Like every other 90s kid with access to Cartoon Network, The Addams Family was one of the countless awesome shows that I grew up watching. The characters were odd enough to be interesting. The plots were almost nonexistent, thereby allowing my underdeveloped brain to keep track of what was going on. And what can I say about the soundtrack that hasn’t been said already? It’s iconic. Then there were the two live-action adaptations by Barry Sonnenfeld, which cemented this oddball family as an integral part of my childhood. And with each passing year, my respect for the performances delivered by Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia (RIP), Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci, Jimmy Workman, and Carel Struycken continues to grow. Despite the overcomplicated lore and storytelling of Wednesday, I did enjoy its first season, and I absolutely loved Jenna Ortega’s acting in it. Did I like the first part of the second season? Read on to find out.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar’s Wednesday Season 2 Part 1, sees the titular character returning to Nevermore Academy for the next semester. During her first outing, she was largely hated by everyone because of the lies that had been spread about Morticia and Gomez when they used to study there. But since her parents’ names have been cleared and she has saved the school from ruin—with the help of Enid, Xavier, Bianca, and Eugene—she has become a hero in the eyes of the students. As for Morticia and Gomez, since they are wealthy as hell, they have been invited by the new principal, Barry Dort, to become the school’s celebrity donors via a fundraising event. On top of tackling all this newfound fame, Wednesday has to deal with a stalker, and she has to look out for her brother, Pugsley, who has just joined the school. However, when a couple of raven-themed murders happen in Jericho, Wednesday’s eyes light up, because morbidity is what fuels her soul.
I think it’s unfair to judge Wednesday Season 2 Part 1 because, as evident from the title, it’s part of a bigger picture. And the bigger picture seems quite complex from where I am sitting. As usual, there’s a bunch of new lore about Outcasts and Normies. There’s a lot of stuff that’s going on in the Addams family. Enid’s romantic life is a mess. Bianca’s mother is on the run. Pugsley and Eugene now have a pet zombie named Slurp. There’s that fundraising thing that’s going on. There’s a mysterious music teacher named Isadora Capri who always talks in riddles. There’s Willow Hill, a psychiatric hospital for Outcasts run by Judi and Dr. Rachael Fairburn. And, in addition to all that, there’s ravens going around killing people. But since Netflix wants me to critique its flagship show based on this partially rendered narrative, what other choice do I have? With all that in mind, I will say that I didn’t like the story or the storytelling. The characters keep talking about the importance of Nevermore, but I don’t really care about its existence. Hence, I couldn’t get invested in the politics around its fundraising. The murder mystery and The Island of Doctor Moreau-inspired shenanigans are really basic so far. The drama amongst the Addamses is alright. The filler material is tolerable. Wednesday gets all the good dialogue, while everyone else is turned into exposition machines—quite literally in the case of Professor Orloff.
Look, I thought I wouldn’t be as offended as I am right now with Professor Orloff. I assumed that I would use this section of the review to highlight the visual inconsistencies of Wednesday Season 2 Part 1 and how certain frames have the clarity and sharpness that was displayed in Season 1, while others seem like they haven’t been properly color-corrected. I wanted to talk about the improvement in the action sequences and the practical effects. And I intended to champion that stop-motion animated scene, which was reminiscent of Burton’s Frankenweenie and Corpse Bride, because it felt like a slap in the faces of all those movies and shows that are resorting to generative A.I. “animation” for such moments. But my mind is stuck on Christopher Lloyd’s head in a jar. I mean, what the hell is that? Bringing Ricci back into the franchise for the sake of nostalgia and giving her such a pivotal role was a masterful choice. However, taking Lloyd, who I believe should’ve gotten an Oscar for his turn as Uncle Fester, and putting his head in a jar and making him spew the blandest lines imaginable is just gross. He is covered in so many layers of visual effects that I’m not even sure if it’s actually Lloyd or a digital recreation of his head, which is being puppeteered by animators. If that is actually the case—I am hoping that it is not and he was present on the set in some capacity—I have to say that this is horrendous.
Wednesday Season 2 Part 1 has a lot to like. The sets are elaborate. The costumes are intricately made. The music will make you sway from side to side now and then, but there’s nothing to surpass the “Goo Goo Muck” dance number from Season 1 yet. The performances from the cast, especially Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Evie Templeton, Owen Painter, and Fred Armisen, are all great. If you are a huge fan of the franchise, you’ll surely love everything about it. If you are a fan of this series, I am quite certain that you’ll adore it. But as someone who sat down to watch this right after finishing Addams Family Values, I failed to get past the “Christopher Lloyd’s head in a jar” situation. You need to have a basic understanding of physical comedy, or just comedy in general, to realize what Lloyd did in that movie. I am surprised that that performance isn’t talked about in the same breath as Charlie Chaplin, Jim Carrey, and Chris Farley. Yes, Lloyd is Doc Brown to most people. For me, though, he is Uncle Fester. And seeing his head in that jar simply broke me. I hope that he gets to do something better in Part 2; if he doesn’t, I won’t be surprised.
