Despite its commercial success, however, it was clear the supernatural coming-of-age drama had to proceed with caution to avoid falling into repetitive narrative cycles. Luckily, Wednesday season 2 was a marked improvement from the first batch of episodes, exploring the central Nevermore academy and eponymous Addams family daughter with much more nuance. Yet, arguably one of the most important characters in the second season was Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), Wednesday’s werewolf roommate and best friend whose season 2 cliffhanger could change everything.
Based on last season’s climactic ending and Wednesday season 3’s location change to Paris, it’s clear the teen drama is approaching a pivotal turning point. In a stark departure from her quirky yet contained high school troubles, Wednesday is now on a hunt to kill or cure her alpha werewolf companion and learn about her role as a raven, a psychic who can tap into the darkest spiritual undercurrents. Similarly, the truth behind Wednesday’s ostracized aunt, Ophelia Frump (Eva Green), is sure to throw a few major curveballs into the Addams family as a whole.
Furthermore, the cast update to Wednesday season 3 indicates the sheer scope of the series is expanding. While Jenna Ortega is still the titular character, Wednesday is far from the only person with an outstanding storyline. From her mother, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), to her Hyde-ridden ex-fling, Tyler (Hunter Doohan), there are numerous people connected to Wednesday that deserve their own scene-stealing subplots. Plus, by switching gears to a broad, international storyline, Wednesday season 3 could usher in a genre change that gives the series a new lease on life.
Wednesday Couldn’t Continue As A High School Series Forever
The Initial Premise Inherently Came With Constraints
As such, shifting focus in Wednesday season 3 would be both a natural progression of its detailed worldbuilding and a saving grace. Just like Wednesday, there have been plenty of supernatural teen dramas that center an offbeat high school student, be it Teen Wolf‘s Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) or Kiernan Shipka’s witchy protagonist in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Aside from the generic magical elements and coming-of-age theatrics, there’s one major similarity between all supernatural teen dramas: its hook eventually becomes a limitation.
There are built-in constraints when a show is built around a student, especially if the school itself is important to the plot. At the most basic level, shows set in high school have four years maximum to tell an entire story, lest the series attempt the awkward transition to college, which oftentimes proves to be more of a detriment than anything else. Additionally, staying in one place is harmful for any drama, as a static setting will inevitably run out of ways to build tension. Case in point: there are only so many school dance sequences Wednesday can pull off.
Outside the genre norms, the Netflix original series would be doing itself a grave disservice by not branching out. Wednesday’s focus on the Addams family is its greatest strength, and season 3’s apparent strategy to divide and conquer would be the perfect way to signal a genre shift, giving each family member their own narrative spotlight. After all, Wednesday will always be about Wednesday Addams at heart, but that doesn’t mean the woeful young woman needs to be trapped in her boarding school dorm until the final credits roll.