Nevermore Academy has never looked better, or more like a fever dream curated from Instagram’s goth hashtag. Tim Burton’s fingerprints are everywhere, dripping shadow and style. But halfway through this school year, a truth sets in: Season 2, Part 1 is less a tight gothic mystery and more a trunk stuffed with intriguing, but underwhelming side quests.
Wednesday Returns (Jenna Ortega)
Jenna Ortega still brings sharpness: her delivery is slower, her glare piercing, her presence magnetic. She moves like someone perpetually on the verge of solving a mystery or hexing a classmate. Yet this season keeps her restrained. Just when she should soar, the script clips her wings.
Part of the fascination with any new Wednesday Addams is how she stacks up against past versions:
- Lisa Loring (1960s) was a pint-sized goth ingenue, sweet-faced but morbid, making darkness charming before “goth” was even a household word.
- Christina Ricci (1990s) turned deadpan into an art form with razor wit and merciless confidence, always three steps ahead.
- Ortega adds physicality and menace, but the writing so far leaves her static.
The Addams Family: Old vs. New
Not all casting lands. Luis Guzmán’s Gomez is a weak link, bumbling and overly obsessive – where Raul Julia gave us romance and fire, and John Astin gave spooky and kooky repartee. Meanwhile, the mother-daughter tension between Morticia and Wednesday lacks the sly affection and adoration of earlier versions.
But not every update misses the mark. Joanna Lumley’s glam Grandmama is absolutely fabulous, bringing chic menace in updating the frumpy, absent minded witch of the character’s past portrayals. Fred Armisen’s Fester is goofy, warm, and just unhinged enough, a loving echo of Jackie Coogan’s original.
The Expanded World of Nevermore
Season 1 had a spine: one central mystery pulling us forward. Season 2? It juggles psychic visions, a killer doll subplot, school politics, new cliques, and side characters with their own tangled dramas. None are bad, but their combined weight slows momentum.
Nevermore feels less like a gothic school and more like a launchpad for spinoffs. Sometimes the tone tilts into Disney-adjacent whimsy like Descendants mixed with Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, especially in scenes with younger, quirkier characters. Sadly, it is not Addams darkness, but Hot Topic sparkle.
Cameos and Continuity
Christina Ricci, now Marilyn Thornhill, continues to steal scenes. Her menace and mischief remain magnetic. Watching her face off with Ortega feels like eras colliding: the 1990s cobra versus the 2020s raven. Ricci still resonates, and this is a welcome callback and an evolution.
I won’t name it here to avoid possible spoilers, but there are cameos that are welcome nods to the Addams legacy, though brief.
Music and Atmosphere
Atmosphere is Season 2’s strongest suit. Nevermore’s interiors gleam with candlelit menace, while exteriors look like Hogwarts drained of cheer and handed to the crows (which is fantastic).
The soundtrack is another matter. The Sisters of Mercy rubbing elbows with CCR and Bruce Springsteen are bold. But the “Bridgerton & WestWorld remix” trick, string quartet versions of pop songs, shows up too often. A cello-laden “Losing My Religion” and piano “Zombie” fit, but repetition blunts impact. Instead of deepening the mood, it sometimes breaks it.
Standouts and Stumbles
Thing is still endlessly charming. Billie Piper chews scenery with relish. Steve Buscemi brings his rumpled charisma. But strong performances cannot compensate for weaker arcs. Without sharper writing, even the best turns feel like set dressing.
Verdict
Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 is a gothic feast with an enviable playlist. But it is weighed down by narrative clutter and a strangely muted heroine. It looks like Addams, it sounds like Addams, yet it risks feeling like Netflix cosplay and Hot Topic Halloween, rather than lasting Addams lore.
For Wednesday to dance again in Part 2, the show needs to cut the clutter, thaw the family frost, and let Ortega play something that is truly her own.
What did you think of Wednesday Season 2, Part 1? Did it capture the Addams spirit, or did Netflix bloat weigh it down? Drop your thoughts in the comments and let’s dissect this gothic fever dream together. And if you enjoyed this review, share it with your fellow Addams fans, or follow The Twilight Tone for more deep dives into the strange, spooky, and spectacular.
🔎 Media Credits & Film Info
Title: Wednesday (Season 2, Part 1)
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Christina Ricci, Fred Armisen, Joanna Lumley, Luis Guzmán, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Studio: Netflix
Genre: Gothic Fantasy, Dark Comedy
📷 Image Sources:
All images are used under fair use for editorial purposes.
© Netflix / MGM Television.
Behind-the-scenes photography sourced from official press kits and public archives.
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