Wednesday Season 2 promised a major shift in romance in comparison to Season 1. During the freshman season, Wednesday was dealing with blossoming feelings that led her into a love triangle with Tyler and Xavier. Season 2 promised to scrap that and deliver something a little bit more nuanced and movie like each episode. Nevertheless, Season 2 of Wednesday gave us some of the most romantic coded scenes between Wednesday and Enid. And we need to talk about it.
MORE: Wednesday Season 2 Episode 8 Review: ‘This Means Woe’
Season 1 vs Season 2
When we first met Enid in Season 1, Wednesday was absolutely aghast at everything about Enid. From her bright personality to her colorful aesthetic, everything about Enid threw Wednesday off. But the most unexpected thing about Enid is that she pushed back when it came to Wednesday’s everything. She saw Wednesday for who she was and decided “that person is going to be my friend and I’m going to go to bat for her.” Basically she upended Wednesday’s expectations.
By the end of Season 1 of Wednesday, we saw these two embrace. And it was a complete shift in their relationship because Wednesday returned that embrace. Enid has no problem expressing what she feels or who she cares about. But it was Wednesday holding her close that showed how this wasn’t a one-sided thing. Wednesday saw how fierce and unique Enid was and she embraced that she had made a friend at Nevermore. That doesn’t mean that everything was perfect entering Season 2.
When Season 2 starts, Wednesday goes on this mission to save Enid after a vision of her death. This werewolf is one of the only people that Wednesday values but there’s no denying the fact that Wednesday still had a lot to learn about friendship. Because she didn’t trust Enid enough to tell her what was going on or allow her to carry the load with Wednesday. Through trial and error Wednesday learned, grew, and she shared some of the most intimate and romantic coded scenes with Enid that this show has ever had.
The Romantic Coded Scenes
MORE: Wednesday Season 2 Episode 7 Review: ‘Woe Me the Money’
As someone who loves TV, I know the building blocks of romance when I see them. And Season 2 makes it abundantly clear that Wednesday and Enid are having scenes that if they were a guy and a girl, it would automatically be considered a romance the show was taking into serious consideration.
And that’s not to say that friendship doesn’t happen between two young women. It does and I don’t want to discount those kind of relationships on TV. But I do think that those who deny that there is something romantic going on between Wednesday and Enid, are looking at their relationship through a header normative gaze. So as your resident queer, let’s talk about some of the scenes that made me look at Wednesday and Enid and go yeah that’s romantic.
Enid talking about Wednesday to Bruno
Enid was trapped. No way out while being tied up with her new love interest Bruno. And her bond with Wednesday haunts her every experience to the point where she delivers a powerful and poetic take on her relationship with Wednesday.
If anything, this feels like a declaration about how their connection is a natural part of life. Something as natural as breathing. And sorry not sorry, I don’t talk this poetic about my best friend and I literally took her name.
This is romance coded.
Enid declaring that Wednesday is her pack
Enid is locked up in a lupin cage. Wednesday is trying to save the day and solve a mystery. And still they take the time to reaffirm their commitment to each other no matter what comes next.
Our favorite werewolf bares her heart and tells Wednesday that Enid knows she isn’t alone. She has a pack. That pack is Wednesday. That was Enid being vulnerable with her heart but also being utterly brave. She doesn’t know what might happen to her. And she still chooses Wednesday.
This is romance coded.
Wednesday promising to hunt Enid down
When Enid confesses that Wednesday is her pack, there is a vulnerability to our favorite Addams. She understands the importance of this moment, of this declaration. And she meets it head on by promising to hunt Enid down if she becomes a werewolf.
There’s also something to be said about people trusting you with their heart. Some will throw it away, not ready for the job. But that’s not Wednesday. Enid trusted her with her most vulnerable self. And this is a responsibility she is choosing to take on during a time where it feels like everything is out of control or others are making choices for her.
This is romance coded.
A sacrifice grounded in knowing each other
There’s a quiet certainty about Wednesday and Enid in Season 2 that is on display when Enid makes her sacrifice in Episode 8. Because Enid has been scared by Capri that this is it. If she transforms one more time she’s never going to be a human again. But something always held back Enid from losing herself to that worry. And we talked about it a little bit in the section about Enid calling Wednesday her pack. But it goes beyond pack.
Wednesday and Enid aren’t companions. They’re two halves of a whole that don’t have to lay out a 10-point plan to understand each other. When Enid looked at that moon and transformed, she knew she was taking a risk. She also knew Wednesday would come for her. And when Wednesday got up from that grave, all it took was one look between them for me, as a viewer, to know everything was going to be ok because Wednesday would find Enid.
At the end of Season 2 Wednesday has this line about how she doesn’t know who she’s going to find when she eventually finds Enid. Is it going to be the bubbly werewolf she knows? Or is it going to be the beast that has taken over her mind? The fact remains that even though Wednesday does not know, she is devoted to Enid. Devoted to her happiness, wellness, and ability to transform whenever she wants. So of course she’s going to spend her summer chasing her down.
That is romance coded.
Where we go from here
All together there is a pattern between Wednesday and Enid of intention, commitment, and a willingness that I have seen great ships have in their very foundation. And to ignore that this formula being used for Winclair has been used for other romantic ships, is a disservice to the show, the fans who watch it, and the very story being built here.
When I think of where we go from here, what happens in Season 3 of Wednesday, I’m hoping we get to see that summer of searching for Enid. Not too much because I don’t want to spend the entirety of Season 3 without Enid. But Wednesday is the kind of person that her feelings take a longer time to cook. And we love her for that. But I want to see her confront why she has let Enid into her dark heart in a way she hasn’t even let her mother in.
Because what we’re seeing here is beyond friendship.
As a queer woman, when I think of the kind of partner that I want to face the world with, it’s someone as devoted as Wednesday and Enid are to each other. Do they get it right all the time? No. But the fact that these two continue fighting for each other and learning next to each other, makes me want something like that.
Winclair isn’t the delusions of a fangirl. It’s the kind of love that queer people wish to have in their lives and hope to see on their screens.
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays on Fangirlish with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community. Posts are ONLY published on Fangirlish.
