Want to hear more from the actors and creators of your favorite shows and films? Subscribe to The Cinema Spot on YouTube for all of our upcoming interviews!
I am an English and Film major, cinephile, and aspiring writer! When I'm not buried in school work and lectures, I'm usually in the depths of streaming services and their plethora of film options. Or reading.
If you haven’t binge-watched Wednesday like most people yet, all episodes are available to watch on Netflix. If you’re stretching out your time at Nevermore with Wednesday to savor that fantastical feeling like me, then let’s get into episodes two and three.
Wednesday Season 1, Episode 2: “Woe is the Loneliest Number”
We last saw Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) dealing with the aftermath of a gruesome murder, except she seems more excited than concerned. She knows what she witnessed in the woods: Rowan (Calum Ross) being slashed to death. So you can imagine the confusion brewing in her when Rowan shows up at school the next day. The case is left unsolved and now Wednesday looks like the Goth Girl Cried Wolf. No one seems to believe her so far and she’s determined enough to know she’s not going crazy. She sends Thing (Victor Dorobantu) to follow expelled Rowan to the train station where he’s dropped off. Thing–being just an appendage and all–is too slow to catch Rowan duck into the men’s restroom and… shapeshift into Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie)? Or rather, Weems shapeshifting back to herself? Either way, it’s frustratingly not mentioned for the rest of the episode.
Mysteries and fake murders aside, Wednesday now has to find an extracurricular activity at school. She tries her hand with the choir club, impressing everyone with a note that only dogs can hear. She tries archery with Xavier (Percy Hynes White) and is obviously great at it. She also meets and befriends Eugene (Moosa Mostafa), Nevermore’s one and only beekeeper, at the apiary. It’s clear Wednesday isn’t attempting to be social for the sake of it, that would be out of character. She embarks on her own investigation that will hopefully lead her to the monster and answer Rowan’s mysterious reappearance.
The series’ titular character joins Enid’s (Emma Myers) canoe team, The Black Cats, for the Poe Cup (named after Nevermore alumnus Edgar Allen Poe), an annual canoe race where there are no rules, and Bianca (Joy Sunday) and her Siren friends have an advantage every time. Their goal is to retrieve their team’s flag in a hidden fort in the woods with the engraved name “Joseph Crackstone” at the top. It’s at this fort where Wednesday gets another vision. She sees a blonde version of herself relaying the message “You are the key,” ominously and with no context. The Black Cats win with the advantage of Wednesday’s mischievous trickery.
Later, through her deep knowledge of Edgar Allen Poe’s riddles (snap twice), a door opens and Wednesday discovers a hidden library she saw Rowan in a vision once. In true mystery show fashion, the episode ends with a bag being thrown over Wednesday’s head.
Wednesday Season 1, Episode 3: “Friend or Woe”
Beginning right where we left off, it turns out that the hidden library is the meeting quarters for the Nightshades, Nevermore’s elite social club. A club that automatically makes Wednesday a legacy because of her parents’ involvement, and the very same reason Wednesday rejects pledging. There are some familiar faces amongst the hooded group of people like Bianca and Xavier.
It’s also Outreach Day at Nevermore, a day where students take a trip to Jericho and are assigned to help out different businesses. At some point, Xavier points out that the other figure in the prophecy drawing of Wednesday is Joseph Crackstone (William Houston), founding father of Jericho, and Wednesday’s reason to explore Pilgrim World for more clues. Alongside Eugene, Wednesday works at Pilgrim World, unsettling tourists with a recital of fudge history in fluent German.
A few clues lead her into the investigation and she seeks out Tyler (Hunter Doohan) at the coffee shop for help in finding Joseph Cracktone’s original meeting house. He tells her that it’s deep in the woods and Wednesday finds the ruins. She gets a vision that brings her back to a witch trial from the 1600s. It’s during this vision she learns about an ancestor of hers, Goody Addams (Jenna Ortega), her blonde doppelganger from the previous episode. Goody manages to escape the burning house and the image of Joseph Crackstone standing outside looks eerily similar to the prophecy.
Back to reality, Wednesday is visited by the same monster that killed Rowan but it runs away before getting a chance to kill Wednesday. As she follows the monster into the woods, she finds another break in her case, discovering that the monster’s footprints have transformed into human prints in the mud. She decides that nothing ever scares her, but Joseph Crackstone is proving her wrong. Xavier conveniently finds Wednesday at the ruins, but still struggles to believe her monster claims.
Back at Jericho for a monument celebration of Joseph Crackstone, Wednesday was tasked with joining the choir for her cello talents in a poppy rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop”. Meanwhile, Thing sets an explosion that destroys the statue. While everyone runs around chaotically like chickens with their heads cut off, Wednesday transitions Fleetwood Mac into Vivaldi’s Winter, providing the perfect eerie background music to the chaos she started. A true representation of normal Addams behavior.
Final Thoughts on Wednesday Season 1, Episodes 2 and 3
Also true to the original Addams cartoons and other adaptations, Wednesday is impressively strong enough to hold her own against a group of bullying boys. We also see a significant shift in Wednesday’s relationships, most notably with Eugene and Enid. Wednesday tells Eugene that he reminds her of Pugsley “sans the desire to strangle him at every waking moment.” Then as Enid sets off on her date with Ajax (Georgie Farmer), she tells her that if he breaks her heart, she’ll nailgun his. She’s finally warming up to Enid in her own twisted way, seeing her more as an acquaintance now than a required roommate.
If there’s anything else we’ve learned about Wednesday so far, she’s fiercely independent and determined during her own trek to the truth. Enid, Tyler, and Xavier are somehow interested in Wednesday and are, for the most part, unafraid to engage with her. She’s clearly surrounded by people who care about her, yet are still wary of her claims to there is something suspicious happening around Nevermore and Jericho.
As an audience, we have unclear leads about the monster. At this point, everyone seems to be a suspect. However, I can’t help but think that they could all just be red herrings.
Other Honorable Observations:
- “I don’t know who Etsy is but I doubt she was an outcast settler.”
- Taco Bell’s product placement at the ruins.
I am an English and Film major, cinephile, and aspiring writer! When I'm not buried in school work and lectures, I'm usually in the depths of streaming services and their plethora of film options. Or reading.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.