Just finished my rewatch and I'm really glad I did it because there was so much I had forgotten. Plus the joy of reexperiencing the unraveling all of the mysteries. I'm ready for this second season!
Spoilers Wednesday (Addams) Netflix Show
- Thread starter Ar-Pharazon
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Billie Piper is in this season. That's pretty cool. I haven't seen her in anything since Doctor Who.
I saw her not long thereafter in a couple of TV mystery movies where a pre-Doctor Matt Smith was a supporting character. The series was called The Sally Lockhart Mysteries, but Piper's Lockhart didn't actually solve the mysteries; her male co-stars did most of the work.
I watched the first two episodes. It's a pretty good start to the season. I'm not sure I like the new Principle. Weems and Wednesday just seemed to have more chemistry together and I'm finding that I miss that in these two episodes. I do like that we seem to be delving more into Thing's psyche and the stuff about his Birthday and Morticia and Gomez demanding him around was nice too. Looking forward to seeing how the story develop. I'll try not to spoil things as I know people watch at their own pace, but so far it's a nice start to the season. I think I prefer Season 1 right now, but it's still early yet. I like that the family is more involved, but Pugsley is weird, and he and Eugene changed a lot from Season 1 to Season 2.
Just finished all four episodes and enjoyed all of them, although I will say they aren't quite as strong as the first four of the first season.
Probably my biggest non-spoiler issue is how the show has almost entirely abandoned all pretenses of classes, with the exception of demonstrating Christopher Lloyd's Professor Orloff as the new botany teacher. The Camp Jericho episode is a fun Academy-driven excursion (with nice echoes to the misadventures of Addams Family Values' Camp Chippewa) but otherwise the show has focused entirely Wednesday's investigations into the plethora of mysteries of the season. I guess it's not too surprising since the same thing happened with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and even Harry Potter and I suppose there is only so much interest in actual classwork, but I feel that this show has cast Neverwhere Academy aside much faster than the aforementioned two did to the Academy of the Unseen Arts and Hogwarts, respectively. Overall, not a real issue, but it still bothered me.
As for the mysteries of the first half of the season...
Lastly, Joanna Lumley is a goddess. I desperately hope we see plenty more of her next season!
Probably my biggest non-spoiler issue is how the show has almost entirely abandoned all pretenses of classes, with the exception of demonstrating Christopher Lloyd's Professor Orloff as the new botany teacher. The Camp Jericho episode is a fun Academy-driven excursion (with nice echoes to the misadventures of Addams Family Values' Camp Chippewa) but otherwise the show has focused entirely Wednesday's investigations into the plethora of mysteries of the season. I guess it's not too surprising since the same thing happened with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and even Harry Potter and I suppose there is only so much interest in actual classwork, but I feel that this show has cast Neverwhere Academy aside much faster than the aforementioned two did to the Academy of the Unseen Arts and Hogwarts, respectively. Overall, not a real issue, but it still bothered me.
As for the mysteries of the first half of the season...
I figured out pretty quickly that Agnes was probably the stalker, even if it felt a little weird that one of the season one mysteries was quickly resolved and almost offhandedly, aside from the near deaths of Enid and her new boyfriend (whose name I'm not bothering to remember since he has zero characterization, as oppose to poor Ajax). That said, I loved how quickly Agnes fell into the thick of things, bouncing from annoying gnat at Wednesday's side to driving a wedge between Wednesday and Enid (although Wednesday is partially responsible for that, too, if only in a poor attempt to keep Enid safe).
I initially thought Agnes' weirdly large eyes almost evoked Big Eyes and was a subtle CGI creation, but photos of Evie Templeton shows her eyes are actually that large and I imagine the right make-up makes them pop out more. Kudos to the show for that bit of casting and she's terrific in the role, madly blending the extreme eccentricities of both Enid and Wednesday.
I initially thought Agnes' weirdly large eyes almost evoked Big Eyes and was a subtle CGI creation, but photos of Evie Templeton shows her eyes are actually that large and I imagine the right make-up makes them pop out more. Kudos to the show for that bit of casting and she's terrific in the role, madly blending the extreme eccentricities of both Enid and Wednesday.
This was a terrific mystery that gave Wednesday a worthy adversary, leaving the viewers guessing if they were Billie Piper's Isadora Capri, Thandiwe Newton's Dr. Rachel Fairburn, or Steve Buscemi's Barry Nort. While I expected a curveball, the reveal fell flat for me.
On the one hand, I liked the adversary wasn't any of the Big Name characters, but on the other hand, I felt that Judi Spannegel was barely known (to the point that I had to look her name up and I barely remembered it even though I just watched that episode). Yeah, she's the daughter of the previous warden of Willow Hill (I think that was his position) but we barely knew enough about him for that revelation to land. Perhaps if we had gotten to know both of those characters (or at least Judi's front as a psychiatric assistant) and then reveal her as the One-Eyed Raven and her familial connection later on in the season, then maybe it would've landed better.
That all said, I did like the reveal that she was originally a Normie who volunteered to be experimented on so she could become an Outcast. Hopefully she survives her victims' attacks long enough to explore that curious turn of events.
Of course, that's all said without knowing how the second half of the season plays out. Which brings me to...
On the one hand, I liked the adversary wasn't any of the Big Name characters, but on the other hand, I felt that Judi Spannegel was barely known (to the point that I had to look her name up and I barely remembered it even though I just watched that episode). Yeah, she's the daughter of the previous warden of Willow Hill (I think that was his position) but we barely knew enough about him for that revelation to land. Perhaps if we had gotten to know both of those characters (or at least Judi's front as a psychiatric assistant) and then reveal her as the One-Eyed Raven and her familial connection later on in the season, then maybe it would've landed better.
That all said, I did like the reveal that she was originally a Normie who volunteered to be experimented on so she could become an Outcast. Hopefully she survives her victims' attacks long enough to explore that curious turn of events.
Of course, that's all said without knowing how the second half of the season plays out. Which brings me to...
I kind of hate the name Slurp so I hope we find out his real name in the second half of the season now that he seems to be regaining his speech.
That said, I loved his introduction in the form of stop-motion clay animation, which felt more Henry Selick than Tim Burton's solo efforts (although granted it's been years since I've watched Frankenweenie). I was immediately pulled into his mystery, just like Pugsley.
So imagine my disappointment when he quickly became a zombie, mostly treated as a joke before slowly becoming a real threat. Like I said, I hope that now most of his brain has grown back that his character will be better fleshed out (pun intended) and lean more towards the Mechanical Heart aspect of the character and less so the zombie part.
That said, I loved his introduction in the form of stop-motion clay animation, which felt more Henry Selick than Tim Burton's solo efforts (although granted it's been years since I've watched Frankenweenie). I was immediately pulled into his mystery, just like Pugsley.
So imagine my disappointment when he quickly became a zombie, mostly treated as a joke before slowly becoming a real threat. Like I said, I hope that now most of his brain has grown back that his character will be better fleshed out (pun intended) and lean more towards the Mechanical Heart aspect of the character and less so the zombie part.
With how quickly the stalker was resolved, the One-Eyed Raven reveal fell flat, and Slurp not doing much beyond slowly growing back via a vast diet of brains, the only two major mysteries still lingering are whatever Barry North is actually up to and the painful history of Olivia Frump.
I don't have high hopes for the former (but hopefully it'll tie in with the greater mysteries), but I think it's fairly obvious that the mysterious woman who Wednesday helped rescue is in fact her. Frances O'Conner (who I briefly mistook as Catherine O'Hara, which would been one hell of a surprise!) is three years older than Catherine Zeta-Jones so that works out nicely. Which leaves the question of her current state of mind and the true nature of her powers (and how they may or may not help Wednesday).
I don't have high hopes for the former (but hopefully it'll tie in with the greater mysteries), but I think it's fairly obvious that the mysterious woman who Wednesday helped rescue is in fact her. Frances O'Conner (who I briefly mistook as Catherine O'Hara, which would been one hell of a surprise!) is three years older than Catherine Zeta-Jones so that works out nicely. Which leaves the question of her current state of mind and the true nature of her powers (and how they may or may not help Wednesday).
I have to say I'm surprised by the number of deaths that happened already. Sure, Donovan Galpin was a given considering Jamie McShane was only going to be a guest this season, but I was genuinely shocked (and disappointed) that Fairburn already died (but at least that explains why Newton wasn't a cast member). I thought she was a fascinating character and I certainly found her far more interesting than Judi Spannegel. Maybe I'm just sorry we won't be seeing more of Newton.
I was delighted to see the return of Christina Ricci and I had hoped we get to see plenty more of Laurel Gates, but the moment she went back to free Tyler, I knew she was a goner. She was fiendishly clever but in that final moment, her foolish hubris blinded her into thinking she could continue to control him.
Not a big deal but let's poor one out for the dumbass macho scoutmaster, if only because he was played by Anthony Michael Hall, who I shamefully didn't even recognize until I saw his name in the credits. Nice to see him included considering Wednesday's visions aren't that far off in nature from Johnny Smith's in The Dead Zone.
...and then there's Wednesday. Of course, she's not actually dead but her closing narration certainly suggests she may briefly tread the Netherworld at least. But what I find much more interesting is how it sounds like she's finally starting to realize she makes a lot of mistakes with her premature accusations. She didn't seem to notice or care about the consequences of her actions last season but I think they might be finally hitting her now.
I was delighted to see the return of Christina Ricci and I had hoped we get to see plenty more of Laurel Gates, but the moment she went back to free Tyler, I knew she was a goner. She was fiendishly clever but in that final moment, her foolish hubris blinded her into thinking she could continue to control him.
Not a big deal but let's poor one out for the dumbass macho scoutmaster, if only because he was played by Anthony Michael Hall, who I shamefully didn't even recognize until I saw his name in the credits. Nice to see him included considering Wednesday's visions aren't that far off in nature from Johnny Smith's in The Dead Zone.
...and then there's Wednesday. Of course, she's not actually dead but her closing narration certainly suggests she may briefly tread the Netherworld at least. But what I find much more interesting is how it sounds like she's finally starting to realize she makes a lot of mistakes with her premature accusations. She didn't seem to notice or care about the consequences of her actions last season but I think they might be finally hitting her now.
Lastly, Joanna Lumley is a goddess. I desperately hope we see plenty more of her next season!
Have you seen Penny Dreadful? I think that came out after Dr. Who. She's good in it.
I've heard of it but never seen it.
Piper has really changed. I know it's been close to 20 years but I didn't even recognize the accent, let alone the brownish red hair.
If you like Wednesday and similar shows I think you'll like it. I think it's still on Netflix.
We watched the first 3 eps of season 2 and I'm definitely intrigued and looking forward to seeing where this is going.
Just watched episode 3 and watching the original Addams Family on Pluto has actually paid off. I don't think we ever saw the Addams Family chair in the movies (It's been so long since i've seen the movies so I could be wrong) and they brought it in this episode. I think that's great.
Also, this episode has my favorite line of the season.
Wednesday: I have FOBI, Fear of Being Included.
Also, this episode has my favorite line of the season.
Wednesday: I have FOBI, Fear of Being Included.
I agree. She's really good in it.
Be sure to watch Addams Family Values which I think is the far better film.
I've seen Addams Family Values many times, more than the original. I also attend the camp where that movie filmed the camp lake scenes just about every year. It's a private lake owned by the YMCA.
The reveal also fell flat for me too. I was like, "Who?" when it was Judi who was revealed. I like the motivation (Normie wanting to become an outcast) but I wish we had gotten more on her character other than a few short scenes. I wanted to be shocked by the twist, but I was more confused by it.
Finished the 4 episodes. It was a pretty good start to the season but I can't help but feel like most of the mysteries have been solved. The trailer to part 2 also kind of lessens the impact of Wednesday being tossed out the window by Tyler and I hope Season 2 isn't a rehash of the last few episodes of season 1. I hope they delve more into Judi's character because I honestly didn't know who she was. I enjoyed the episodes, but yeah Season 1 was better at this point
Finished the 4 episodes. It was a pretty good start to the season but I can't help but feel like most of the mysteries have been solved. The trailer to part 2 also kind of lessens the impact of Wednesday being tossed out the window by Tyler and I hope Season 2 isn't a rehash of the last few episodes of season 1. I hope they delve more into Judi's character because I honestly didn't know who she was. I enjoyed the episodes, but yeah Season 1 was better at this point