By Jay’Mi Vazquez
Managing Editor
I went into “Wednesday” season two with high expectations. After all, the first season was not just a viral sensation, it struck a rare balance between dark comedy, supernatural intrigue and teen drama.
Jenna Ortega’s performance became iconic overnight, and the show managed to inject new life into the Addams family legacy.
But watching the first half of season two? It was a frustrating experience. So frustrating, in fact, that I did not even bother finishing it when the rest of the season premiered on Netflix.
The only thing about the show that still works is Jenna Ortega. She remains the beating black heart of the series. Her portrayal of Wednesday Addams is sharp, intense and delightfully deadpan.
Even in the most convoluted scenes, she somehow manages to bring the dark aura of her character to the show. If anything keeps this show from collapsing completely, it is her.
Unfortunately, though, not even her performance is enough to salvage what has gone wrong here.
Season two leans harder into horror and world-building, expanding the universe beyond Nevermore Academy. We get more of the Addams family and darker mysteries brewing beneath the surface.
On paper, that sounds great, but watching it makes the story overstuffed. The series introduced too many new characters, causing tons of subpar subplots.
To me, the show’s plot becomes a tangled mess with no clear center.
What is even worse is that the pacing is completely off. The first half of the season, just four episodes, is supposed to set the stage for a bigger payoff later, but it drags.
Instead of tightening the mystery, the series swings wildly between cartoonish violence and forced emotional drama between several characters and storylines. The result is a gothic fever dream that is hard to follow and even harder to care about.
The show’s tonal imbalance is one of its biggest problems. Season one walked a fine line between creepy fun and genuine character development. Season two, by contrast, goes heavier on gore and supernatural horror, but with less heart.
Supporting characters from the first season are now pushed aside or underdeveloped. Enid Sinclair, who had a compelling arc in season one, feels sidelined. New characters were introduced with some promise, such as Bruno Yuson, and then became forgettable.
Even members of the Addams family, like Gomez and Morticia, appear without being given much to do other than random side quests.
One big structural issue is Netflix’s decision to split the season into two parts. While that might work for some shows, here it only highlights the weaknesses.
Part one is all setup with no payoff. Four episodes in, the show has barely gotten started, and it already feels like it is running in circles.
In the end, I tapped out. And I do not regret it. The promise of Wednesday has been buried under messy storytelling, over ambition and a total loss of what made the show feel fresh in the first place.
Maybe the second half pulls things together. But based on what I saw, it is just not worth the effort.
