Wednesday's second season as a whole is a mix of hits and misses.
The main theme of season 2 follows Wednesday's determination to save Enid from an untimely death that was foreseen in a vision. When the Netflix series leans into Wednesday and Enid's relationship, it thrives on every level. Everything about their dynamic, from Wednesday's obsession with keeping Enid safe to Enid's hurt and frustration of getting left out of Wednesday's plans, works in favor of continuing to build up their dynamic, which solidifies itself as the heart of the series in season 2.
However, not every storyline held up to the anticipation, with characters such as Tyler, Ajax, and Bianca floundering as their subplots offer just enough screen time to try and make them relevant, but not enough to fully embrace any of them.
Wednesday and Enid lead season 2's best storylines
Wednesday and Enid's hug at the conclusion of season 1 signaled how much Enid had grown to become important to Wednesday over the span of their time as roommates. In season 2, that connection has grown, even if they spend most of their time arguing. Although Enid and Wednesday do not spend all of their time together in season 2, all of Wednesday's motivations are spurred on by her desire to save Enid. Season 2's sixth episode is a highlight in the series as Wednesday and Enid are forced to understand each other more than they ever anticipated. Yet, it also works as one of the show's most comical episodes, broadening the scope of the storytelling possibilities that Wednesday can tell while letting series leads Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers give phenomenal performances.
The season finale pushes Wednesday and Enid's connection further, showing just how far each of them is willing to go for each other. The relationship between Enid and Wednesday in season 2 is very much about the unconditional love they have for each other. After Enid finds out she is rising as an Alpha Werewolf, it brings out the fears that if she turns on a full moon, she could be stuck as a werewolf forever, and that she could end up alone. But that will not be the case if Wednesday has anything to say about it, as she took off at the end of the season to find Enid in her werewolf form and bring her back home. The question in the air for season 3 remains what it will take for Enid to return to her human form, something that is supposedly impossible.
Agnes is also a highlight of season 2, starting off by revealing herself as Wednesday's stalker, only to become her excited fangirl. While the initial antagonistic relationship between Enid and Agnes may have been fun at first, Part 2 turns things around by starting to develop their friendship outside of a rivalry surrounding Wednesday. Fleshing out Agnes more than someone desperate for Wednesday's attention allows her to be a bigger presence in the future. Agnes is a fun addition to the series, and her personality shows an intriguing balance between Wednesday and Enid.
The more constant presence of the rest of the Addams family is also one of season 2's best choices. While Wednesday is mostly a solo act in season 1, Morticia, Gomez, and Pugsley's more constant presence helps grow out the lore of the Addams family and helps ground the series in a stronger depiction of family. Wednesday's main storylines in season 2 come down to trying to save Enid and the complicated dynamic she shares with Morticia. Season 2 does expand on Wednesday and Morticia's relationship, but it could still use more work, especially as it is suggested that Wednesday's relationship with her mother is part of the key to moving forward. Season 2 also makes sure to emphasize Thing's importance as a member of the Addams family, as well as giving him an origin story of his own.
Season 2 Was Also Riddled With Missed Opportunities
One could say that Tyler is a victim of circumstance. He spends his life being manipulated and hurt by the adults around him, from his father to Thornhill to his mother, Francoise. Tyler is used as a tool to commit murder, and his character bounces between villain and victim in the span of seconds. Yet, Wednesday does not necessarily take the time to fully explore Tyler's feelings about his own identity outside of all of the hurt he has experienced.
In the season finale, Tyler is put at risk of losing his abilities as the Hyde, but the series never necessarily showed his true feelings about being a Hyde and how that role plays into who he is as an individual. His determination to hold on to his abilities shows a connection to how he values the Hyde as a part of his identity, but the way season 2 goes about giving him screen time is too tied to the drama between Francoise and Isaac to give Tyler the attention he deserves for all he has gone through, even though Hunter Doohan gives a fantastic performance for a character who's emotional range has a tendency of giving the viewer whiplash.
Tyler remains an integral part of Wednesday's storyline, even indirectly, in season 2, due to how she thinks that he may be responsible for either Enid's death, or the death of a member of the Addams family. But, the second half of season 2 sees Tyler acting more as a helper to Isaac's villainous quest than a character undergoing his own arc. There is plenty for Tyler to be doing in season 2, but the audience is not even privy to seeing Tyler having a human reaction to his mother's reappearance, leaving that moment to the work of a facial expression of the CGI Hyde.
This is perhaps one of the most defining moments of Tyler's life, and rather than allowing the human the chance to experience it, or witnessing Tyler's response after returning to human form, this aspect of Tyler's character is mostly dismissed, even though there are lines about Tyler's shock at seeing his mother alive, as well as the trauma of realizing that she is another adult in his life willing to hurt him.
Bianca and Ajax's connection to the Morning Song cult storyline also acts as a background plot that never quite gets the momentum it wants, even after revealing Principal Dort is behind the cult, and has nefarious plans to steal Wednesday's grandmother's fortune. By the time this storyline finally gets going, it ends just as abruptly after a slow burn beginning during the first half of the season. Bianca and Ajax having little to do with Wednesday and Enid throughout season 2 also keeps the storyline on the edges of the show, and never quite has the same excitable energy as that is going on with Wednesday, Enid, or the rest of the Addams family. The most thrilling thing to come out of this storyline is the question of who would become the next principal of Nevermore following Dort's death.
Key things that need to happen in Wednesday season 3
With the way season 2 ends, there are plenty of directions for season 3 to go, but Wednesday does have to lean into some storylines and back down on others. Wednesday and Enid's relationship is the heart of the show, and deserves more screen time to see their dynamic build and grow. Season 2's best scenes have the two interacting, and season 3 should follow that example.
Allowing these two characters to grow together and continue to explore how they influence each other helps this series be the best version of itself. Stepping away from love triangles and allowing these two to flourish in their connections to each other as well as in their individual storylines will give season 3 the opportunity to continue expanding the world of the show. Given Enid's rise as an Alpha, her experience and identity as a werewolf, as well as her experience up until the point she reunites as Wednesday, could end up playing an integral role in season 3.
Season 3 also has to step away from Tyler being considered the villain, or being controlled or manipulated by a villainous individual. Not only would it be painful to see Tyler be under the wing of yet another adult who plans to hurt him, but it is also repetitive narrative storytelling in the worst way. There are other ways to grow Tyler's arc without continually using him as someone else's pawn. Season 3 needs to give Tyler the opportunity to truly understand who he is as a human and a Hyde, rather than being someone controlled by the Hyde or another individual. To constantly use Tyler as a puppet for someone else's schemes grows tiring, and season 3 is a chance to explore Tyler's identity in terms of who he could be without constantly being drowned in circumstances designed to hurt him.
It is also time to develop Wednesday and Morticia's relationship beyond the oppositional approach Wednesday takes toward Morticia. Enid's description of Wednesday's true feelings about her relationship with her mother should be the first step to healing that dynamic and allowing the Addams family to be a united group rather than having strained relationships.
Allowing the Addams family to grow to become a stronger unit lets the series become more connected to the origins of what The Addams Family was known for: unconditional and supportive love, no matter how chaotic anyone was. Their shared love of chaos ties them together, and in order for Wednesday to truly grow as a series, it needs to step away from the potentially repetitive nature of Wednesday finding ways to keep herself withdrawn from her mother. This does not have to happen all at once, as it may not come across as organic. But baby steps can show the series heading in a more positive direction.