Takeaways from Wednesday Season 2 (Part 1)
Part one of the second season of Wednesday was just released on Netflix, with part two scheduled to be released next month.
The first season of the show was a success. It catapulted careers, created fandom, and sparked a deluge of internet memes.
Season two feels long awaited, and it has been a long three years since the end of season one. Part one of the new season depicts characters who have obviously aged (in real life and in the world of the show), but their transformations are fitting given the psychological themes the show focuses on. It’s a darker season of television compared to the first, leaning more heavily into elements of psychological horror and suspense, and questions of identity loom large throughout the episodes–discovering it, losing it, reclaiming it.
Rather than a full review, I want to focus on five important takeaways from the show. One’s that are applicable to most if not all of us.
Losing Control can be a Chance to Grow
The first season of the show spends a lot of time focusing on the fact that Wednesday has psychic power and examining how she develops them. Her psychic abilities connect her to her past, help her in the present, and become the most important part of her identity.
Season two immediately returns to that theme. It opens with a long monologue from Wednesday, in which she proclaims she has fully mastered her psychic abilities. Of course this turns out not to be the case, and due to some unexpected complications she winds up completely unable to harness her powers. This leads to frustration, but it also forces Wednesday to rely on other skills and parts of her personality to find solutions to her problems.
Sometimes we over-identify with certain parts of our identity because these parts have been so helpful to us in the past. But in order to continue to grow, we have to let go of who we think we are and make room for who we might still become. Embracing uncertainty and tolerating frustration are necessary parts of that process.
Standing Out Doesn’t Mean Standing Alone
After the events of the first season, Wednesday achieves celebrity status, which she immediately deplores. She becomes even more standoff-ish and tries even harder to push people away. Some of these attempts are understandable as not all of the attention she receives from others is altruistic. The problem is that her defensiveness becomes a blanket response to everyone, even people who don’t seek to do her any harm. There is a constant tug of war going on between Wednesday and the people who are genuinely trying to connect with her.
We all struggle with the conflict between our need to stand out and the need to belong. It is challenging but possible to find a healthy balance between both. To accept that one is separate and unique from others and still seek out connection and support from the people closest to you.
True Strength Lies in Boundaries, Not Barricades
Along those same lines, the show tries to tell viewers that the real solution to most of the character’s relationship problems is not to barricade themselves from others, but to have better boundaries with others instead.
This challenge is heightened because the show is focusing on what it is like for Wednesday and the other characters to go through adolescence. Wednesday personifies the risk-taking and rebelliousness that comes with adolescence, but the show also depicts other aspects of this stage of life that are just as complicated to understand and navigate. It at least tries to account for the ways that developmental changes impact everyone, including the adults.
There are plenty of moments when both teens and adults are exasperated with each other, but they are never able to be entirely done and cut ties with one another. Wednesday repeatedly contradicts herself by doing things that go against her faux indifference towards others and her isolationist ideas, and in doing so reveals a part of herself that does value others.
Like Wednesday, the mistake most people make is thinking they have to suppress the parts of themselves that value connection in order to grow into an individual. The reality is that being connected to others helps you figure out who you are. And having boundaries allows you to be with others while still learning what it means to be yourself.
Family can be Strange, and Strengthening
Another recurring theme throughout the season is the enduring nature of family relationships, the proverbial ties that bind.
The most humorous example of this is Gomez, Wednesday’s father, who is clueless about nearly everything and ill-equipped to handle any problems, but his cluelessness is offset by his sincerity and his devotion to his family. That, paired with his endless thirst for capturing a moment of intimacy with his wife Morticia makes him an endearing character, and makes his shortcomings forgivable.
It goes without saying that the strangest familial relationship is the one between Thing and the rest of the Addams family (another strange relationship would certainly be in the running if the two people were family members). Thing is an anthropomorphic appendage who plays the role of protector and confidant or multiple members of the family. Thing is a symbol for the overall oddity of the Addam’s family, whose role is underappreciated but integral. Thing is literally the thing that binds the rest of the Addams family together.
Platonic Bonds are Powerful
The first season of Wednesday had a lot of will they or won’t they moments between characters. Pre-existing and potential romances were introduced early on and audiences watched the tension build as the two came into contact.
So far season two has focused less on romance and more on the conflict that comes from trying to hold together or break apart platonic relationships.
The central conflict of the season mostly revolves around the relationship between Wednesday and her mother Morticia, which is exacerbated by Morticia’s own complicated history with the women in her own life.
There is also a complicated relationship triangle that exists between Wednesday, her best friend Enid, and Agnes, a newly introduced character who is her disciple/stalker. The conflict is mostly between the latter two, who are both vying for Wednesday’s attention and both feel threatened by the other.
In both scenarios, none of the respective parties is willing to concede, nor are they willing to discard the bonds that have formed between them. This speaks to the power of these relationships and the meaning they have for each of the characters. It’s not a coincidence that some version of the phrase “I will not fail you” is uttered in multiple conversations during the season.
The relationship that best crystallizes the theme of preserving relationships is the one between Bianca and her mother who she is trying to save from an abusive relationship. Despite her mother’s previous attempts to use her in service of this unhealthy relationship, Bianca meets the moment with compassion and understanding and does not hesitate to help her mom.
The show also reveals how the power of platonic bonds can be perverted and make people blind to their own destruction. Several characters make crucial mistakes because they cannot free themselves from the ties that bind them.
The lesson is that our most impactful relationships are the ones that form well before any thoughts of romance arise and linger long after such thoughts have come and gone.