Abhiroop Das
In the second season of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday‘, the titular protagonist appears to have finally found her match in the form of a stalker who refuses to leave her at peace. Following her return to Nevermore, Wednesday finds herself entangled in an avian murder mystery, which gets more troublesome with the stalker adding their own hurdles at every step. As the stakes continue to rise, so does the protagonist’s intrigue about the true identity and motivations of this new figure, and the two have an ultimate showdown in Episode 2, titled ‘Call of the Woe,’ where a junior student at Nevermore Academy, named Agnes DeMille, soon proves herself to be worthy of note, both for the audience and Wednesday. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Agnes DeMille is Wednesday’s Mystery Stalker
In episode 2, Agnes DeMille is revealed to be the mysterious stalker who has been tiptoeing around Wednesday since the end of the first season. Wednesday is surprised to find out that her rival is her junior, but the feats that Agnes pulls off are nonetheless very impressive. Her shenanigans include stealing Wednesday’s novel manuscript, tampering with a crime scene, and nearly killing Enid and Bruno, all of which serve as a means for Agnes to impress her idol. This sheds light on her nature as a daring, reckless, but obsessive individual, ready to go to any lengths necessary to achieve her objective. Prior to her formal introduction, we see her many times as one of the background characters swooning over the protagonist, and Agnes’s admiration only grows once she is put in the spotlight.
All of Agnes’s seemingly impossible feats come to fruition due to her unique ability to become invisible. As there are no clear restrictions on her ability, Agnes is essentially unstoppable once she activates her ability, perfectly avoiding all obstacles and causing chaos everywhere she goes. Notably, not even Wednesday herself is able to figure out her ability before it is revealed, with Fester Addams being the sole exception to Agnes’s tricks. While she constantly uses her ability to surprise and scare others by suddenly appearing where she shouldn’t, all of her actions seem to be directed towards Wednesday acknowledging her as a part of her team. Despite numerous attempts, the junior fails to become Wednesday’s real ally but still manages to contribute to the protagonist’s plans.
Agnes’s increased involvement in Wednesday’s life directly puts her at odds with the latter’s roommate and best friend, Enid, who soon begins to feel displaced. Agnes and Enid’s bickering becomes a regular occurrence in this new dynamic, much to the protagonist’s annoyance. However, the three ultimately form a team and begin to work together, and while Enid continues to balance Wednesday’s eccentricities, Agnes prefers to add fuel to the flame, adding her own brand of chaos to the fray. When not with her idol, she voluntarily relegates herself to taking care of the mess often left behind by Pugsley Addams, who has created troubles of his own in the short time he has spent at Nevermore. Thus, Agnes’s obsession appears to have deep roots and is useful to Wednesday for now.
Agnes DeMille is Brought to Life by Evie Templeton
Agnes DeMille’s eccentricities rival even those of Wednesday, making her a particularly difficult character to play. However, Evie Templeton stepped into the role and aced it in no time, making Agnes one of the most memorable elements of the show. Templeton began her career as an actor with the short film ‘Red,’ before playing minor roles in movies like ‘Pinocchio’ and TV series like ‘Life After Life’ and ‘Criminal Record.’ Alongside ‘Wednesday,’ her popular roles include Grace Holland in ‘Lord of Misrule’ and Laura in the video game ‘Silent Hill 2’. Her innate understanding of Agnes made her a natural fit for the character. This is substituted by a Tudum interview, where she stated: “I did feel really connected to Agnes straightaway. I think everybody has a little bit of darkness in them. Agnes is very insecure at heart. She seeks validation and approval.”
In the same Tudum interview, Evie Templeton continued, detailing the creative process that went behind the actor finding her footing: “I sort of started by creating a mood board just to build a framework (…) I had some Black Lace and lots of gothic imagery that helped me get into the sort of Nevermore, Tim Burton head space.” She also pointed out her various inspirations in the lead-up to playing Agnes, particularly, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ ‘Single White Female,’ and ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’ as well as Meryl Streep’s performance in ‘The Hour.’ All of these served as key points of inspiration. Given that one of the common threads between all these movies is the deep dive into a character’s psychology, Templeton appears to have mastered what she described as their “element of madness,” channeling it as Agnes.
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