WARNING! This article spoils the events of Wednesday Season 2, Part 1, now available for streaming on Netflix. Please do not read further if you do not intend to know what happens in the first half of Season 2.
After what has felt like ages, Wednesday is finally back on our screens. The hit supernatural drama starring Jenna Ortega as the titular teenage member of the Addams Family arrived on the scene (as well as many crime scenes) for a brand-new batch of episodes. Unfortunately, fans only got a mere first course of the meal, as Netflix split Season 2 in half across two separate batches. But, even with only four episodes, there was a lot to pack in.
The more things change at Nevermore Academy, the more they seem to stay the same. A new semester at the Outcast school brings a new principal, some marked departures and a whole new role for Morticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones). But the term started off with a bang, as it seems yet another serial killer is on the loose. And once again, it’s up to Wednesday and her psychic sleuthing abilities – along with her always-morose outlook – to crack the case.
Here’s everything to know about the ending of Wednesday Season 2, Part 1.
🎬 SIGN UP for Parade’s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬
Wednesday Season 2 Part 1 Ending Explained
A mass murderer unmasked
In the fourth episode of Wednesday Season 2, Wednesday has Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) committed to the Thornhill insane asylum, in the hopes of finding out who this season’s serial killer is. Her number one suspect is Dr. Fairburn (Thandiwe Newton), and she hopes to get the drop on the Outcast expert to catch her in the act. After freeing Fester, the two find a door to a secret lab, hoping to find the “Lois” who is the key to solving this mystery.
Only, when the pair get downstairs, they find out Lois is not a person, but a program. The “Long-term Outcast Integration Study,” pioneered by Augustus Stonehurst, captured Outcasts and experimented on them with the intention of harnessing their powers. He would then give said powers to a “Normie” to give them supernatural abilities. It’s then that the Season 2 murderer unmasks themselves. And, while it’s not Fairburn, it is a person we see many times at Willow Hill this season: Judi (Heather Matarazzo).
While up to this point, we’ve seen her as Fairburn’s assistant, it turns out that she hired the good doctor to be a face of the institution. Behind the scenes, she’s continuing the work of her father, holding several Outcasts captive for her demented experiments. And, after finding out former Sheriff Galpin (Jamie McShane) had discovered her scheme, she plotted to murder using…well, a murder of crows. Having been imbued with Avian powers by Augustus Stonehurst, Judy had been the one to command the black birds that show up throughout the season.
The inmates run the asylum
In the midst of Judy’s reveal, Fester sends out a jolt of electricity to subdue her. But all it succeeds in doing is turning off the power at Willow Hill – and its security measures. The doors all across the institution automatically unlock as its residents run loose. That includes the Outcasts kept in the LOIS lab, as they briefly turn on Judi before she makes a break for it.
But there’s one person who was able to make a jailbreak before everyone else – or should I say, someone who was a person. Throughout the first four episodes, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) has kept a zombie as a pet/makeshift best friend, after accidentally bringing it to life in the premiere. Despite his love for the undead man, “Slurp” has caused nothing but trouble, as his escape during a Nevermore camping trip caused a massive amount of havoc, and his subsequent transport to Willow Hill.
Unfortunately, the staff at the mental institution learn the lesson that Pugsley did during their time together: If you think you can keep Slurp contained, it’s at your own peril. The zombie is able to break free from his restraints and begins to go to town on the Willow Hill guards. He eventually makes his way into Fairburn’s office, where he feasts on both her and Stonehurst. But, shockingly, as he approaches the latter, he croaks out, “Hello, old friend” before gruesomely murdering him. This revelation shows that Slurp has, through his various meals, slowly accumulated intelligence, going from groans and mumbles to full sentences. And, considering the genius young man he was prior to his death, that could spell danger for anyone in his path.
Related: The Real Reason Percy Hynes White Left ‘Wednesday’
The Hyde is loose – again
Another person who is able to take advantage of the chaos of the jailbreak: Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci). The big bad of Season 1 made a surprise appearance recently, having been transferred to Willow Hill by Fairburn to talk with Tyler (Hunter Doohan). The doctor was struggling to break the young man out of his hyper-violent “Hyde” mode and wanted to consult with the woman who made him.
But the first meeting between Tyler and Thornhill went less than ideally. Upon seeing his master again, Tyler chokes her, threatening to murder her if he sees her again. Unfortunately for Thornhill, she does not take him at his word. Upon escaping her restraints, she runs back to Tyler to free him as well. But instead of gratitude, she is met with unchanged rage.
“You’re the reason I’m locked away in here,” he tells her. “You’re not my mother. You’re my master. Or should I say, you were.”
Tyler then chases Thornhill through the halls of Willow Hill. Despite her begging for her life, even giving up the info that Wednesday is here as well, it’s clear she is his current source of revenge. He mortally pierces her from behind, and one of the biggest villains of the series dies at her own subject’s hands.
Out the wind-woe
After murdering Thornhill, Tyler – now in his Hyde form – discovers that she was not lying. She locks eyes with Wednesday, who is helping an Outcast escape from Willow Hill. Showcasing the bravery that puts her life and the lives of the people she loves on the line constantly, she stands her ground, ready for whatever her former crush has for her.
Unfortunately, what he has for her is a one-way ticket out the window. Wednesday is thrown out from the second floor, landing unconscious on the ground below. Tyler then hurls himself after her, landing in a swarm of police cars and dashing off into the night. After both Wednesday and the police thought they had Tyler contained at the end of Season 1, it seems like he is yet again running free in Season 2.
As Wednesday lies on the ground, bleeding out, we hear a voiceover. “I’ve always dreamed of looking death in the face,” she muses. “But in my final moments, all I hear is my mother’s words ringing in my ears. Maybe I have made everything worse. Much worse.”
Indeed, Wednesday’s assessment of the state of things halfway through Season 2 is not entirely inaccurate. While she’ll most likely make a full recovery, and she was able to find the murdering crow commander, Judi is still at large. What she discovered is getting her no closer to preventing the death of Enid (Emma Myers), which she witnessed in one of her final psychic visions. A zombie is on the loose, and growing smarter by the minute. And her psychotic former fling has now broken out of his confines, with nothing but rage in his heart.
Wednesday fans will hopefully get the resolution to all of these stories when the show returns for the second half of Season 2 on Sept. 3. Until then, fittingly, all they can feel is woe.
Related: Lady Gaga’s Unexpected ‘Wednesday’ Role Comes With a Dark New Song
