Wednesday, Season 2 (series): I don't think i'll make it through this one

I enjoyed the first season of Wednesday as much as the next guy and I also have an appreciation for Tim Burton's unique direction style. This mildly horror filled comedy might be ok for some and I think in particular it will appeal to Harry Potter fans (it really seems like they are reaching for that) but to the average adult viewer, I think that this series is going to fail to impress or in my own case, to even convince you to continue watching.

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I continue to be amused with Wednesday Addams' unique perspectives on life and how she is rather uncaring about all that are around her... or so it appears even though she actually does care about a lot of people. This humor is something that doesn't really get old to me but unfortunately they need a bit more than that to make a full season of stories.

Here's one of the main problems I have with the series just 3 episodes in: I don't really know what we are fighting against. Is there a true one enemy? In the first season it was a bit of a mystery who the main baddy actually was, but we were still focused on a singular entity. In season 2, we keep switching enemies from one to the next so often that I am not really even clear who it is that Wednesday is up against.

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I found the "Camp Jericho" episode to be particularly stupid as for no reason at all the students who all have magical powers have to compete against normie scouts for control of the camp. Why? Because, reasons.

The relationship between Wednesday's parents is always entertaining and they do a good job in particular with Catherine Zeta-Jones' portrayal of Morticia. The way that she interacts with her daughter is touching to a certain degree but again, I feel as though they put conflict between Wednesday and her mother in there just to have something to fill the episodes up with.

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I am willing to deal with all of that because this was always going to be a show that I turn on in the background and look up and down between it and something else I am doing. It is a perfect show for when I am cleaning my house because it really isn't necessary for you to be glued to the screen in order to understand it.

Now I want to talk about something that unfortunately is very prominent in season 2 that I really wish wasn't.

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I really don't like Pugsley or the actor that plays him. I get that he is meant to be intentionally gross and that goes all the way back to when this show was in black and white and was a straight comedy on network TV. But every time that Pugsley is on the screen I immediately tune out. The show is supposed to be about Wednesday and she actually is an interesting character. However in this season there seems to be a 30% shift to an ongoing side-quest with Pugley and his equally repulsive and annoying roommate.

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I can't get on board with this character and I don't even pay attention to it at all when he is on screen. Go away Pugsley!

Perhaps I am being fickle with my next criticism but I am also a bit annoyed about how everyone has magical powers too. It reminds me about how a show called True Blood started out pretty cool with just a few vampires in the community but as the show went on basically everyone in the show started to have magical powers of some sort including when it was lamely discovered that "Sookie" was a fairy... barf!

Wednesday is doing that now as well by introducing some level of magical ability to everyone in the cast. When everyone is a superhero, nobody is.

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Maybe they felt like they needed to go a different direction in season two, but I really enjoyed the quirky relationship that Wednesday had with her bubbly and always happy roommate Enid.

I believe that Emma Myers (Enid) and Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) are the best actors in the entire cast and they really should focus almost entirely on them. They decided to branch out in so many different directions in season 2 that I don't really know (or care) what the overall plot even is anymore. To me, each episode is trying to be a standalone thing so that people can just jump in at any point without knowing any of the backstory that has lead up to that point. I guess that is good for some people, but I would rather have a singular and cohesive story that extends though the entire season.

As always, there are 8 episodes in season 2 and once again, I feel as though there is a lot of filler thrown in here. Don't believe me? Well episode 3 at Camp Jericho has almost nothing at all to do with the overall running plot of the season. This camping trip is just a 1 hour side mission that has almost nothing to do with the overall story that is taking place here.

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Try as they may, I can't get behind the introduction of "Agnes" and don't really feel as though we need any more characters. We have enough already. It all starts to feel rather formulaic and very Potter-ish.

This series enjoys a 60-80 % rating depending on where you look and I am not trying to discourage anyone from watching it. It is a visual marvel for the most part and it does showcase Tim Burton's unique style of direction, which I do enjoy. There are a lot of good things about this show generally speaking but for me, I am just having a difficult time staying interested. There are no real twists here as we all know that this is likely going to come to some sort of pinnacle in episode 8 where a major character is going to have to make some sort of sacrifice to "save the village!" just like they did in season 1. I do not know how it ends up, but I am very hopeful that they sacrifice Pugsley and get him out of there entirely.