The Addams Family's gothic glow-up in Wednesday Season 2

Sometimes I sit down to watch a newly released season of a show only to discover I remember next to nothing about what happened previously.

I've now come to suspect that the multi-year wait for seasons to drop on streaming is just a sneaky way of getting us to give a show's previous seasons a viewership boost. It goes without saying that Netflix is a prime culprit when it comes to its scheduling. Squid Game left us hanging for three years after its 2021 debut, and let's not even get into Stranger Things, which has seen its child actors become adults before their on-screen characters have even had the chance to graduate high school. Now, with a three-year interval between its first and second seasons, Wednesday joins those Netflix ranks.

In part one of Wednesday's second season (because, of course, we're getting this eight-episode season by means of drip feeding), we find Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) back at Nevermore Academy after a productive vacation spent honing her psychic powers to track down a serial killer. Upon returning to school, she discovers, much to her disdain, that she is a campus-wide celebrity before becoming caught up in yet another murderous mystery to solve this season.

Going into season two, the show's stylisation appears even more cemented in its whimsical gothic aesthetic. The Addams' washed-out makeup doesn't let a glimpse of natural flesh seep through, and the costumes are designed to a tee. The real standout in this regard is Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams, who is, in my biased opinion, one of the most perfectly cast roles in an adaptation seen in recent years.

Morticia Addams is refined not only in her visual characterisation — her glamorous gothic looks elevated to outshine even Wednesday in some scenes — but also in her more significant presence in this season compared to the first. The closer focus on Morticia and Wednesday's relationship sustains the intrigue of the first four episodes. And, as their relationship unfolds, it delightfully reveals itself to be none other than your typical mother-and-angsty-teenage-daughter dynamic (with just the addition of a duel by swords). Zeta-Jones and Ortega make for a believable mother-daughter duo whose conflict reflects themes of intergenerational trauma and learning to use one's natural gifts responsibly.

But around this twisted kinship is a plethora of plots that take a noticeable shift towards a more ensemble-led season, which might have grown out of the need to work around Jenna Ortega and other rising cast members' increasingly busy schedules since the first season. Even if that is the case, the greater inclusion of the rest of the Addamses does pay off by giving us more insight into their individual quirks. However, it's disappointing that many of the storylines these characters fall into are scattered and extraneous.

While these narrative strands might end up drawing together in part two, as of now, it reads as if arbitrary characters and plots were written in for the sake of meeting the show's runtime. From Wednesday's mystery stalker to Pugsley's zombie friend, there is a sense of disarray when it comes down to the subplots surrounding the central investigation, despite the overall season following the formulaic beats of its predecessor.

Regardless of the introductory episodes' narrative downfalls, Wednesday's second season confidently ushers in an early start to this year's spooky season. Wednesday's kooky and, at times, ridiculous horror elements make for easy viewing, especially for those of us whose anxiety can't survive R-rated horror. As of 23 July, Wednesday has already been renewed for a third season, which means we have yet another wicked and wonderful ride with the Addams Family in store.

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