This past summer, the phenomenon that shook the Netflix community in 2022 returned for a second season. “Wednesday,” directed by the iconic Tim Burton, packed yet another deadly punch for anticipated fans all around the world who have waited to see how this show continues. This review is spoiler-free, so anyone interested who hasn’t seen the show can still continue to read… I’m not that mischievous or wicked! I also want to say that this review expresses my own opinions, but I highly suggest that you still check out this show to make a review for yourself because this is truly such a fresh, original idea. It’s a work of art that deserves to be watched, and I recommend you do.
For those unaware (or living in a grave), “Wednesday Season 2” was split up into 2 parts, with one released on August 6th and the other just released on September 3rd. After the first season broke records with over 341 million hours of viewership just in the first week, the second season was renewed with a higher budget and more of a packed cast, highlighted by Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan, Joy Sunday and the newcomer celebrity cast of Haley Joel Osment, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd and Lady Gaga. Headed into the season, I was extremely excited because the first season was an easy binge for me, and I knew that season two had to be twice as good…right?
It’s hard to review this season without looking at it in two parts, since that’s how it was released and how it feels. Unfortunately, I thought that part one started off weak, with it losing the original “Wednesday” charm that it had. While it still had those strong horror elements and its vibrant (and sometimes dark) colors to convey the show’s vibe as it did very well in the first season, it just felt there were too many plot lines to keep track of. I had no clue what was happening because things were being thrown in the audience’s face without time to properly process them. It added lots of new characters, which felt cluttered with lots of plot lines to follow, and didn’t properly balance their time on screen. It wasn’t awful, but the story that they were going with wasn’t catching my interest too much. After finishing part one, I was skeptical about the rest of the season and didn’t have hope, but I was mistaken.
As soon as the second part of this season started, I was hooked right back in. It captured more of the “Tim Burton” feel and gave proper character development that was lacking previously, which made me care so much for where their stories were headed. It continued the deep Addams Family lore and twisted my brain through the roller coaster journey as the mystery started to piece together. My favorite thing was that it interweaved the plot lines together, and while in part one it felt like a lot of individual stories, part two brings most of them together and shows how they are all connected together. Filled with fight choreography, gore, plot twists and of course a cliffhanger (which will tie into the next season that was officially greenlit), the back half of this season was pretty much exactly what I had hoped for!
I think both parts could’ve benefitted from another episode so it could space out some of the plot and pace it a little bit better, but it’s not terrible. The characters’ arcs are very clear by the end, and while the first part was shaky, the season ends on a great note and makes the audience want more. It was worth it for sure to watch as the season gets better every episode! Overall, I’m giving Wednesday Season 2 a 3.5 out of 5 stars on my rating scale, and it definitely has high entertainment value if you like this genre and this world. If you’re on the fence about watching this, I would 100% do it. I’m definitely excited for what else this show has in store for the next season and will actively keep an eye out on Netflix’s social pages for updates. While I still enjoyed season one better, both seasons were very intriguing and submerged you into the crazy world of the Addams Family (queue the snaps…).