Note: This story contains spoilers from “Wednesday” Season 2.
The world of “Wednesday” is getting bigger. Following a sensational Season 1 debut that broke records, Netflix’s Addams Family riff returned for a second season that offered grand sets and spectacle, as well as a massive and star-studded ensemble of kooky characters.
After a Season 2 spent trying to protect her bestie from a deadly vision that never came to pass, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) sets out at the end of the finale in search of Enid (Emma Myers). Settled into the sidecar of Uncle Fester’s (Fred Armisen) motorcycle, Wednesday hits the road, setting the stage for the third season to expand the world and lore of Netflix’s megahit even further.
“We’ve slowly expanded the lore and there’s more,” series co-creator Miles Millar told TheWrap. “We love world-building. That’s something we’ve always loved to do in our shows and movies we’ve done. And there’s definitely potential to continue to expand and see more of this world, what it means to be an outcast in the world outside Nevermore.”
“There are other characters that we love and it feels like we’re just dipping our toe in this world and that it can only expand from here,” Millar said. “So it’s actually really exciting as creators to be here and to chart the course of where it could go next.”
“The Addams family is endlessly fascinating. And again, what’s nice about it is, because there is no lore mythology to the Addams Family, we have the ability to create it for this version, in this world. That’s a lot of fun,” co-creator Al Gough said. “Then, the Wednesday relationship with Enid, that friendship is also really interesting, because it continues to be surprising.” That relationship is again poised to take center stage as Wednesday sets out on the road after what Gough calls an “amazing sacrifice” by Enid in Season 2.
In the end, it turns out it was her bestie who saved Wednesday, not the other way around. With Wednesday buried alive and running out of air, Enid had a choice: stay safe and maybe lose Wednesday forever, or wolf out and save her friend … with a catch: as a young Alpha Wolf transforming on the full moon, she might never return to her human form.
Fortunately, Season 2 was all about “learning what it is to be a true friend to somebody” for Wednesday, something that Gough pinpointed as the biggest change in the character throughout the season.
“For Wednesday, if Season 1 was she made a friend, in Season 2, it’s how to be a friend,” Gough explained. “She thought, ‘Enid can’t handle it. I need to protect her.” It was always “I, I, I…” It wasn’t about actually engaging in a real friendship with her. And then, they go through the body swap, and when they come back, there’s a newfound respect and understanding. Enid even says to her, ‘You’re my pack, and if something happens to me, will you come find me?’”
Of course, it wasn’t just the characters who had to get to know each other better; the big body-swapping Episode 6 required the actresses to step into each other’s roles, and Gough, who, along with Millar, was on set for production “every day,” says his stars took those performances “very seriously.”
“Their biggest concern was not letting the other character down,” he recalled. “They’re great friends in real life. So they would run the lines, and they’d record themselves as their characters, so the other person had it to see. If they weren’t shooting other scenes, they’d also be on set when they were shooting those scenes.”
Wednesday and Enid aren’t the only characters heading into the great unknown at the end of Season 2, either. Tyler (Hunter Doohan) is taking a chance on Miss Capri (Billie Piper) and a community of Hydes. Wednesday’s former flame has been through the wringer: manipulated at the hands of Marilyn Thornhill in Season 1 and escaped from the horrors of Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital at the end of Season 2 Part 1, only to discover his mother, Francoise (Frances O’Connor) was still alive and had been locked up in Willow Hill herself for years.
Unfortunately, what followed wasn’t quite the happy reunion one would hope for, and after Slurp the zombie turned out to be Francoise’s brilliant, formerly deceased brother, Isaac (Owen Painter), the trio made a brief, dysfunctional attempt to keep each other alive, acting as a “dark mirror to the Addams Family,” according to Gough.
Now, Tyler is alone again — and without a master, he’s headed for an untimely death, something Gough says is a major motivator in his choice to go with Capri.
“I think what appeals to him is he knows he’s got a death sentence. So, part of it is just purely survival,” Gough explained. “Your paths are either servitude, death or … oh, now there’s a third way to go.”
Hydes have also been one of the most mysterious and essential elements of “Wednesday” lore, creatures believed to be so dangerous and unpredictable that they were banned from Nevermore decades ago. And it’s not just fans that want to know more, Tyler does too.
“It’s the idea that we only know so much about Hydes, but is there more to know? It’s like everything in life. You’re told these things, but then once you get into it, you realize, Oh, is there more to it? Is there a way around it? People have had this condition. It’s like living with a terminal illness that you know is going to kill you, but it’s somebody always looking for a way to live when you’ve been handed a death sentence.”
Despite the arrival of a second Hyde in Season 2, it was always the plan to tease out the mythology of those monsters slowly, according to Millar, who hinted at more to come in Season 3.
“There’s a great moment in the climactic fight on the rooftops between mother and son, and you see the moment where Francois lets go, she’s dying anyway,” And at that moment, and you see the panic in his eyes, and where’s he going next? What’s gonna happen to him? Even though she’s kind of the worst mother in the world, but he is now alone again,” Millar said. “I think for him, it’s always that he doesn’t want to be alone. I think that’s the thing. I think he is more accepting of his Hyde self. But also, there’s a self-hatred there, and what that means. It’s lots to explore in Season 3, but certainly it wasn’t our intention to get any more into the Hyde’s mythology this season.”
If there’s one final thing you should definitely know about Season 3, it’s that they’re doing everything they can to ensure the next season doesn’t take so long to hit your screens. Season 2 was held up not just by a production move from Romania to Ireland, but also by the double WGA and SAG strikes throughout 2023.
Season 3 is in the writers’ room now and Millar assures everyone is aligned in their mission to close the gap between seasons. “I know the imperative is to get the show on the air sooner,” he said. “That’s the goal. That’s our plan. Everyone’s striving to make that happen as best we can.”
“Wednesday” Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
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