Netflix’s Wednesday returns for the first half of its second season. The four-episode installment begins with Wednesday Addams’s return to Nevemore. This time, her brother Pugsley joins her as the school prepares for a new year under new leadership.

After a rather forgettable prologue reminding us of Wednesday’s psychic abilities, the Addams family arrives at Nevermore with its new headmaster, Steve Buscemi’s Principal Dort. Embodying the everlasting “cool kids” meme, Dort is not welcomed by the populace, and of course, has ulterior motives behind his benign smile. His initiatives to raise school funds include offering Morticia leadership over the annual fundraising gala and recruiting siren Bianca as her student liaison. Both are on the fence.

After connecting with some familiar faces, the episode wastes no time delving into the new mysteries. First, a man is murdered by a murder of ravens, drawing Wednesday’s immediate attention. Second, Wednesday discovers she has a nefarious stalker on campus who goes as far as to steal her manuscript. The most interesting plot deals with Wednesday experiencing an adverse effect from her psychic abilities: black tears. She harbors the secret that may have a link to her estranged aunt. The least interesting has Pugsley accidentally resurrecting a dead man with mythic ties to Nevermore. It simply gives the character something to do. The episode ends with Wednesday losing track of her stalker and experiencing a foreboding vision of her roommate, Enid’s, death.

The episode is decent, delivering Disney Channel-esque teen drama and jokes mildly tainted with the dark humor of the film franchise. Ortega is serviceable in the role, ensuring not to imitate previous iterations, though Ricci’s sinister snark is missed. Everyone else is decent, with no particular standouts. The VFX team has done a great job, especially with a scene near the end of the episode that felt reminiscent of the Harry Potter franchise. The story also handles the sudden exit of Percy Hynes White’s Xavier, who departed the series after allegations of sexual assault were made against him in 2023. While the writers do a good job of setting up multiple plots, nothing feels interesting outside of the stalker and the mishap with Wednesday’s powers.

Rating: 7/10