at launch. There are so many shows that I personally love that have been canceled. And sure one can be mad that great shows that knows exactly what it is and has a clearer vision than Wednesday get canceled but Wednesday does appeal to a demographic and does good numbers for the streamer so it can continue despite its clumsy trajectory and woeful writing.  

PS. I also acknowledge that this show is not for me. Maybe a younger version of myself would have been able to ignore the writing inconsistency and the incomplete, sloppy, and unfocused plot-lines and instead could have just settled into enjoying the vibe.

Vague Predictions/Wants for the Upcoming Season Three  

– Cousin It, Where is he? Season three Maybe???

– More Addams Family Members.

– The Enid situation is resolved by episode two

-Ophelia’s writing is a red herring

– The Inevitable Musical Episode, But hey if it’s Danny Elfman how bad can it be?  

– Cast Joan Cusack, we need a Debbie Jellinsky type there can be two unhinged Barbie monologues in this world

– Cast Audrey Plaza, just lean into  

One more thought, Also Own Painter as Issac Night was a very on brand character for Burton. Makes me wonder if the whole Clockwork heart genius was a recycled idea he had.