.png?w=700&c=0 "Skoda Kylaq vs Kushaq: how much quicker is the compact SUV?")
Happy Friday the 13th, you Wednesday fandom kooks. The Jenna Ortega-starring Addams Family spin-off series from Tim Burton follows the Addams’ eldest as she attends a boarding school filled with other supernaturally inclined youths in a sprawling mystery that has only begun. Wednesday returns to Netflix in less than two months, so we’re taking this spooky occasion to pull out our Nevermore notes before school gets back in session.
Here’s what you need to remember—besides Wednesday having a Friday the 13th birthday, as Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) proudly boasted to Nevermore’s headmistress at the start of season one.
The Addams Family has powers
Right before getting sent off to Nevermore Academy, Wednesday begins to have psychic visions. It’s what shows her the swim team picked on Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) at the normie school they attended before she unleashed punishment by piranhas during their practice. As the season progressed, it led her to discover her connection to Goody Addams, her ancestor from Jericho who was outcast during the pilgrim era by the town founder Joseph Crackstone—a proponent of killing all outcasts during the witch hunt era.
Morticia killed a man
While being the model student of Nevermore during her time at the academy, Morticia saved the school from by killing Garrett Gates, a descendant of Joseph Crackstone who was obsessed with her and wanted to continue his family legacy of exterminating the town outcast society. Gomez (Luiz Guzman) took the fall for his beloved—they’ve been soulmates since they met at Nevermore—while the town covered up Gates’ attempt on the school. This bit of history comes up as one of Wednesday’s first cases meant to drive a wedge between her and her family, but it ultimately brings them closer when she clears her father’s name.
Friends or foes
Despite her reluctance to make any sort of connection with others, Wednesday makes a fair amount of friends and enemies. Her unlikely friendship with Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), her colorful opposite and werewolf roommate, helps Wednesday identify with others her age as they assist her in solving the Crackstone mystery. Even her early competition, the powerful siren Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday), eventually comes around to a mutual respect to protect their peers from the attacks their student body suffers at the hands of a mysterious creature in the woods who is connected to it all.
The night of the Rave n’ Dance, which gets sabotaged by the town bullies, early ally and fellow misfit among the outcasts Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) nearly dies at the hand of the monster. So all the bad blood among the Nevermore student body is put aside to stand together against the looming Jericho monster and Crackstone threats. Bianca’s ex, Xavier, encourages Wednesday to join the school’s secret society, the Nightshades, who were founded to protect the outcasts. Wednesday declines, due to not wanting to be overshadowed by her mom’s legacy as a member.
A crush with everything to Hyde
Early on in the season, Wednesday meets a boy in town who happens to be sheriff’s son. Tyler (Hunter Doohan) helps get her out of trouble with his dad but also harbors a crush on her. As she works to uncover the identity of the monster, she’s blinded by her feelings for Tyler. After their first kiss, she sees the truth that he was the monster all along. Turns out, his family secret is that his mother was a Hyde, an outcast type that is so unpredictable and dangerous that Nevermore does not allow them to attend the school.
All hands on deck
While the show focuses on the strange and unusual youth in the Addams universe, other members of the family join in on the fun. There’s a fun cameo from Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) that reminds you this is still an Addams Family affair. Disembodied hand Thing rooms with Enid and Wednesday to watch over her for Gomez and becomes a pivotal ensemble member. Thing is who nudges Wednesday to come out of her padlocked emotional shell; it also befriends the students wanting to connect with Wednesday on its own.
Before Wednesday can uncover the identity of the person controlling Tyler, Thing gets too close and is brutally attacked before seeing the face of Laurel Gates, Garrett’s sister, who returns to carry out the Hyde attacks on behalf of the Crackstone legacy. This drives the whole student body to back up Wednesday against the town’s narrative that she’s the danger that’s threatening the school. As things heat up and Joseph Crackstone is summoned alongside the Hyde for a final showdown, Enid finally wolfs out to square up against Hyde Tyler for her found family members.
Wednesday vs. Wednesday
Christina Ricci, the ’90s era Wednesday Addams from the iconic Addams Family movies, is revealed to be Laurel Gates, who posed as a teacher at Nevermore Academy. She murders the school principal and kidnaps Wednesday to use her blood to resurrect Joseph Crackstone so they can unleash revenge on the outcasts once and for all. Laurel leaves Wednesday to bleed out, but Goody Addams is also summoned by the supernatural events and uses Wednesday as a conduit to fight back, while healing her in the process. As Crackstone tries to set Nevermore ablaze, Wednesday distracts him while Bianca helps deliver the deadly blow and destroy him. Laurel rushes Wednesday and they get into it, which is such a cool and satisfying meta moment.
The baton is suitably passed as Ortega’s Wednesday delivers a foot-stomping blow to Laurel. While we don’t know if Laurel survived a Doc Marten to the head, Tyler is carted away in custody. The season leaves Wednesday beginning to get messages from regions beyond of an incoming mystery that set the stage for season two.
Wednesday season two part one drops August 6, followed by part two September 3, on Netflix.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
