‘Wednesday’ Season 2 Part 1 Review: Jenna Ortega’s Gothic Flair Shines Again Even if Hampered by Scattered Storytelling (LatestLY Exclusive)

Wednesday Season 2 Review: The goth is back! Tim Burton's hit Netflix series Wednesday returns for a second season, with its breakout star Jenna Ortega once again playing the deliciously deadpan, violence-loving Wednesday Addams - basically the Miss Marple of the macabre. This time, she’s back at Nevermore Academy with a new murder mystery to solve, and strangely, also handling plenty of family drama. ‘Wednesday Season 2’ Review: Jenna Ortega Impresses in Darker, Deeper Mystery With New Threats and Haunting Score, Critics Hail Netflix Series Sequel.

Unfortunately, the season comes with an increasingly annoying caveat plaguing several popular shows today: it’s split into two parts. This strategy, meant to keep viewers hooked (and subscribed), only disrupts narrative momentum. Remember the days when Netflix dropped the entirety of Dark Season 3 at once and let us lose our minds in one go? Yeah, we miss that too.

So, what’s Wednesday up to this time?

'Wednesday' Season 2 Review - The Plot

She’s been busy during summer break writing a novel she refuses to edit and using her psychic powers to track a serial killer- her abilities, however, are taking a toll on her body, causing her to bleed black from her eyes. She doesn't want her mother, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), to find out, which adds another secret to their ever-growing pile.

Watch the Trailer of 'Wednesday' Season 2:

Back at Nevermore for a new term, Wednesday finds herself hailed as a hero for saving the school last season - a fact she deeply resents. But peace is short-lived: two back-to-back murders, committed by a literal murder of crows (as she so poetically notes), set off the new mystery. Her psychic visions even warn her that Enid (Emma Myers), her lycanthrope bestie and roommate, might be next.

'Wednesday' Season 2 Review - One Mystery and Enough Misdirections

This central mystery should be the season’s main course, but unfortunately, there’s too much narrative garnish on the plate. In Season 1, Wednesday was at the centre of a love triangle with Xavier (Percy Hynes White, written out this season after his controversy) and Tyler (Hunter Doohan). Now it’s Enid’s turn, entangled between her past crush Ajax (Georgie Farmer) and new werewolf boyfriend Bruno (Noah B Taylor). Unless one of them is planning to kill her, the triangle adds little to either Enid’s arc or the show’s momentum - a shame, since Enid was last season’s scene-stealer, and that she is now the centre of a deadly premonition.

The real standout this time is Agnes (Evie Templeton), a fellow student obsessively devoted to Wednesday. With a special skill that turns her into a delightful menace and her wacky mannerisms, Agnes fits perfectly in Burton’s world. Templeton plays her with a gleeful creepiness that makes her the most memorable new character of the season.

Nevermore Academy also gets a new headmaster in Barry Dort, played by the ever-reliable Steve Buscemi. He’s determined to restore the school’s reputation, but he isn't exactly a nice guy, as shown when he uses Bianca's (Joy Sunday) siren powers to his advantage. He clearly has some creepy secrets of his own - ones likely to be explored in the next batch of episodes. New adult characters also include Billie Piper as a music teacher and Thandiwe Newton as a psychiatrist at Willow Hill Hospital, where Tyler is currently being held.

'Wednesday' Season 2 Review - The Addams Family Drama

There’s also more Addams Family this time. While they were mostly cameos in Season 1, Morticia and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) have larger roles here, turning Wednesday into something resembling an Addams Family reunion show. Depending on your expectations, that may or may not be a good thing.

Morticia’s concern over Wednesday’s secrets feels slightly off-character—shouldn’t she be more worried for others than her chaotic daughter? She teases a long-lost sister supposedly more like Wednesday, but unless the second half delivers on this subplot, it remains a half-baked detour. Gomez, played with gusto by Guzmán, is as entertaining as ever, but he’s barely involved in any meaningful way, plot-wise.

Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) also joins Nevermore, yet the siblings rarely interact on campus, which feels like a missed opportunity - especially since he’s responsible for half the chaos this season by reanimating a carnivorous zombie, with the help of the ever-reluctant Eugene (Moosa Mostafa). At least The Thing gets more to do, bonding more with Enid than Wednesday this time around. Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) shows up in Episode 4 - easily the best of the lot - and, thankfully, remains a riot.

There’s also a deeper problem lurking beneath that was also felt in the previous season: why should the Addams feel so out of place in a world filled with werewolves, sirens, gorgons, and shapeshifters? Part of their charm in the original cartoons and older adaptations was that they were oddballs in a normal world. Here, surrounded by other 'outcasts,' their eccentricities feel oddly jarring and not in a good way. Attempts to amp up their kookiness - like an X-ray of Fester’s brain - don’t always land because of the world they are presently festered in. ‘Wednesday Season 2’: Lady Gaga Joins the Cast of Netflix’s Hit Show for a Special Guest Role.

'Wednesday' Season 2 Review - What Continues to Impress

That said, Wednesday Season 2 is far from a disaster. It’s a well-crafted show with stunning production design, a hauntingly effective score, and moments of brilliance, like an animated sequence in the style of Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, used to tell the dark story of a former Nevermore student.

The performances continue to shine. Ortega is still phenomenal, her deadpan delivery razor-sharp and perfectly matched to the character. She remains a worthy successor to Christina Ricci, who also returns this season with her own agenda.

Still, there’s no denying that much of Season 2 feels like filler. The treasure hunt subplot is about as exciting as the one in the first Percy Jackson movie - if you know, you know.

And while the avian murder mystery does reach a conclusion in the mid-season finale, it's disappointingly weak: the 'who' is predictable, thanks to the casting of a familiar face with little else to do, and the 'why' gets buried under all the chaos that immediately ensues following the revelation. As for the reel makers, there is no such standout moment here, like Wednesday's viral dance at the ball in the first season. Perhaps you may have better luck with the following four episodes. Or unless blindfolded sword-fighting is your thing.

'Wednesday' Season 2 Review - Final Thoughts

Wednesday, bless her sardonic, brilliant quips, delivers her best line early in the season when she tells Enid, "I don't evolve, I coccoon." While that fits Wednesday so well, even if she is in self-denial there - she evolved enough to save people and make friends - it also unfortunately applies to the show more. Wednesday Season 2 has enough gothic charm, standout performances, and creepy flourishes to keep fans entertained, but it also spreads itself too thin. With half the season still to come, here’s hoping the latter chapters can recapture the focus and tight storytelling that made Season 1 such a smash. For now, it’s a stylish and sporadically satisfying return, if not quite the killer comeback it could have been.

Wednesday is streaming on Netflix. The next set of episodes will land on the platform on September 3. The show has also been renewed for a third season.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 07, 2025 02:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).