Sarah Hoffer
Sarah Hoffer, Graphic Illustrator
Netflix released the second part of “Wednesday” season 2 on Sept. 3. With an array of tangled loose ends after part one, there were high stakes for creating a satisfying conclusion. This, along with the three-year hiatus between season 1 and season 2, caused fans to have sky-high expectations about the scares, mysteries and relationships.
To the dismay of many fans, it seems that part 2 was overtaken by a desire to create a precise remake of the successes of season 1. Many characters and plotlines were bulldozed to make room for confusing plot twists and dance breaks that served as Tiktok trend bait.
Season 1 found a major boost in popularity through a dance performed by Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) that went viral on TikTok. Wednesday’s short, impromptu dance was choreographed on a whim by Ortega, taking inspiration from Wednesday’s eccentric personality and 1980s goth club dancing. It found massive success because of its authentic feel and easily-replicatable movements.
Although originally set to a different song, TikTokers began doing the viral dance to Lady Gaga’s song “Bloody Mary” which added to the frenzy. The dance blew up on TikTok, amassing over 650 million posts. With this success came increased viewership for the show as a whole, something that season 2 felt desperate to recreate.
In season 2, episode 8, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) and Agnes DeMille (Evie Templeton) perform a dance to Lady Gaga’s new song, “The Dead Dance.” Lady Gaga specially created this song for Wednesday and released it alongside the premiere of the episode. Neither Enid or Agnes are depicted as dancers until their sudden pro-level debut onstage, and the performance itself serves an entirely unknown purpose. This caused the dance to lack the believability that made Wednesday’s original performance so captivating.
The repetitive, replicable movements and choice to involve Gaga both musically and as a blink-and-you-miss-it actress was an excruciatingly obvious attempt to bait TikTok dancers into posting their recreations of the dance. While the choreography itself was well done and performed expertly by Myers and DeMille, it was these random moments that blurred the lines between “Wednesday” committing to the horror genre or trying to encapsulate an energy similar to Disney’s tween hit “Zombies.”
This indecision was enhanced by the inclusion of a ravenous zombie which added quite a bit of gore, making it feel like “Wednesday” was trying to follow in the footsteps of other teen horror shows such as “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.” But this contrasted sharply with the cartoonish, borderline humorous depiction of the “Hyde,” the main monster in the series. This coupling made it obvious that ”Wednesday” can’t, or won’t, decide what it wants to be, perhaps as an attempt to serve as broad of an audience as possible.
Ultimately, the mystery element was lacking regardless of whether we were looking at blood and brains or a bad caricature of a goblin. The show had so many drastic detours and simultaneous subplots that it was impossible to leave behind a cohesive trail of breadcrumbs. Wednesday’s role as a detective was undermined by what seemed like an overwhelming lack of foresight about the direction of the mystery. I found myself constantly bewildered, receiving answers to questions that I wasn’t asking and never to the ones I was. This left the answer to season 2’s main mystery feeling bland and unsatisfactory, especially as it followed a very similar formula to season 1’s twist.
But, all is not lost. Agnes, a newly introduced character, was the wide-eyed beacon of hope for “Wednesday” season 2. Initially characterized as desperately trying to become just like Wednesday, Agnes eventually breaks free of her desire to be someone else and embraces her own lovable, albeit slightly creepy, personality.
DeMille’s humorous, awkward and honest portrayal of Agnes brings life back into the show, reminding us why we fell in love with “Wednesday” during the first season. Her debut during season 2 meant there were no gimmicky constraints placed on her in hopes of replicating season 1 successes. This gave her an authentic feel, allowing the audience to increasingly sympathize with her throughout the season.
Next season, I hope to see every character take a page from Agnes’s book.
Season 3 of “Wednesday” has already been confirmed, and as a big fan of Tim Burton and The Addams Family, I will certainly continue to watch. There is still a lot of joy to be found in the series, and we can only hope that Netflix will lose the TikTok fan service and get back to the authenticity and mystery of “Wednesday.”