TV & Streaming

After she lands on the pavement and we see her covered in blood, Wednesday says in voice-over: “I’ve always dreamed of looking death in the face. But in my final moments, all I hear is my mother’s words ringing in my ears. Maybe I have made things worse. Much worse.” But don’t expect a The Last of Us-style shocker. With the show renewed for a third season, it’s highly unlikely she’s dead; the series is, after all, titled Wednesday. Not to mention, a teaser for the second part of the season shows Wednesday appearing to wake up from a coma.

In May, Netflix posted on X: “Lady Gaga will guest star in Wednesday Season 2 Part 2 as Rosaline Rotwood — a legendary Nevermore teacher who crosses paths with Wednesday.” However, Ortega later told Entertainment Tonight: “She’s not a teacher. That’s your little clue. She’s not. Whatever you heard, it’s wrong.” One theory posits that she might show up as Wednesday’s new spirit guide, replacing Goody Addams (also played by Ortega in the first season). Another suggests she might be a villain, given that we already found out who the stalker is and who is controlling the crows. Yet another theory suggests that she might show up to reveal Nevermore secrets crucial to what’s really going on at the school and/or psychiatric hospital.

Wednesday helps an unnamed Willow Hill inmate (Frances O’Connor) escape from Lois in episode 4. Some fans are speculating that it’s Ophelia Frump, Morticia’s sister, who is playing a big role in this season’s storyline so far. Others speculate that Gaga will be playing Ophelia. However, seeing as Gaga appears only in one episode and only in the second half of the season, and Ophelia is becoming very central to this season’s storyline, the latter theory seems unlikely. Another theory suggests that Miss Capri, the music teacher, is actually Ophelia, given her advice to Wednesday about how to reach her full potential by letting the music (and her powers?) control her instead of the other way around. (Some fans are speculating that Miss Capri also might wind up being Wednesday’s new spirit guide.) Or could the woman be Tyler’s mom? That would explain how Galpin knew about the LOIS experiments. Her reaction to the Hyde (aka Tyler) also was not one of fear or surprise but more of a calm lack of emotion. But if she were his mom, why would Dr. Fairburn need to bring in Laurel/Marilyn to help with Tyler? (It should be noted that TV sleuths believe they have figured out who her character is based on the dubbing of the show, but we won’t spoil that here. You can find their thoughts online.)

Augustus Stonehearst (Philip Philmar), who is now in the psychiatric hospital, is a former Nevermore professor and father to Judi who began the experiments on Outcasts. A so-called Normie, Gus wanted to figure out how to transfer the Outcasts’ powers to himself and even experimented on his daughter, giving her the power to control the crows. However, his experiments caused him to go mad, leading to his being admitted as a patient at Willow Hill. At the end of episode 4, Slurp dines on Gus’ brains, but not before speaking to him (the first words the reanimated corpse utters): “Hello, old friend.” Do they know each other from Nevermore? From Willow Hill? One theory suggests that Slurp was Gus’ former student. Another posits that Slurp was one of his early subjects. Yet another suggests he may have helped Gus build the machine he used for experiments. Or perhaps a combination of all three is correct. 

We see that he’s growing a brain and was able to speak to Gus before he took a bit out of him. Fans have noted that he gets smarter every time he eats someone. At any rate, many believe this zombie will play a big role in the upcoming events given how much screen time the character has received thus far.

Before he escapes the psychiatric hospital, Tyler tells Wednesday he plans to kill Enid. But is the answer that obvious?

Co-creators and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar won’t say she’s definitively deceased. “Christina Ricci is just an amazing person and actor, and she brings such value to the show, and the character’s so wonderful. Never say never,” Gough told Netflix. Added Millar: “I will say, in this show, no one is officially dead dead. There’s always a way.”

Dort asks Morticia to be this year’s gala chair and then extorts Bianca (Joy Sunday) to use her siren song to force the Addams matriarch to ask her mother for a big donation. One fan theory is that he owes a lot of money to someone. Adding to the suspicion surround him is a phone conversation Bianca and Ajax (Georgie Farmer) overheard him having in his office: “I’ve always had your back, you’ve always had mine. So relax. I’ve never been more confident about anything. I have it under control.” One theory speculates that he’s working with someone on a way to further the LOIS experiments. Another theory speculates that he himself is an Avian — someone who can control birds, like Judi — given his reaction to Wednesday’s query. Yet another fan suggests that he might be a descendant of Edgar Allan Poe given there’s been multiple references to the author this season, including Dort referencing a portrait of Poe and a close-up of Dort when the lyrics about Poe were being sung by the students in the school’s alma mater. 

Agnes, who can become invisible, was revealed to be Wednesday’s stalker. Meanwhile, Enid has a new love interest, Bruno, who stopped Enid when she bared her claws at Agnes. Many fans seem to think both are a bit suspicious and play a bigger role in everything that’s going on that it might seem. The evidence? Agnes tied up both Enid and Bruno in a twisted game that nearly killed them until Wednesday showed up (turns out it was all a stunt to impress the young Addams). But how did a girl of such a petite frame carry them both up inside that tower? Did she have help? If so, might it have been Bruno? Moreover, some fans suggest, the characters seems to be designed purely to keep Wednesday and her roommate preoccupied with other things.

We’ve seen everyone from Lurch to Fester, and now Morticia’s mother, so why has the hairy figure been absent thus far? Ortega has previously said she’d “love to see Cousin Itt,” but there’s been no indication that an appearance will happen in season 2. However, some fans have noted the inclusion of Cousin Itt products in the Wednesday toy line, leading many to wonder if that might be a hint of things to come.

Morticia burned the book that Wednesday believes would help her get her powers back. One theory suggests that someone — maybe Ophelia or even Wednesday’s own grandmother — is the culprit. Morticia reveals that Ophelia had the same psychic powers and starting experiencing the same black tears that Wednesday was. Another theory speculates that Grandmama is manipulating Wednesday as a way to drive a wedge between Morticia and her daughter.

Your guess is as good as ours, though interestingly, one theme that runs throughout this season thus faris that of the sometimes shaky mother-daughter relationship: Wednesday with Morticia, Morticia and Ophelia with Hester, and Bianca with Gabrielle.

Gaga will drop a new song, “Dead Dance,” that also will appear in an upcoming episode. One of season 1’s highlights was seeing Wednesday dance at a school function, so one can only wish for a reprise. However, director Tim Burton may have put a damper on any hopes for another viral moment, recently telling The Hollywood Reporter when asked about trying to top that moment: “This sums up what I like about working with Jenna. We didn’t do a big Broadway rehearsal [for the dance scenes]. We didn’t hire a choreographer. I picked the song and said, ‘You just go do it.’ She showed up on the day — I think she even had COVID — and we just did it. It was the most fun I had on the show because we just let it go. But to your question: No, we didn’t think about it this time because we didn’t think [about the dance number being a big deal] to begin with. It gets dangerous to say, ‘We have to do something like this again.’”

Part 1 of Wednesday Season 2 is streaming on Netflix. Part 2 will be released Sept. 3.