Jenna Ortega shines in the second season of the Netflix series Wednesday, once again as the cold-blooded teenager with a macabre charm. The first half is full of mystery and dark humor. Critics praise the atmosphere and lead actress, but are not convinced by the overcrowded script.
AD – four stars
“It was a brilliant move by Netflix three years ago to build a dark comedy series around Wednesday Addams, the stoic and sarcastic teenage daughter of The Addams Family. Jenna Ortega knew exactly the right tone in the title role with a minimum of emotions and a bone-dry intonation. Director Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) provided matching humorous horror elements.”
“The second season of Wednesday is divided into two times four episodes; the first four appear in August, the next four in September. Ortega is again the undisputed pivot of the series in the title role, from the prologue in which she deals with her favorite serial killer (nice dirty role of Haley Joel ‘I see dead people’ Osment from The Sixth Sense).”
The Guardian – four stars
“It’s a typical Wednesday start to the season: grand, bizarre and fast-paced – and quickly overshadowed by another storyline: Wednesday’s mysterious stalker. The first signals already appeared at the end of last season. And now she receives threatening notes with the message that she has to do something. But who is behind it? And what exactly does that person want?”
“Catherine Zeta-Jones returns as the dreamy, elegant Morticia Addams, always a pleasure. Luis Guzmán as Gomez unfortunately continues to feel somewhat awkward and unfinished, as if he dropped out halfway through rehearsals to go get an eierbal somewhere. Yet these are only minor comments, because the season opener is energetic and full of jokes and plot twists. Tim Burton’s direction ensures that every hint of emotion or drama is immediately swept away by a rotting corpse in view.”
Variety – gives no stars
“The Addams family itself comes to light much more, including the reason behind the strained relationship between Wednesday and her mother Morticia. It’s all nice and macabre again, full of sharp one-liners and just as compelling as season 1.”
“Critics sometimes accuse the series of being a kind of ‘Netflix version’ of the classic Addams story, with Nevermore as a kind of goth variant on Hogwarts. But even if that is the case, the series remains visually impressive, darkly fascinating and Ortega is still fully in her role. If you take the Harry Potter films as an example, there is a good chance that the series will only become darker and richer. The themes may be ‘teen-oriented’, but everyone recognizes the feeling of being excluded, complicated parent-child relationships and friendships that sometimes chafe.”
De Volkskrant – three stars
“All scenes with Jenna Ortega and her bestie Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers as a young werewolf) still work perfectly. But the second season wants a lot at the same time in order to give as many characters a role as possible and to process a large number of plot lines.”
“The overcrowded script seems to be more aimed at a Wednesday universe, as if a document is already ready somewhere on the Netflix offices about not only a third season (which is coming), but also about the many spin-offs that await us.”