Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"

The first four episodes of Wednesday season 2 were a bit too chaotic – which is saying a lot for a show that revolves around chaos, mayhem, and supernatural hijinks. Wednesday season 2 part 2, however, closes the book on all of those subplots (some of which were more unnecessary than others) and gets down to the real meat of the show, weaving in not one, but two family affairs and raising the stakes (and the dead) one last time. Though Jenna Ortega shines as everyone's favorite cello-playing goth…it's a zombie who steals the entire show.

As we saw in the first Wednesday season 2 part 2 trailer, Wednesday awakes from her coma. She doesn't get a moment of rest, however, because she opens her eyes and immediately walks into the spiritual manifestation of the office of none other than the recently deceased Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie), former principal of Nevermore Academy.

Because Weems is technically Wednesday's 13th cousin twice removed, and because Wednesday's "spirit guide" can only be a relative… she becomes the proverbial angel on Wednesday's shoulder through the final four episodes, scolding her for her arrogant and selfish decisions at every turn, but not without providing some much-needed guidance. Wednesday believes that all she has to do is kill Tyler (Hunter Doohan) before he kills her and Enid (Emma Myer) to reverse the premonition… but the danger becomes far bigger than she could ever imagine.

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Zombies and stalkers

It's an interesting plot point, because it's not Grandmama (Joanna Lumley) who ends up helping Wednesday repair her relationship with Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) – which I assumed was the reason for her arrival – but Weems, who is Morticia's longtime frenemy who spent her years at Nevermore living in her shadow.

This is just one of the various small surprises scattered throughout part 2; a few of the subplots I dismissed as unnecessary and a little boring in part 1 come back with a vengeance in the last four episodes. While I'm still not won over by Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), his decision to dig up the grave of a long-dead Nevermore student (somehow) ends up being the best thing about season 2. I won't give too much away, but I will say that Slurp (Owen Painter) becomes a central figure in part 2 – and blows everyone else out of the water.

As he begins to gain consciousness and slowly return to his human form, we learn that Slurp is so much more than just somebody's pet… and it's Painter's performance that makes him one of my favorite characters to ever appear on the show. He's utterly terrifying, but also somehow so cool and cunning – kind of reminiscent of the bad boy in an 80s/90s teen slasher, or even Dan Stevens in The Guest. Painter steals the spotlight from Ortega, becoming more and more compelling with every scene, to the point where I would've been just fine if we left Wednesday's point of view for a while and just went straight into a Slurp bottle episode.

Every road leads somewhere

Not every story strand has a grand reveal, though. Some of the more tedious ones end up weaving together into one big dramatic mess – and said mess still has nothing to do with Wednesday herself or the main thrust of the show. Steve Buscemi's shady principal is a bit of a waste; the same goes for Christopher Lloyd's professor with a disembodied head.

However, it was lovely to watch him lead a support group for other disembodied limbs – a group that Thing regularly attends. In one scene, Agnes (Evie Templeton), Wednesday's stalker with convenient invisibility powers, sits in on the meeting, feeling less than whole after once again being dismissed by Wednesday.

Agnes is one of the best parts of the new season, as her creepy yet endearing charm and devotion to an entirely unimpressed Wednesday make for a surprisingly sweet dynamic. Her jealousy of Wednesday and Enid's friendship is sort of adorable and completely reasonable. Their friendship blossoms so beautifully throughout the season, and makes for the strongest and most believable relationship in the show, not to mention one of the best things about the series as a whole.

Family matters

Though this season ends up being all about the Addams family, which is exciting in and of itself, I'm still not impressed with Luis Guzman's Gomez or, as I mentioned, Pugsley. There's a lack of chemistry between Guzman and Jones, and virtually zero familial chemistry with Ordonez. This may just be because I'm used to the over-the-top romantic and absolutely charming portrayal of Gomez by the late Raul Julia, or even John Astin's performance in the original 1960s TV show.

I'm also still not sure about the decision to turn Grandmama into an antagonist of sorts, making her elegant and cold, rather than warm and quirky. Fred Armisen's Uncle Fester, however, captures the spirit of the character without missing a beat – and he delivers a few laugh-out-loud lines in the process.

Even though the character development for Gomez and Pugsley was absent this season, I'm holding out hope that season 3 brings us something a little different and way more in line with the classic "creepy, kooky, and altogether ooky" motif that the Addams family has carried for decades.

The series still suffers from a lack of focus, and story beats that lead nowhere and do little to elevate the main story, but I have high hopes for season 3. The writers behind Wednesday love a good tangled web woven by various eccentric supporting characters with their ambiguous morality – and though we drove down a few roads that led to nowhere, I have a feeling that next season will see some sharp and steep turns that feel absolutely earned.

Alexa, play "Zombie Boy" by Lady Gaga.

Wednesday season 2, part 2 is out now on Netflix. For more, check out our list of the best Netflix shows to stream right now, or our list of the best Netflix movies to stream right now.