Right in time for the spooky season, after three years of waiting, the first part of Wednesday Season 2 was released on Aug. 6. From the start, there were mixed opinions on Netflix’s release design, with the first four episodes of Season 2 releasing in August and the last four a month later. “I liked how they released four episodes at a time because it kinda kept the suspense. If they release all of it at once, then more people would just finish it in a day and [get] over with [it],” freshman Prachi Tyagi said. On the other hand, other students disliked the idea of being left on a cliffhanger in the middle of the season. “It was really annoying, it was terrible,” freshman Saanvi Purohit said.
These cliffhangers were everywhere in Season 2. Almost every episode ended with a surprise, leaving the viewer wondering what was going to happen next. Whether it was getting buried alive or seeing foreboding visions, the characters were put in impossible situations with seemingly few means to escape. Ultimately, these plot twists showcased in Season 2 seemed to be attempts to live up to the suspense seen in Season 1.
However, to achieve these numerous plot twists, many storylines were introduced. Season 2 did not have a main story focus like last season; rather, it wove together numerous plot lines and character dynamics, switching frequently between Pugsley’s Zombie, Bianca and her mom, Agnes and Wednesday, Wednesday, her mom and others all within the same season. RM students thought the several different storylines made the plot less cohesive and more confusing. “I have watched both seasons and I liked Season 1 better…There was a fuller storyline and it had the same storyline throughout the whole season,” freshman Vani Joshi said. In the end, while the show attempted to tie it all together, there was a sense of uncomfortable incompleteness that was not present at the end of the previous season.
On a lighter note, since Season 1, many RM students have taken a liking to the side characters, old and new, that were further developed in Season 2. For example, while Season 1 focused on striking parallels between Wednesday’s gothic galore and Enid’s perky vibrance, Season 2 focused more on fleshing out Enid’s personality and romantic relationships. “My favorite change is probably how the two side characters, like Pugsley and Enid actually got a bigger part,” Tyagi said.
However, there were also disappointments in the characters’ changes. “I did not like that they got rid of Xavier,” Joshi said. Xavier, one of the most important characters in the first season as the love interest and ultimate monster, got a much smaller role in the second season, as did many others. Not only that, people did not seem to like the portrayal of characters like Morticia Addams who, in the new season, adopted a more typical, motherly role (with a romance-writing side hustle) rather than embracing the true ‘spookery’ of the Addams mother seen in Season 1.
Still, students enjoyed the ever-present emphasis on the uniqueness of the outcast students at Nevermore Academy. “I think I’d like to be a siren. I think that’s just fun,” Lear said. In the show, outcasts may have been isolated from other humans for their ‘monstrous’ traits, but to viewers, their various powers and personalities make them all the more admirable.
“Wednesday” is more than just another teen drama—it is a tale of emotional growth, blending horror with humor and mystery with friendship. Despite its shortcomings, the new season’s rollercoaster of jump scares, plot twists and resurrections as Wednesday Addams embarks on yet another haunted adventure makes it worth watching.
If you would like to voice your opinion on an issue you feel is relevant to our community, please do so here. Anyone is able and welcome to submit a Letter to the Editor, regardless of journalistic experience or writing skills. Submissions may be published either online or in a print issue.
