It’s almost time for the po-faced Wednesday Addams to make her way onto our screens once more.
Jenna Ortega’s gothic antihero will be starring in the latest series of Wednesday, which has – in the roughly three years since it premiered – become a global sensation, quickly becoming one of Netflix’s most-watched programmes ever.
But it’s been a long old time since season one, and you could forgive our minds for being a little foggy. What we need is a quick refresher on what happened, as well as the burning questions that we still need answered from the breakneck show finale.
Fortunately, that’s exactly what you’re reading.
What happened in season one?
The whole thing kicked off with Wednesday being exiled from the Addams family after being expelled from yet another school. At a loss for what to do with their death-obsessed daughter, Morticia and Gomez decide to send her to Nevermore Academy, a school for paranormal teens.
There, she meets her roommate Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) and becomes embroiled in a mystery pretty much immediately: a monster appears to be preying on the students.
In an early episode, Wednesday herself is almost killed by fellow student Rowan, who is ripped apart in front of her – only to show up the next day before he leaves school for good.
We later find out that this is due to the Principal, Larissa Weems, being a shapeshifter.
An old murder case
Rowan’s death (and that of several others) isn’t a new phenomenon at Nevermore. Back in the day, Wednesday’s father Gomez was accused of killing a student named Garrett Gates (who was actually killed by Morticia).
Wednesday eventually finds out that Garrett was a relative of the infamous Joseph Crackstone, the radical pilgrim who wanted to kill all ‘outcasts’, or paranormal creatures (of which Wednesday’s ancestor, Goody Addams, was one), before his death. Garrett also wanted to commit a mass murder of outcasts at Nevermore, before he was killed.
In the present day, Wednesday finds out that Garrett’s sister, Laurel, managed to stay on at Nevermore and eventually became a teacher, Miss Thornhill. Dedicated to avenging her brother, Laurel eventually found a way to strike back at the school and Wednesday herself.
The Hyde
The killings eventually lead Wednesday (with some help from her Uncle Fester) to deduce that the creature wreaking havoc at Nevermore is a Hyde – a play on the Jekyll and Hyde story. The Hyde can look like a normal human and the gift can lie dormant for years, but once they reach a certain threshold or become too emotional, they turn into a ravenous monster.
After some research, Wednesday discovers that a Hyde must always have a Master – which she soon realises is Laurel Gates. And when she finally kisses her love interest, Tyler (the son of the local sheriff) she realises he’s the Hyde she’s been looking for.
In the final episodes, it’s revealed that Laurel identified Tyler as the Hyde a while back and found a way to control him. By getting him to attack students, she was collecting body parts to eventually resurrect Crackstone.
Wednesday gets Principal Weems to impersonate Tyler and get Miss Thornhill/ Laurel to confess to using him to murder outcasts. Weems herself is then killed by Laurel, who captures Wednesday and uses her blood to finally complete the resurrection spell.
In the end, the Hyde is subdued by Wednesday and her friend Enid, who finally transforms into a werewolf and defeats him. The pair manage to break the spell and defeat Crackstone, thereby saving Nevermore.
At the end of the series, we see that Wednesday has been readmitted to Nevermore. Happy ever after? Not quite…
What mysteries still need answering?
In the closing moments of the show, the tech-averse Wednesday has finally gotten a mobile phone of her very own. Maybe that was a mistake, because she soon starts getting a series of texts from a mysterious number.
"I'm watching you", they says, and send across a few photos of Wednesday with her friends and Tyler (who is now in custody).
The identity of the spammer remains a secret – as does Tyler’s fate. At least it’s not long until we find out both...
Wednesday Season 2 is dropping on Netflix from August 6
