Opinion

Wednesday season 2 is a flop

3.10.2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

The second season of Netflix’s biggest hit so far feels like a hollow Halloween pumpkin: as soon as I tune in, the magic is gone. But instead of intriguing suspense, what we get is filler, cringey jokes and Disney Channel humour Here’s my take on it.

I know I’m probably one of the few people on this planet who didn’t celebrate Wednesday as a masterpiece right after the first season. Decent entertainment? Sure. Especially around Halloween time. But a mass phenomenon? I still don’t understand it to this day.

And yet: what Netflix pulled out of the hat in 2022 was clearly a hit. The first season of Wednesday is still at the top of the list of most-watched English-language series on Netflix – even ahead of Stranger Things 4. A dance scene that went viral was a big factor in its success. Even people who wouldn’t be caught dead watching videos of cats couldn’t escape the hypnotising, spellbinding draw of it.

Or Jenna Ortega.

The newcomer, who as the eponymous main character took the world by storm, was also the only reason for me to stick around. She makes a terrific Wednesday: ice-cold, stoic, with a dry sense of humour and that eerie presence that suddenly turns a supporting character of the Addams Family into the hero of the series. And then there’s Tim Burton’s script, who co-produced the series and directed the first episode of both seasons.

Despite this, I didn’t warm to the second series – and that’s putting it kindly. Want my honest opinion? For me, the new season has propelled Wednesday to the top of the most-overrated series of the past few years.

More characters, less focus – and zero patience

The new plot should’ve been idiot-proof: Wednesday has a vision of her best friend Enid’s death. At her hands. Of course it would be. The vision obviously doesn’t reveal how, when and under what circumstances this occurs. So Wednesday has to find a way of avoiding this fate.

A clear-cut, dark premise that should scream suspense.

The plot sounds really promising so far.
Source: Netflix

But the series? It takes this idea, smashes it to smithereens, then stares fascinated by the trail of destruction left in its wake. Instead of telling the story, Wednesday becomes tangled up in an endless web of supporting characters. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia. Luis Guzmán as Wednesday’s father, Gomez. Bruder Pugsley, whose character is about as necessary as a pumpkin in the Caribbean. Old and new pupils and teachers from season 1 who act as though screen time were a human right.

And then there’s the regrettable Steve Buscemi. An exceptional actor who’s nothing short of degraded as a new addition, Principal Dort. Instead of a well-rounded character, he plays a terribly unfunny caricature who serves no purpose. Urgh, just thinking about him is enough to make me roll my eyes.

Poor Steve Buscemi, who forced you into this?
Source: Netflix

Efficient storytelling is obviously a foreign concept to the second season. Every episode feels like a mobile game with the sole purpose of killing time. First a camp competition in the forest that’s somewhere between Hunger Games and Camp Rock (yes, this combination is as absurd as it sounds). Then a scavenger hunt. A laughably drawn-out zombie plague.

And finally a whole body-swap episode with gimmicks taken straight from Freaky Friday, god help me!

For many people, this is clearly a highlight of the second series. Well, what can you say?
Source: Netflix

There’s no shortage of bad plotlines, but the worst of all has to be this: at one point, Principal Dort wants a pupil to use her superpowers to manipulate Wednesday’s mother. The idea is for her to convince her own mother, i.e. Wednesday’s grandmother, to donate a large sum of money to the school. But Morticia is resistant to this because she doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother. The pupil is also against Dort’s plan because she doesn’t want to misuse her powers.

So everyone fights against it for a while until it happens anyway. Four whole episodes, to be exact. That’s important. The reason? Wednesday’s grandmother has to turn up at the school at some point to bump into her and feed her some plot-relevant information. Some information that doesn’t really get her anywhere in the end.

Really, who comes up with such a convoluted farce just to pad out four hours of content? That’s not storytelling!?

Humour that belongs on the Disney Channel

And as if the chaotic plotlines weren’t enough, the second season also lacks any of the semi-intelligent humour that made the first one bearable. Gone is the amusing and witty wordplay with a double meaning. In its place is a level of humour that makes you think the script was fed with Disney Channel outtakes.

Often the result is childish giggling, reminiscent of badly synchronised sitcoms, and a narrative tempo as though you’d switched to 0.5 speed and then pulled the connector or battery out of the mouse. Something as genuinely gruesome as the bloody prom scene from the first season remains a distant memory.

Even Jenna Ortega, who struggles here as though she wants to resurrect a dead series merely by rolling her eyes, is unable to liven things up.

Chilling(ly bad)

The fact I can vividly remember the first, and better, series makes it an even greater shame. The vision about Enid is an intriguing premise: tragedy, shame, friendship, responsibility. But instead of distilling this into suspense, Netflix delivers dramatisation by numbers: a cameo here, a competition and shallow gag there. And at the end of each one-hour episode, I think to myself the important bits could easily have fitted into ten minutes.

Even the grim dance from the first season is copied so poorly it made me cringe, no two ways about it:

Wednesday season 2 is simply longer and louder, while at the same time being as exciting as an empty playground in the November rain. It’s very much style over substance. It all feels like a never-ending TikTok that sees itself as prestige television. And that’s what pushed me over the edge: this series could have been dark, wicked and actually good. Instead, it provides Halloween decoration for the Netflix algorithm…

…it looks pretty but lacks depth, and after two days it’s as stale as a forgotten pumpkin cookie.

Header image: Netflix

158 people like this article

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.»

Opinion

This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.

Show all

These articles might also interest you

Opinion
Why TV series should end sooner
by Valentin Oberholzer
Opinion
Why I’m unimpressed by the trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu
by Luca Fontana
Opinion
One last question for Squid Game 3
by Luca Fontana