Wednesday Needs to Avoid 1 Crucial Thing to Continue Succeeding

Netflix's mega sensation follows Wednesday Addams as she attends Nevermore, a school for outcasts. The amateur sleuth investigates local murders and writes a series of crime-fiction novels in her downtime. Wednesday stars Jenna Ortega as the titular character. It was created by Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, with the distinct visual fingerprints of director Tim Burton.

At the heart of Wednesday is a story about otherness, friendship, found family, and being unafraid to be authentically who she is. In order to remain true to the witty misanthrope, the show needs to avoid any more romantic entanglements for Wednesday Addams. Season two smartly gave the romantic angst to Enid instead of trying to revive Wednesday's love triangle from season one.

Netflix's mega sensation follows Wednesday Addams as she attends Nevermore, a school for outcasts. The amateur sleuth investigates local murders and writes a series of crime-fiction novels in her downtime. Wednesday stars Jenna Ortega as the titular character. It was created by Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, with the distinct visual fingerprints of director Tim Burton.

At the heart of Wednesday is a story about otherness, friendship, found family, and being unafraid to be authentically who she is. In order to remain true to the witty misanthrope, the show needs to avoid any more romantic entanglements for Wednesday Addams. Season two smartly gave the romantic angst to Enid instead of trying to revive Wednesday's love triangle from season one.

Jenna Ortega Fought Against Wednesday's Love Triangle From Season 1

In season one of Wednesday, the titular character found herself at the center of a love triangle between fellow outcast Xavier Thorpe and local barista Tyler Galpin. Jenna Ortega famously fought against the love triangle, telling ETalk, "I don't think Wednesday would ever be in a love triangle, and I talked to the writers about this, and they said, 'Don't worry, don't worry, it's not gonna be that, it's not gonna be that.'" The actress went on to say that Wednesday didn't participate in the romance because she was interested in it. "It was really important to me that it seemed strictly out of pleasure or amusement rather than severe interest or being boy crazy in some sense, because, honestly, I think boys are probably the last thing on Wednesday's mind.”

Ortega appeared on Dax Shepherd's Armchair Expert podcast, where she talked about being fiercely protective of Wednesday and pushing back against scenes or lines that she felt were out of character. "Her being in a love triangle made no sense," Ortega said. "There was a line about this dress that she has to wear for a school dance, and she said, 'Oh, my God, I love it. Ugh, I can’t believe I said that. I literally hate myself.' And I had to go, 'No, there’s no way.'" The actress faced some backlash for the way she framed her exchanges with the writers. "They would be like, 'Wait, what happened to the scene?' And I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things."

Despite the actress making changes to certain scenes or omitting dialogue, series creators Al Gough and Miles Millar have nothing but nice things to say about Ortega, with Millar telling Decider, "We literally found the perfect Wednesday. Jenna just brings so much to every single frame, every single shot, every single expression. It’s really magic on screen. And I think she can do so much for so little. We are so lucky to have her and so thrilled." The pair of showrunners are frequently praised for their desire to collaborate, so Ortega's point of view was probably more welcome than the wave of media following her podcast appearance implied.

Tim Burton, who has directed four episodes each season, told Vanity Fair that Ortega is one of his favorite people with whom to work, evidenced by his casting her in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. He went on to say, "For me, she’s different from anybody." The iconic director compared her to a young Winona Ryder. "They both, as young people, had a very strong soul,” Burton said. “They’re like silent movie actors.”

Wednesday's Sophomore Season Did Away Romance for Titular Character

Fans of Wednesday credited Jenna Ortega with "saving" the show by putting her foot down and staying true to everyone's favorite sarcastic goth. Many were pleased to see that the love triangle didn't carry over into the second season. With Tyler, played by Hunter Doohan, declaring his desire to kill Wednesday and almost succeeding in the mid-season finale of season two, that point of the triangle has been put on the back burner. In an interview with ScreenRant, Millar insisted that there's still something between the two of them, but it makes sense for that door to be closed for now.

Following Percy Hynes White's exit from the series amid a personal scandal, Xavier is off the board as well. Had White returned, it would have been Jenna Ortega's desire for the two to remain solely friends. With both of Wednesday's suitors off the table, some fans have begun to ship Enid and Wednesday, but Gough and Millar have stated that this is not something they'll be exploring in the future. "It’s a show about female friendship," Gough said, "and people can read into it whatever they want, which is great. I mean, that’s the beauty of television, is people can take ownership, but they’re very much friends. And it’s really a show exploring that female friendship."

Millar added, "And the idea of sisterhood and what that means. It’s amazing that they’ve been embraced in that way. I think it’s something that’s very special, unique about that. You have a show that is about, at its core, these two teenage girls who need each other and have found that connection. And they’re very, very different." Friendship is a major theme of the series, with Wednesday and Enid's relationship serving as the emotional cornerstone of the series.

Another important thread running through Wednesday is otherness. Even among outcasts, Wednesday doesn't fit in with anyone but Enid. Their unlikely friendship is what keeps fans coming back for more. Many viewers are happy with Wednesday forgoing romance altogether, believing that Wednesday should be aromantic, asexual, or both.

Enid Is Much More Suited to a Love Triangle Than Wednesday

In the first season of Wednesday, Enid had a huge crush on fellow Nevermore student, Ajax. The two had a rough time getting going with Ajax standing Enid up after he accidentally "stoned" himself getting out of the shower, but they found their way to each other by the end of the season. When audiences catch up with the colorful werewolf, she's not sure Ajax is who she wants to be with anymore. After bonding with her new pack, sparks fly between her and another wolf named Bruno.

The romantic angst of the second season makes much more sense with the boy crazy Enid. She's interested in nail polish, parties, and school dances. While she's an outcast and a werewolf, Enid is much more like the typical teenager than Wednesday. Despite the angst that Enid feels about choosing between the two boys, Wednesday doesn't go overboard with it, remaining at its heart a murder mystery. The love triangle is resolved with only a little bit of drama. As Ajax bonds with Bianca, he learns that people's feelings change and that Enid breaking up with him wasn't really about him.

In the end, Enid finds herself without a boyfriend after Wednesday uncovers that Bruno had a secret girlfriend back home when Enid and Wednesday switched bodies in "Woe Thyself." It brings the story back to what it's really about, which is the beautiful friendship between Enid and Wednesday. While Wednesday was ruthless in breaking up with Bruno, it showed how much she cares for Enid. Had it been anyone else, Wednesday may not have bothered exposing the cheater.

Millar talked about the balancing act between the various elements and tones the different plotlines take on, saying, "It’s like the cake mix you want because the show has lots of things. It’s definitely a murder mystery, it’s a family drama with the Addams, it’s really about female friendship with Enid and Wednesday, and then throwing Agnes into that as well. We have the teen romance with Enid and Bruno, and Ajax and Bianca. We have Bianca’s story with her mum. So there are all these elements and tones as well."

"The show can be super serious and sort of earnest with the love story with the kids," Millar continued, "or it can be pretty dark and gory with Slurp and his antics as a brain-eating zombie. And then we have the drama with Morticia and Wednesday, but what we love about it is that tonal mix, that it is this sort of, like, grand soup of tone, and audiences seem to embrace it."

The second season definitely found the right balance when it came to the romance, while leaning more into the horror components of Wednesday. Balancing so many elements means that the story doesn't get stuck in any one plot point or emotion.