Abhiroop Das
Episode 2 of the second season of Netflix’s ‘Wednesday‘ takes the stakes up a notch, with the protagonist, Wednesday Addams, making herself familiar with the eccentricities of her enemies. The previous episode ends with a cascade of important developments, most notably the protagonist’s ominous vision of her best friend, Enid’s, death. At the same time, her younger brother, Pugsley, accidentally brings an infamous legend of Nevermore back to life. As such, the siblings have to live with their secrets and carve out the path of least resistance towards their respective goals. This episode, titled ‘Call of the Woe,’ follows them taking on this challenge, all the while absorbing their academy’s rich history. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Wednesday Finds More Trouble at Galpin’s House
The episode opens with Wednesday returning to consciousness, surprised to find Morticia in front of her. Apparently, Thing called for her, and his concerns seem justified. Morticia reveals that her daughter’s black tears are a sign of psychic overexertion and that she must tread carefully. When Wednesday explains her visions, Morticia tries to calm her down, explaining how these sights are often not reliable. The protagonist claims otherwise, citing the experience she has gained studying Goody Addams’s Book of Shadows, an act her mother staunchly disapproves of. Furious, Wednesday realizes that the scope of her investigation is rapidly narrowing down, forcing her to join hands with her former nemesis, Donovan Galpin. However, upon reaching his house, she finds that things have gone from bad to worse.
Galpin’s house has been ravaged by an angry mob rallying against Tyler, a Hyde. However, this is not the worst part. Wednesday discovers that Galpin has been killed in the same fashion as his partner, Carl Bradbury, with his eyes gouged out. A closer inspection erupts the scene into chaos as numerous birds exit the former Sheriff’s corpse, one of them being the same one-eyed raven from before. Before Wednesday can react to this, the police come to the scene, with Sheriff Santiago putting the protagonist under arrest for the two murders that have taken place. Back at the station, she explains her reasoning about how Wednesday has been found at both the crime scenes and has a personal history with Galpin. She further explains that his phone is missing from the scene.
In return, Wednesday brings up the possibility of Tyler, Galpin’s son, pulling this off, but learns that he is securely held at the Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital due to his past actions. Luckily, the protagonist’s stint at prison is cut short by the arrival of Gomez Addams, who also serves as the family’s attorney. On her journey back to Nevermore, Gomez informs his daughter that Morticia will not learn of this incident. In the same breath, he cautions her about her journey forward and the enemies she will be tackling. Yet another surprise awaits the protagonist back at her dorm room, as she finds Enid lying in a pool of her own blood, motionless. A momentary flicker of emotion can be seen in Wednesday’s face before Enid bursts out laughing, revealing that the blood is all fake.
Fun Times at Nevermore Hide its Twisted Secrets
It’s prank day in Nevermore, and today no one is safe from being tricked, be it with harmless scares or devious schemes. Apparently, Wednesday missed it the previous year due to her late admission. This news doesn’t leave her pleased, as she is burdened by the upcoming threat to her best friend. Things intensify even further when Enid explains that she is doing this as payback for Wednesday pranking her by planting a realistic human eyeball on her bed. The protagonist is quick to figure out that the eyeball is Galpin’s, adding urgency to her investigation. Prank day is in full swing, with all students freely using their powers to spread riotous fun throughout Nevermore, and annoying teachers like Professor Orlof, who exists as purely a head suspended in liquid, attached to a mobility machine.
The episode continues its comic streak, with Pugsley introducing his new shenanigan to Bee Boy. The youngest Addams has managed to subdue and chain the zombie inside a secluded shed and is using his lightning bolts to control it. This leaves Bee Boy aghast, but he is quickly swooned over to Pugsley’s side. Together, they begin to experiment with feeding the zombie. They give it honey, but this only causes it to puke all over. The solution lies in meat, and the zombie seems to be excited to chomp down even on the low-quality meat sandwich from the cafeteria, which the students appear to detest. Following this, Pugsley affectionately names it Slurp. Unbeknownst to them, the meat actively starts a healing process in the Slurp, slowly giving it the strength needed to assert its agency and break free of the chains.
Wednesday Finds More Questions Than Answers at Willow High
Elsewhere, Wednesday continues her efforts to protect Enid from danger. When she learns that her best friend is taking driving lessons, the protagonist plans to strike two birds with one stone. Taking Enid’s identity, she meets the driving instructor and uses her skills and wits to expertly drive the car to Willow Hill. What she doesn’t know is that her mother has already entered her doom, and intimidated Thing into giving up the Book of Shadows. At the hospital on Wednesday, a doctor named Judi and the two have a mild argument about the nature of Tyler’s treatment, which reflects on the hospital’s general policy of dealing with outcasts. Judi explains that Tyler is under the special care of Willow Hill’s lead psychiatrist, Dr. Fairburn, whose work has revolutionized the field entirely. Before long, Fairburn enters the scene herself and asks Wednesday to follow her to Tyler’s ward.
On the way to Tyler, Fairburn explains that all of her methods, conventional or otherwise, have failed to sever the connection between the Hyde and its master, Laurel Gate, and she is interested in how Wednesday’s contribution might point to a discovery. The protagonist then comes face to face with her former love interest turned enemy, who appears to be burning with hatred. However, his actions are restrained by a collar around his neck, ready to generate a shock at the slightest chance of his turning into Hyde. The duo begins to rapidly hurl harsh words at each other. When Tyler learns that his father is dead, he shows no weakness, making it clear that he won’t be of help to Wednesday. As a parting gift, she brings all of his insecurities out in the open, leaving him furious but helpless as she makes her exit.
The Mystery Stalker Makes Their Final Move
Back at Nevermore, tensions continue to simmer, with Bee Boy informing Pugsley that the Slurp has escaped, and there is nothing they can do about it. Meanwhile, Bianca Barclay talks to Principal Dort, who continues to urge her to use her powers as a siren and bring him more funds. Having had enough, Bianca tries to flip the idea, commanding him to stay away from her. This plan, however, fails, as Dort reveals that he always carries Corinthian Coral with him, making him immune to a siren’s calls. Defeated, Bianca gives in, commanding Morticia to make amends with her mother, Hester Frump, and bring her to the upcoming fundraiser’s gala.
When Wednesday returns, she is shocked to find Thing locked in a trunk, and he quickly explains that Enid, along with Bruno, has been kidnapped. The mystery stalker continues teasing the protagonist, this time with a letter with a cryptic message: “PLAY DEAD.” Wednesday rushes to her friend’s safety, but struggles to figure out where to start. Inspiration comes in the form of Ms. Capri, who reiterates her previous message of feeling the music. Wednesday realizes that the message is not about words, but music notes. Playing D-E-A-D on the piano opens the doors to a secret passageway that takes her inside the watchtower, where she finds Enid and Bruno chained together, with a heap of swords hanging right above them.
Wednesday Saves the Day
Wednesday sends Thing to untie the duo, but this backfires, as the hand makes contact with a tripwire, triggering the swords’ slow downward descent. The protagonist realizes that the only way to save her friends lies in figuring out a riddle presented on a page attached to a typewriter, asking her to find the missing book in a pile of classics, including the likes of Poe, Shelley, and Tolstoy. Using her wits, Wednesday figures out that the riddle has a trick answer: H.G. Wells’s ‘The Invisible Man.’ Putting it down on the typewriter does the trick just in time, and her best friend’s life is saved. At that moment, a pair of clapping hands appears out of thin air, before revealing itself to be one of Wednesday’s juniors, who introduces herself as Agnes DeMille.
It turns out that Agnes was the mystery stalker all along, and her intentions had been rather harmless, born out of an obsession with being noticed by Wednesday. She explains that she concocted this clever plan to impress her idol, even if slightly. Furthermore, her ability is revealed to be able to become invisible, which helped her pull off all these impossible stunts. Enid is infuriated at the face of these events, but also acknowledges that they led to a positive development, kickstarting her romantic relationship with Bruno. Agnes begs to be a part of Wednesday’s team and explains that she has meddled with her investigations purely to prove her merit and be of assistance down the line. Although Wednesday doesn’t agree to her pleas, she doesn’t refute them either, hinting at the beginning of a new dynamic.
Elsewhere, a storm brews outside Nevermore, and the driving instructor, James Packard, makes his way through the dense forest, complaining to the academy about the poor conduct of Wednesday, whom he believes to be Enid. This complaint never makes it through, however, as his car hits Slurp, who has been wandering around in the forest. When Packard exits his vehicle to check, he is horrified to see the true form of the zombie up close. He tries to escape, but it is too late, and Slurp begins to tear apart his body, ultimately eating his brain. Thus, the episode ends on a grim note. With the taste of a human in his mouth, Slurp is likely to grow into a major threat to the academy. On the other hand, while Enid’s death has seemingly been avoided for now, the possibility of a worse fate continues to loom.
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