Wednesday: Here We Woe Again

Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) returns to Nevermore Academy after spending the summer honing her psychic powers to catch the Kansas City Scalper. She foils his attack but quickly finds school life more unsettling. Her younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) arrives with mysterious electrical abilities. A new principal, Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), and music teacher Miss Capri (Billie Piper) usher in unsettling changes. Wednesday discovers she’s become a reluctant celebrity and is unnerved by a secret stalker who steals her manuscript, threatening to burn it at the Founder’s Pyre. During the bonfire ceremony, she rescues her work and dramatically sets ablaze a glorifying painting of herself. A terrifying black-tears vision of Enid (Emma Myers) pushes her to the brink, while Pugsley accidentally reanimates a “mechanical” outcast at the ominous Skull Tree. It’s a dark, chaotic return filled with supernatural suspense.

Wednesday premiered on Netflix on November 23, 2022, to widespread acclaim. Jenna Ortega’s performance earned critical praise and multiple award nominations, including Golden Globes and Emmys. The first season quickly became one of Netflix’s most-watched English-language series. Season 2 began on August 6, 2025 (Part 1), with the remainder due on September 3. Critics acknowledge a tonal shift toward darker, more layered storytelling. Rotten Tomatoes scored Season 2 even higher than Season 1, noting an “ookier and spookier ensemble” and richer familial dynamics.

I absolutely adore the first season of Wednesday, a dark, humorous and creepy mystery with a lead who is both confident and yet unsure of who she is or what she really wants. Jenna Ortega is a perfect Wednesday rivaling and possibly surpassing the job done by Christina Ricci in the 1990s movies. Sadly, I have only had time to watch the first of the four episodes released by Netflix, but I already love what I have seen and can’t wait to see the remaining three episodes. The family dynamics have increased with Pugsley now being a student as well and Morticia, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, being in charge of a fundraising committee which has her staying at the school with her husband Gomez, played by Luis Guzman. I was not impressed with either of the parents in the first season, inevitably comparing them to the great Angelica Huston and Raul Julia. In Wednesday, her parents are less dark and quirky than one would expect. In fact, her mother’s psychic ability tends to be positive, making her a dove, where Wednesday is a Raven and their paths will be very different. “The path of the Raven is a solitary one”. In Season two, their expanded roles have added a bit more to their characters and I am coming around to liking Catherine’s spin on the part. I cannot wait to see Joanna Lumley best known for playing Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous, who will be appearing in a guest role as Morticia’s mother, Granny Hester Frump. Other notable guest stars of season two include: Thandiwe Newton, Anthony Michael Hall, Lady Gaga, Christopher Lloyd, and Haley Joel Osment. Tim Burton serves as an executive producer on Wednesday and directed the first four episodes of Season 1 and many of the episodes in Season 2. His signature gothic, whimsical style heavily shapes the show’s visual identity, from the muted color palette and off-kilter set designs to the macabre humor woven into character interactions. His creative influence helped the series balance supernatural mystery with a quirky, darkly comic tone true to the Addams Family spirit. Longtime music collaborators, Danny Elfman and Chris Bacon compose the series soundtrack with Elfman writing the theme song. This series has quickly become one of my favorites and I can’t wait to watch the rest of season 2 and lucky for me, a third season has already been ordered.