‘Wednesday’ Season 2 Review — Jenna Ortega Shines In A Series That Is A Grave Delight

The first season of Wednesday embraced what The Addams Family always has: valuing otherness, challenging conformity, and exploring identity in the face of societal expectations. The show gradually shifted focus to center around its magnetic lead, becoming a metaphor for misunderstood teen angst. With a storyline full of thrills, chills, and howls, it delivered addictive and engrossing television.

This level of audience anticipation is rare, with fans champing at the bit for a second season and keeping the flames alive for three long years. Now, the series returns with a second season that’s back to its eccentric and gothic best. The production value is top-notch, the cast is star-studded, and the deadpan humor perfectly offsets the show’s dark, almost ominous tendencies.

In short, Wednesday’s second season, along with its star Jenna Ortega, is a grave delight.

The story follows Wednesday Addams (Ortega), who—according to her mother, Morticia (Chicago’s Catherine Zeta-Jones)—has, for the first time, voluntarily returned to the same school. Reflecting on Nevermore Academy, Wednesday deadpans that this time she “knows where the bodies are buried” (see what I mean about a grave delight?). After saving the school from impending doom, her fellow students now ask for her autograph. Though Wednesday insists it be signed in blood. Their reply? They wouldn’t expect anything less.

Enid (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’s Emma Myers) returns as Wednesday’s “woofish” best friend, a werewolf who tries so hard to fit in, where Wednesday shows her the gifts of autonomy. The series still focuses on this friendship dynamic. However, the series also begins to look into the nuclear Addams family characters, but more closely. This brings even more eccentric fun. For instance, Fred Armisen, whom I will admit, I can only take in small doses, plays Fester with a surprising amount of humor and heart.

And that is where half the fun of Netflix’s Wednesday is. I stress half because the streaming giant only provided the first four episodes. The mystery expands far beyond Nevermore’s walls and into the secret the Addams family has hidden from Wednesday all these years.

Wednesday is from producer Tim Burton and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who also wrote Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice for Burton. Returning to the original intellectual property was a smart move. The superb cast—Catherine Zeta-Jones, Fred Armisen, Isaac Ordonez, and the scene-stealing Luis Guzmán- fully embody the series’ themes in a genuinely entertaining way. Here, this group embraces the idea that their utter uniqueness should be celebrated, not feared.

Being a Burton production, both elements are put on full display, making the juxtaposition consistently compelling. The writing from Gough and Millar is sincere, if not occasionally over-the-top. This makes nearly every scene feel unpredictable, darkly whimsical, and surprisingly human. The show manages to be frightening and, at the same time, side-splittingly funny. Frankly, the series works on so many levels. It’s hard to believe the sophomore effort holds together so well without being pulled too far in any one direction.

However, let’s make no mistake—the series is carried by Ortega, who continues to thrive in a role that expertly showcases her talents. That includes her sharp comedic timing, where “deadpan” is more than just a pun. She also brings a charismatic stillness and expressive restraint that’s rare for any young actress. Most importantly, it’s the emotional nuance beneath the surface that gives the series its unexpected depth. It is Ortega’s sardonic and acoustically entertaining turn that saved the first season and delivered an even better second.

You can stream Wednesday’s second season only on Netflix on August 6th!