Wednesday - Here We Woe Again
After a glimpse of her summer vacation, which included capturing her favorite serial killer, Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) returns to Nevermore Academy to find herself a celebrity due to her actions that saved the school at the end of the First Season. This time Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) joins her as well (who will end up having his own unexpected adventure in accidentally raising the dead while investigating the school's most famous ghost story). While struggling with her sudden fame, the idea that her mother (Catherine Zeta-Jones) might be sticking around to help with the school's upcoming gala, and uncertainties over the school's new principal (Steve Buscemi), Wednesday will also stumble upon new mysteries to solve.
The opening sequence, in which Wednesday turns the tables on the serial killer she tracked down, offers a fun way to remind us of the character before returning her to school. Her discomfort with celebrity, and how she chooses to deal with it at the end of the episode, also reassert Wednesday's fierce independence (which could be threatened by Morticia sticking around). In terms of mysteries, we get the attack of the ravens killing a local private investigator and Wednesday's stalker who puts her in danger by stealing her manuscript and getting her to risk her life during the bonfire ceremony to retrieve it through the flames. And, of course, there's the closing premonition our lead character receives at the end of the episode suggesting on character close to her won't be making it out of this season alive.
Directed by Tim Burton, the episode has a bit of his flair most notably in the stop-motion animated segment we get showing the ghost story told to Pugsley and the other first year students. Buscemi is a bit too over-the-top for me in a couple of scenes but the show certainly takes the time to prop him up as a suspect even before we understand the mystery while also setting up Bianca (Joy Sunday) as a potential ally for Wednesday against the school's new authoritarian. I'm far more interested in Billie Piper as the school's new music teacher Isadora Capri based on the single interaction we see with Wednesday. As for Enid (Emma Myers), choosing to put her life in the balance, just as she's coming into her own as a wolf, is a strong choice that will no doubt plague Wednesday's thoughts over the course of the season spurring her on.
- Title: Wednesday - Here We Woe Again
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