Wednesday Season 2 Episode 2 “The Devil You Woe” really might have made me a Wenclair shipper with the obvious queer elements between Wednesday and Enid. And I know the show said that they were going to pull back on romance in Season 2. But it’s still giving romance, in a way that feels like genuine relationship building off of everything these two went through in Season 1.
That’s not to say that everything is perfect with Wednesday Season 2 Episode 2. I think that they’re underutilizing Wednesday and her mother’s relationship. And what’s happening with Bianca, it’s feeling a little creepy and we need to talk about media literacy and what I’m seeing here. Because it ain’t good and it’s making me wonder who’s in the writer’s room, and if they’re POC themselves.
Wednesday Not Having Her Powers
With the way that the show started in Wednesday Season 2 Episode 2 “The Devil You Woe,” I was lured into this false sense of security where our titular character was going to have an easy time when it came to using her powers to save those that she loves or cares about. So I think it was a great choice by the show to make whatever big bad that is coming for her, she can’t use her powers to thwart them. It’s a diabolical but small way to make Wednesday think outside of the box and flex different skills, leading to more character development that will ultimately deliver a more well-rounded character.
I’m also really enjoying how Catherine Zeta-Jones Morticia has a larger presence in Season 2. We all remember having a difficult relationship with our mothers. It’s a cornerstone of teenage shows or media in general. And I’m glad that we’re exploring this turbulent time for Wednesday when she’s trying to define herself, while forgetting that her mom also was a teenager once. The only thing I’m requiring is that the show delivers in giving us a moment where Wednesday realizes that her mother is just as human as Wednesday is. She’s fallible, makes mistakes, and fears things. This humanization is what Wednesday needs as a character to make the show stronger.
Combining the fact that Wednesday doesn’t have powers right now with her mother being at the school, could lead to some interesting avenues to figure out who Wednesday’s stalker is besides that red-headed invisible teenage girl. But so far the show isn’t utilizing them as a unit as much as I would want. And it’s a detriment to Wednesday as a character herself because if she’s trying to solve what’s going on at Nevermore, wouldn’t you want to be 10 steps ahead by getting information from the person who’s been there before instead of being introduced to new mysterious teachers that haven’t added anything yet to the story? It just feels like a misstep for everyone involved.
The Wenclair is in the Room with Us
Everything that I’m going to say about Wednesday and Enid is coming from someone who just recently learned about the ship name for these two. (Or remembered. Pretty sure I stumbled upon the ship name in Season 1 but I don’t remember.) This is also coming from someone queer herself.
In Season 1 of Wednesday, I will admit that I understood why people shipped these two while also not shipping them myself. As a member of the queer community, we see pieces of ourselves in the media we consume in a way that heterosexual people don’t. Heterosexual people consistently get romance across all genres. And oftentimes when we see a connection between two people of the same gender, we’re told we’re projecting or just seeing what we want where there is “just friendship.” But we’re seeing the same romantic beats that heterosexual couples get. But it’s just through a queer lens. That’s what I thought of when it came to Wednesday and Enid in Season 1. If people wanted to ship it, they could. Because they saw something. Even if I didn’t.
Wednesday Season 2 though, we’re on a whole other level.
If I’m not supposed to be seeing Wednesday and Enid as a possible LGBTQ+ relationship, then why is LGBTQ+ coded? I have a best friend who is a woman and I have never said something about her as romantic as: “Because even though Wednesday is literally the tunnel at the end of my light…I can’t imagine my life without her in it.” As a reviewer who consistently picks apart media, you have to be joking, writer’s room. If this came from a heterosexual couple, you know the writer’s room is setting up a possible future romance. The writing isn’t on the wall. It’s coming out of Enid’s mouth.
And it’s not Enid by herself either. Can we talk about Wednesday’s reaction to Tyler threatening Enid?
This one’s a little bit more visual when it comes to my analysis. But it’s important to look at Jenna Ortega’s acting during this moment. Oftentimes she looks at the camera straightforward, not blinking. When Tyler started threatening Enid, the statue that is Wednesday started swaying side to side, her eyes were down and unfocused, and there was a subtle clench of her jaw and furrow of her brow. That is giving something beyond concern for a “casual friend.” Even look at how Wednesday reacted when she thought that Enid was possibly dead when Wednesday herself embraces death as something not scary. This is going beyond context clues to actual writing that would be building towards a romantic relationship if this were happening between a woman and a man. Just saying.
What Bianca is Going Through Right Now
So far the worst part of Wednesday Season 2 is what is happening to Bianca. And it’s not like the actress is doing a bad job. Joy Sunday is fantastic.
We’re finally getting some plot and development with her besides just being the pretty mean girl. And what Wednesday decides to do is have Principal Barry Dort threaten to take away her scholarship if she doesn’t fall into line and work as the fundraising gala’s student liaison. On the surface, we’ve seen plots like this happen before on other shows or movies. People in power use that power to get people that don’t have power to do what they want.
But this is when media literacy and analysis comes in.
You have Bianca, the singular Black character on Wednesday, be a scholarship student. This perpetuates stereotypes of people of color not having the financial capabilities of providing for themselves and their own. And then the show takes it a step further by having this white older man alone with a student and threatening to take away her scholarship, and in turn her home, if she doesn’t do what he wants. The racial overtones when it comes to what is happening to Bianca leave me feeling disturbed. And this is coming from a white presenting Latina.
Now I could be off-base. I encourage you to go and find Black creators and commentators talking about what is happening to Bianca in Wednesday Season 2.
Personally, I can’t help but think of who is in the writer’s room and how Tim Burton’s previous comments about Black people not fitting into his stories has influenced this season. But I’m also very curious about what Sunday thinks about this particular storyline. Because it’s a delicate balance of writing storylines where POC people can be the villain, can be in trouble, can have power imbalances. The problem comes when that’s the only thing they’re painted as, leaving out opportunities for them to be the hero, the romantic interest, or the bubbly person in the same vein that Enid is with no problem.
Wednesday Season 2 episodes 1 through 4 are available on Netflix. Part 2 arrives September 3rd.
