There's a fine line between deliciously macabre and needlessly overstuffed, and Netflix's Wednesday Season 2 crosses it with gusto. What began as a razor-sharp coming-of-age horror-comedy has, by its final four episodes, ballooned into something messier, louder and far less clever than it believes itself to be.
It's still entertaining in flashes, yes, but mostly in the way a chaotic carnival ride is: noisy, chaotic and more exhausting than thrilling once it finally screeches to a halt.
Picking up from the cliffhanger that ended Part 1, Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is very much alive despite her apparent death - her trip to the afterlife is short-lived, courtesy of her spectral new companion, Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie).
Weems now functions as Wednesday's sardonic spirit guide, floating in and out to provide sharp one-liners and the occasional jab of wisdom, a witty twist on the role Goody Addams played in Season 1.
From there, the narrative splinters into the tangle of arcs Season 2 has cultivated: the truth about Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) and his Hyde lineage, the return of zombies and cults, the deepening secrets of Nevermore's leadership under Principal Dort (Steve Buscemi), and the baggage Gomez (Luis Guzman) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) carry from their own pasts.
It becomes hard to invest in stakes when the series keeps undoing them. Rather than heightening suspense, these resurrections make the narrative feel like a revolving door of gimmicks.
The Hydra subplot, intended as the season's backbone, quickly spirals into melodrama. Tyler and his mother's dysfunctional dynamic is played for tragedy, but without much depth or nuance, it's Gothic window dressing, not storytelling.
Slurp the zombie, meant to provide both menace and comic relief, becomes an irritating distraction, a character so absurd he derails scenes rather than heightens them.
While these arcs supply gore and spectacle, they also bog down momentum - too many betrayals, too many confrontations, and a repetition of "will-they-kill-each-other-or-not" dynamics between Wednesday and Tyler that start to lose bite.
What's most disappointing is how often the show sidelines its emotional core. Where the season's final stretch truly shines is in its character work, particularly the evolving relationship between Wednesday and her rainbow-hearted roommate, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers).
Their friendship has always been the soul of the show, and Part 2 finally gives it the focus it deserves. Episode 6 is the standout of the entire series so far, deploying a gleeful "Freaky Friday" body swap that allows Ortega and Myers to mimic each other's quirks with uncanny hilarity.
Watching Ortega bristle with false cheer and Myers repress her emotions into withering deadpan fury is not just fun, it's revelatory.
The swap reframes both girls' arcs, forcing Wednesday to literally live inside Enid's optimism, and Enid to confront the darker resilience that defines her best friend. For once, the supernatural gimmick isn't just a sideshow; it's character development done right.
Thing, everyone's favourite dismembered hand, unexpectedly claims one of the season's most poignant arcs-thanks to Professor Orloff (Christopher Lloyd, reduced to a floating head in a jar) and his gentle reminder that appendages, too, deserve respect.
Even the much-hyped second dance sequence, featuring Enid and Lady Gaga, reeks of desperation to go viral, a pale imitation of Season 1's cultural moment. It's fun, but also proof that lightning rarely strikes twice.
The supporting characters suffer the most in this bloated finale stretch. Bianca's siren cult subplot is reduced to a rushed afterthought. Pugsley remains frustratingly underwritten. Agnes, the invisible girl, is granted more screentime but little purpose beyond comic relief.
Even Morticia and Gomez, whose twisted romance should be a narrative anchor, are weighed down by backstory no one asked for.
Meanwhile, fan-favourite Fester is wheeled out only briefly, his limited presence clearly meant to tease a spinoff rather than enrich this storyline.
Visually, Tim Burton's fingerprints remain intact. Nevermore is still an intoxicating world of cobwebbed corners, crypts and ghoulish banquets. But when the style is this lavish, it only underscores the lack of substance.
The school setting becomes laughably irrelevant; by the time the term supposedly ends, viewers are left wondering if the students ever attended a single class.
The world-building piles on ghosts, cults, hydes, zombies and spiritual guides without ever stopping to let anything breathe.
The last four episodes try desperately to pull threads together, but the finale collapses under the sheer weight of unresolved arcs. Plot points are either too predictable or abruptly dropped, cliffhangers are piled on in lieu of resolution, and the season ends not with satisfaction but with the hollow promise of "more to come."
It's the kind of storytelling that mistakes quantity for quality, throwing everything at the wall and hoping the audience won't notice how little actually sticks.
In the end, Wednesday Season 2 Part 2 proves that even the most bewitching of shows can fall victim to its own hype. It is far from flawless. It is overstuffed, distracted, and sometimes too desperate to chase past successes.
Yet it also proves why Wednesday has become one of Netflix's most irresistible series: not because of viral dances or monster fights, but because beneath the gloom and gore, it remembers to be a story about friendship, identity, and finding light in the shadows. Secrets may be the bedrock of the Addams family, but it's the bonds Wednesday can't quite admit to that keep the show's heart beating.
Also Read: Wednesday 2 Part 1 Review: Jenna Ortega Anchors An Overstuffed Yet Spellbinding Sequel
-
Jenna Ortega, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Isaac Ordonez, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman
