What made Wednesday season 1 so loved was that it kept the quintessential charm of the adams family while adding the new age dark academia tropes our generation loves. So what exactly went wrong with season 2?
To start, it was just weird. And not in a good way. The entire season had too much plot that felt like it was grasping at straws to be as relevant as its predecessor. There are multiple perpetrators over here – The Gaga cameo, Tyler getting his family reunion (there’s a lot to unpack there) and the entire Aunt Ophelia subplot makes this season messy, terribly violent (I mean terribly done violence) and utterly cringe.
While the Gaga cameo is forgivable for its meandering of the plot (it’s Gaga), Tyler’s entire family reunion arc is something out of mine (and Sigmund Freud’s) worst nightmares. Let me tell you something, the show got a 16+ rating not because of the gore or any sort of harm to public sentiment but because of the relationship between Tyler’s mother and her brother. For the sake of keeping this clean, let’s end it at that.
I do also have a bone to pick with some of the new characters that have been added. Not some, just Bruno. Bruno has ruined quite a bit. As I write this, it’s difficult to not give spoilers so you’ll just have to trust me on this one.
While we’re on the topic of ruining, the entire Enid being an alpha subplot made me die a little bit inside. Very few things have made me cringe harder. The show essentially feels like it’s made for pre-teens who’ve just been allowed to watch twilight and it’s sad because the addam family has a cult following (I’m part of the cult).
As I mentioned before, Wednesday was a fun way to reintroduce the characters to a newer generation, but the show has lost direction entirely, alienating its original audience in favour of critical acclaim from a bunch of 12 year olds on youtube shorts. I originally thought Tim Burton might have finally lost it since he allowed this work to be released, but a little digging told me he only directed half of the season. He is only half to blame then. I blame the writers for the other half. After all, there’s only so much a director of his caliber can do when confronted with Wednesday dancing to Blackpinks Boombayah.
To end on a confusing and disappointing note, deserving of the confusing and disappointing season 2, I’m just going to wait for Season 3 and see just how bad (or insane) it gets.