Wednesday season two eps 5 - 8 reviews

 

The series sometimes burns off plotlines so quickly that sometimes they barely register and part five is a case in point. In stretching to incorporate everything rather than leaving some plots to simmer off screen the end result with episode five is something a little over crowded even for this series. On the other hand, the remaining three episodes are excellent leading to a terrific full blooded gothic as you like finale.

 

While episode five is enjoyable there is one aspect that might have been given more attention. T cliffhanger from part four  of Wednesday being thrown out of window is resolved with little fanfare. I know this is fantasy but you’d think she might be a little sore after such a fall but seemingly not. There is a dream sequence but it feels like this is being treated a little less seriously than it could be. She is up and about quite quickly.  Elsewhere with both a Hyde and a zombie prowling around its wonder they don’t encounter each other but they seem to just keep missing. The enormous cast all get something to do but they are brief signatures marking time - in most cases, a few lines and its off to someone else. The episode does make more sense when you see the ones that follow but I'm sure just a little evening out of the narrative would make this flow better. Its rather crowded zipping from one set of characters to another.

On the plus side it’s always good to see Gwendoline Christie back with former Principal Weems now appearing to Wednesday only as her spirit guide. Visually the episode stages a deliberately tacky version of the Day of the Dead festival curated by the Pilgrim museum which creates some good moments. Hunter Doohan is on strong form in this episode, all Tyler's contained rage just under the surface.

Episode six `Woe Thyself` is one of the best the series has yet produced. Concise with several strands knitted together to create a real sense of momentum it kicks off with a superbly unexpected gambit. We see Wednesday, decked out in bright colours, dancing her way into the quad with a smile on her face. Except as the episode rolls back a while we discover its not actually Wednesday but Enid. The two have engaged in that classic body swap scenario beloved of Eighties movies and it works a treat here. Often in those movies there isn’t really enough difference between the characters to start with; here they are polar opposites with enough screen time behind them for us to find the switch funny. Both Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers deliver pitch perfect impressions of the other, yet with an added escence of who both Wednesday and Enid are. Each of them picks up on nuances which is rewarding for the viewer. Some of the fin too is watching the reactions of the others. By the end you really feel both characters have grown to respect each other more thus justifying the comedic plot.

This would be enough in itself but the situation crashes into the main arc very well. The swap came about after Wednesday sought help to temporarily regain her psychic power from the tomb of Rosalind Rowtwood, played with suitable majesty by Lady Gaga, in an effort to track down the Galpins. Now reunited with Tyler’s uncle Isaac aka Slurp now looking almost like actor Owen Painter who plays him. Looks like he may be the ultimate villain this season judging from the manner with which he despatched Professor Orloff. T

hey in turn attempt to save Tyler’s mother by using that big machine at Willow Hill. It’s a real vintage ci-fi machine toom full of cables, dials and tubes that somehow will remove the Hyde from Francoise. It leads to an excellent scene in which all of these elements fuse together almost like a season finale. Indeed we will return to a similr lab in a couple of episodes time. For good measure at the end there’s a lovely scene of honesty between Wednesday and Enid plus a new threat because there’s still two episodes to go!

It’s a satisfying instalment at every turn, especially pleasing is the way in which Agnes has become a much more rounded character than the slightly irritating fan girl she started out as. Evie Templeton has become an essential part of the show. There’s plenty of opportunity to play around with established relationships amongst friends and family. Who knew for example that Morticia writes novels? The conceit is also a great way for both Wednesday and Enid to discover things out without a lot of exposition. Somehow the writers continue to find ways to make a drama about a distant, gloomy family full of life.

Its interesting to speculate where Tyler is as a character now. In this episode he suggests that he would not want to remove his Hyde despite the likelihood of a shorter life as it is in that form that he feels the most free. He likes being the monster, perhaps a lot more than the friendly barista he was in season one. At the end of the episode Larissa tells Wednesday that although their actions have saved Enid, it now seems as if “an Addams will die” in the near future. One wonders when Wednesday will get time to do her school work!

Tim Burton is behind the camera again for episode 7 `Woe me The Money`  which ties up some of the plots surrounding Bianca’s mother and the prospect of Hester donating to Nevermore. Unable to get the grouchy grandmama to willingly agree to hand over her fortune, Dort resorts to having Bianca hypnotises her into doing so. Though there’s a lot of serious intent here, the events do play out with the air of a caper and some wry moments, not least the imposing Frump Tower (!) that will be he centrepiece of the new buildings. Matters are resolved at a grand ball at which  a large gondola sails up a canal in the middle of the dining room; only Tim Burton could present such a scenario with the gothic grandeur it deserves. Both Catherine Zeta Jones and Joanna Lumley do a superb job in this episode.

What is particularly enjoyable is the way the writers have developed Wednesday and Enid’s tentative friendship in as much as the former can have friends. Both actors and the narrative make subtle nods to the way this has developed particularly since they swapped places last time. There is also a good pay off for Agnes too as her invisibility comes in very useful. If Dort’s end is slightly perfunctory (though imaginatively delivered) his bad side was showing. It’s a shame that Steve Buscemi wasn’t able to have a little more screen time as he has been a lively presence. With all this happening the Galpin family’s plight becomes the secondary plot as the more normal looking Isaac becomes the more dangerous he is. Revelations that he was once Gomez’s room mate and the fact he kidnaps Pugsley at the end, along with the risk Enid will take is she wolfs out at the moment, sets up a potentially thrilling climax to the season.

The finale, `This Means Woe` (is that even a pun?)  is none more Tim Burton climaxing in a huge laboratory with cables, circular dials, metallic tubes, lightning and a mad scientist. Of course, the director does it so well and allied to what is the most straightforward plot the series has probably had- rescue Pugsley- it resonates high in both excitement and visual pizzaz. What does surprise though is just how much emotion is poured into it given the show’s reputation for dark humour. Each of the characters here are acting out of sincerity or familial connection whether on the side of good or evil. The script deftly shows this while also coming up with an unexpected development regarding Thing. Whether Addams devotees will appreciate this reveal or not it certainly adds the black cherry on top of a very impressive cake.

I’m not sure whether Tim B choses episodes he’ll direct based on their visual potential or whether they just end up looking that way because it’s him but this production, clocking in at an impressively stacked yet concise forty five minutes, is tinged with blue Moon lit skies, a monochrome patina in the lab allowing us a few slivers of colour. There’s some icky bits- a sequence in which Wednesday is buried is stomach churning for anyone watching who suffers from claustrophobia – and plenty of grandstanding.  Remarkably though a lot happens matters never seem too rushed especially as there are some explanations to be had.

Everyone plays their part brilliantly- whether Emma Myers conveying her worries when it seems as if Enid could turn into a wolf permanently or Jenna Ortega’s deadpan expression allowing just a soupcon of empathy or Joanna Lumley’s expressions as things develop or Hunter Doohan’s Tyler torn between his love for his newly found family and what they are trying to do. Yet the standout is Owen Painter who has already given us several stages of a zombie through the series (yes, it is the same actor who has played Slurp at every step) and now has to become that most difficult of roles- the crazy scientist guy pressing those levers and getting excited about it. He does it with such commitment and intensity that it makes the whole thing work so well. For good measure he also has to battle his own hand near the end. Such commitment has resulted in a first class performance.

You have to credit the writers in coming with such a labyrinthine narrative for this second season that somehow coalesces by the end into a thrilling, absorbing plot which services all the characters. The show's most skilful attribute is in making the main character so dark yet also enabling her to undertake sympathetic acts. Wednesday is an unlikely hero for any story but the series has made a character for the ages.  Obviously, there will be a season three, in fact it was announced after the first four episodes were released and at the very end of this episode there are a few clues as to where that may be headed. On the other hand something completely different might occur and that’s what makes Wednesday one of the liveliest, most inventive and enjoyable series of the decade.