From Lady Gaga to Thing’s Shocking Origins, Wednesday Season 2 Part 2 Delivers On Its Mystery!
A Lady Gaga cameo, body swaps, and Thing’s true origins… Wednesday season 2 part 2 cements the series as one of Netflix’s most thrilling hits. Spoilers ahead.
This chapter finds Wednesday Addams back at Nevermore Academy, struggling with her strained mother-daughter relationship, the loss of her psychic abilities, and a desperate attempt to save her best friend Enid Sinclair. Part 1 ends with the shocking cliffhanger of Wednesday being attacked by Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) in his Hyde form. As we predicted, part 2 opens up with her recovering in the hospital — and being assigned a surprising new spirit guide.
One of the biggest returns was Gwendoline Christie as the late Principal Weems, revealed to be a 13th cousin twice removed and Wednesday’s new spirit guide. Their tension-filled dynamic was pitch perfect, with Weems being a pesky but useful resource for Wednesday. Thanks to her, Wednesday learns that her fractured relationship with her mother is the true reason her psychic abilities have been on the fritz.
In a standout episode, Lady Gaga guest stars as the late Rosalind Rotwood, a Raven psychic and teacher at Nevermore. She body swaps Wednesday and Enid in a Freaky Friday-style from beyond the grave when they come to her for temporary sight. It was impressive to see Jenna Ortega and Emma Myer’s take on the acting challenge of playing each other’s roles. While fans were disappointed that Gaga didn’t have a bigger presence, it does open the door for her to return. There’s even a stellar gala performance from Enid and new addition Agnes to Gaga’s new track “The Dead Dance” that is sure to have its viral moment like Wednesday’s dance in season one.
This half of the season also unveils the truth behind Nevermore’s new Principal Dort, played by Steve Buscemi. His Outcast pride campaign was a cover up for his con man ways, as we learn he is the true mastermind of the Morning Song Cult that Sirens Bianca (Joy Sunday) and Gabrielle Barclay (Gracy Goldman) were caught up in. Its leader Gideon Sterling was just an actor being used as a pawn, while Dort raked in the cash.
But the strongest aspect of this season was how they wove together the legend of The Skull Tree with Morticia and Gomez’s (Luis Guzman) Nevermore days. We learn that the mysterious woman Wednesday rescued from Willow Hill’s secret LOIS program was actually Francoise Galpin (Frances O’Connor), Tyler’s supposedly dead Hyde mother. Meanwhile, Pugsley’s brain-eating zombie “Slurp” regenerates and is revealed to be the late Isaac Night, played brilliantly by Owen Painter. Not only is he Francoise’s brother, but he’s a genius Nevermore student who invented a machine to strip an outcasts powers to save his sister from her Hyde fate. It turns out Gomez wasn’t always powerless. When Isaac tried to use Gomez’s electrifying abilities to power the machine, they were stolen from him and almost killed him. Morticia stops Isaac by cutting off his hand before he can finish his work and the explosion kills him instead. In a jaw-dropping twist, his severed hand is reanimated as Thing. I was truly not expecting to get that origin story, which was one of the best reveals of the series yet. All the hidden details and Easter eggs in this season just take it to another level, like Isaac’s last name Night being an anagram for Thing. It was there all along!
While newcomers like Painter’s Isaac and Evie Templeton’s desperate-for-friendship Agnes steal the show, not every new addition works. Dort’s influence doesn’t amount to much, Heather Matarazzo’s LOIS “mastermind” Judi is quickly taken out off-screen, and Christopher Lloyd, who played Uncle Fester in the Addams Family movies, gets a glorified cameo as a professor who is just disembodied head. Even with the Addams family more present in season 2, they continue to lack cohesion as a unit. Isaac Ordonez’s Pugsley often feels like an afterthought, both within the family and the broader storylines.
The finale sets up what we can expect in season 3. After risking her life to save Wednesday, Enid is now stuck in her wolf form as an alpha, with Wednesday on a quest to bring her back. Wednesday let Tyler go free and the new music director Isadora Capri (Billie Piper) offers to guide him to a Hyde refuge, so it looks like we haven’t seen the last of him yet. I’ve also been dying to know more about Aunt Ophelia and the finale gives us just enough to keep us coming back for more. Ophelia isn’t missing so much as she’s locked up in Grandmama’s (Joanna Lumley) basement, writing “Wednesday must die” on the walls. Does this mean Aunt Ophelia is out to get Wednesday? I have a feeling it’s going to be a red herring and she’ll actually be on Wednesday’s side. Only her white hair is shown, so I’m hoping they bring in someone big for this role. Aubrey Plaza would be a great choice, or perhaps we could see Catherine Zeta-Jones play dual roles as twin sisters.
While part 1 fixed the mistakes of the first season, part 2 thrives in its dark mysteries, fun twists, and genuinely shocking reveals. This is the version of Wednesday we’ve been waiting for and sets up season 3 as much-watch TV.
Catch Wednesday season 2 part 2 streaming on Netflix.
