The first season of Wednesday was a pleasant surprise a few years ago, both for those who remember The Addams Family on VHS, and for a new teenage audience that happily went viral with the black and white girl who never smiles, along with the entire world of outcasts. The result was stunning: Netflix records were broken one after another, billions of hours of viewing were accumulated faster than gothic memes on TikTok, and Jenna Ortega woke up not just an actress, but a new symbol of gothic aesthetics, almost the Harry Potter of her generation. Critics politely agreed, saying that the acting and atmosphere were great, although the plot in places resembled a teenage fan fiction about a noir family. But who cared when the whole world tried to repeat her dance? And now, three years later, she is back with new adventures. Note that only half of the episodes have been released so far, and we are expecting the other half very soon – September 3, 2025.
| Name | Wednesday |
| Genre | black comedy, detective, teen drama |
| Director | Tim Burton |
| Cast | Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Ricky Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Joy Sunday, Georgie Farmer, Christina Ricci, Steve Buscemi and others |
| Number of episodes | 8 |
| Year | 2025 |
| Platform | Netflix |
| Link | IMDb |
According to the plot, Wednesday returns to Nevermore after the holidays. But not as "newbie, too weird even for the school of weirdos", but as a real heroine who saved this very school. She has a whole fan club, students and teachers congratulate her, and newcomers look on with mute adoration... well, practically a "girl who survived". But we know Wednesday's character, so we understand that she needs it as much as a zombie needs tiramisu. For her, fame is just an annoying obstacle on the way to solving new mysteries. And her psychic abilities are also failing.
And although the first season seemed to put an end to the matter: evil is tamed, enemies are in a madhouse, - where Wednesday is, chaos always flourishes. It quickly becomes clear: a new danger threatens her friend Enid. But after she achieved the long-awaited wolf maturity in the finale of last season, she now spends more time in the pack, and has completely forgotten about her crush from last season, the gorgon Ajax. I feel a little sorry for the guy: he sadly watches as Enid happily dissolves into her wolf gang. And in general, her love triangle seems a bit superfluous.
But Wednesday's romantic relationships are on hold for now. The actor who played Xavier was canceled, and the writers quickly wrote him out of the story to study in Europe. For young fans of the series, this is a disappointment, because his romantic flair created the necessary balance. On the other hand, the series even won: Wednesday has fewer awkward love hints, and now she is more open in her relationship with Enid and her new student, Agnes DeMille, a red-haired fan-unknown. Agnes is a kind of mix of Tim Burton cartoon characters: big eyes, strange lines and unpredictable behavior. It even seemed to me that she echoes Luna Lovegood from "Harry Potter".
Time is a tricky thing. Three months have passed in the series, but we had to wait three years. And this is clearly visible on the screen: some actors have managed to noticeably grow up. It is especially striking how the boys have grown: Eugene the beekeeper no longer looks like an insecure teenager, but like a young professor with his own entomology department. And Pugsley has not only grown a head and a half, but also finally became a student at Nevermore. His appearance is a good sign: this is no longer just the story of Wednesday, but of the entire eccentric family.
And yes, there really are more Addams in the new season. They were even allocated a villa not far from the school. So now there will be more Gomez and Morticia on the screen, and later Uncle Fester, who, as always, appears spectacularly and steals the scene. And here I want to remind you, and tell someone - that according to the classic Addams series - it is not only about the grotesque, black humor and eccentricity, but also about a real loving family. And that is why the line of conflict between Wednesday and her mother seems a bit artificial, if you know the "classics". Yes, it fits into the teenage drama, but I would like it to be resolved somehow unconventionally, in the spirit of family, where love is always stronger than all whims.
And I don't understand why the writers haven't brought Cousin Itt into the series yet. I think this cute, chubby Addams is a walking meme in his own right, and would really appeal to a young audience. And in general, he's cool.
Of the new actors, it is worth noting Steve Buscemi. This uncle looks like he has been waiting his whole life for an invitation to the Addams Family, but his image is still too correct: a kind of excellent school principal who wants to do everything in the best way. His character serves as a more functional element - he moves the plot forward, but does not add to the overall dynamics of the series that crazy energy that one would expect from an actor of this caliber. Let's see how he will reveal himself further. And Christopher Lloyd in the role of an alcoholic, but completely functional head is a real gift to fans, because it was he who played Uncle Fester in 1990. A small homage, but very warm.
The atmosphere of the series remained recognizable: gothic with a slight pop flavor. It's not scary, but rather cute and interesting.
The writers managed to maintain a difficult balance between the Gothic atmosphere and teenage drama - the series does not descend into childishness, but does not become too gloomy for its target audience. Wednesday remains an icon for teenagers looking for an alternative to the mainstream, but at the same time the series does not repel adult viewers with excessive infantilism. If the first season sometimes seemed like a mixture of "Harry Potter" and "Home for Peculiar Children" (only without such darkness), now it looks even more like an attempt to build its own "canon" like Marvel: it has its own mythology, its own rules, even a hint of its own universe.
It's interesting, but a little scary: I wouldn't want "The Addams Family" to turn into another franchise conveyor. And most importantly, there could be more black humor. The family has always been not just eccentric, but defiantly funny in its gloom.
Detective and quest elements also add to the intrigue – the puzzles that Wednesday solves are reminiscent of classic adventure games. At some point, I was even reminded of the old game The Addams Family (1992). It's like a platformer, but there you had to solve quest puzzles like "find the notes, put them on the organ while Larch plays, the monsters start dancing a waltz, open the secret door". This atmosphere of puzzles and trials perfectly suits the series: it seems that there could be even more action/adventure adventures ahead.
The music… It’s here, and it’s good. There are a lot of classics, like “Dance of the Knights” (from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”) or a fragment from Verdi’s “Requiem”. The musical accompaniment retains Tim Burton’s recognizable signature style: the same balance between fairy-tale and gloom that we heard in Corpse Bride or The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The orchestral arrangements emphasize the Gothic atmosphere without turning it into a caricature. But there is still a lack of a bright moment that would become a new cultural phenomenon on the level of the Wednesday dance from the first season. Perhaps Lady Gaga is responsible for it, whose appearance we expect in the second half of the season.
In the end, the second season of Wednesday is a pleasant continuation of the adventures of a gothic girl and an equally eccentric family. It is built correctly: several story arcs are brought to a logical intermediate finale, and the break before the second part feels justified. This allows the viewer to catch their breath after the flurry of events. The showrunners are clearly betting on scale: more heroes, more threats, more mysticism. Killer crows, zombies with a mechanical heart, summer camp and prophecies. This is what the first half of the second school year in Nevermore turned out to be.