[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Wednesday.]

Summary

In Season 2 of the Netflix series ‘Wednesday,’ Addams Family history is revealed and Tyler descends into darker, traumatic territory.

Wednesday and Tyler’s feelings stay messy and ambiguous, and redemption for him in the future is uncertain.

Thing’s origin story reveals an unexpected connection between the Addams Family and Tyler’s family.

In Season 2 of the Netflix series Wednesday, while Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) navigated family, friends and adversaries, old and new, she also learned some things about the Addams’ history and how it intersects with Tyler (Hunter Doohan). At the same time, Tyler learned some things about his mother (Frances O’Connor) and uncle (Owen Painter) that he probably wishes he didn’t know, and we got the backstory for Thing. But when Isaac Night buries Wednesday alive, Enid (Emma Myers) transforms into a werewolf to save her, knowing it could mean that she might not ever change back. During this interview with Collider, co-stars Doohan and Painter discussed what they most enjoyed about their characters arcs in Season 2, Tyler and Wednesday’s feelings for each other, whether Tyler deserves redemption, how Painter approached the physicality for Slurp and Isaac Night, learning Thing’s backstory, and the Flowers in the Attic vibe to their family dynamic.
Hunter Doohan and Owen Painter Enjoyed the Many Twists and Turns of ‘Wednesday’ Season 2

“It’s just one trauma after another.”

Collider: What did each of you most enjoy about your character’s arc in Season 2, especially in the second half? Hunter, what was it like to explore your character’s journey in Season 2 after everything that happened in Season 1? HUNTER DOOHAN: It was amazing. There were so many twists and turns for Tyler that I never knew which direction we were going. I was excited, from the beginning, to get to play the villain and the darker side of Tyler. Even from the beginning of Season 2, I feel like it started off so much darker than I thought. It’s just one trauma after another for him. Owen, what was it like for you to start your journey this season in a very different way than how you ended it? OWEN PAINTER: It was great. It was so exciting. There was so much to put your mind to with a character like this. And getting to develop his design with the team was pretty unbelievable. When I first came in, I was most excited to work with Tim [Burton] and see him as this visionary creator of characters, coming from the cartoonist school of iconic silhouettes. And then, I showed up and we got to test the makeup for a month or two. We’d have those discussions together and it was mind-blowing. It was so cool. I was really pinching myself a lot. I learned so much. Everyone involved on this show is such an expert at what they do. It was pretty great. Hunter, much is being made of the feelings that Wednesday and Tyler may have for each other. She saved him and gave him mercy, and he didn’t actually want her to die, so fans have hope that maybe there is still something between them. How do you view where things are left between them by the end of this season, and what do you think that could mean for Season 3? DOOHAN: I don’t know. Tyler talks a big game, and then it’s fun to get to see these moments poking through. Even when he’s a Hyde about to kill Enid, Wednesday is like, “I lied about my feelings,” even in Hyde form, he’s like, “Tell me more.” Obviously, he’s not in control of himself again, but then to see that his feelings poke through when he thinks he’s actually lost her. And then, she misses at the end. I don’t know. At the end, Tyler feels like he’s lost everything. He thinks he’s going to die. He just has no idea what’s even left for him at this point. I have no idea what’s in store for him. But as the actor that plays him, what would you like to see happen with them? With the truth out there, do you think it would be interesting to see what that could mean for them? DOOHAN: Oh, yeah. I wanted Jenna [Ortega] to be my master. I thought that was a fun theory. I was like, “Oh, I guess not.” Would you like to see Tyler have a redemption arc in Season 3? Do you feel like he’s earned that after everything? DOOHAN: Isn’t the point of a redemption arc that you learn it? He’s done some really bad things. I don’t know. It’s the Addams Family. It’s foreplay. Owen, whether playing a zombie or a mad scientist, you had a lot of physicality with this role. How did you approach the physicality of Slurp, and then incorporate that into Isaac? PAINTER: It was a lot of flopping around in my apartment and trying things out. Something I thought was really interesting, and maybe it doesn’t even show up, but one thing I tried to carry was a cyclical nature of the physicality. Maybe parts of the ways that Slurp moves as a zombie were informed by the ways that Isaac moved as a human before, and vice versa, where once he’s fully human, what’s lingering in his physicality there. It’s like muscle tissue not repaired yet. I wanted to try to make him feel as close to being a monster again, the more harrowing the finale got for him. It’s almost like he is rabid.
Owen Painter Was Excited to Learn That Isaac Night’s Backstory in ‘Wednesday’ Season 2 Was Connected to Thing

“It was such an opportunity to have a good time.”

Owen Painter as Isaac Night getting reacquainted with his recently reattached hand in Wednesday Season 2
Image via Netflix

Through your character, we get to learn the backstory of Thing. What was your reaction to learning that it was your hand and what was it like to shoot the scene where you’re basically having to fight with yourself? PAINTER: I saw that in the script and I was jumping up and down. I was so excited. It was amazing. It was such an opportunity to have a good time. We came up with so many jokes that, sadly, aren’t in the fight. I wish that fight was 30 minutes of the episode runtime, just moving from set to set to set. That’s a joke. We came up with a bunch of stuff and just kept pitching it every day that we were shooting that. We’d be like, “You could do a wet willy, or spank yourself.” There were all these little gags that we did. It was very Evil Dead. PAINTER: Yeah, and that scene is incredible. I hope people go watch it. Hunter, what was it like to explore Tyler’s relationship with his mother? What did it teach you about Tyler, with the way that all that played out? DOOHAN: There’s one part of it that’s following orders, and then also reverting back to just being the little boy that he was when she went away. It was tragic. He just wants her love and is not getting that at all. He’s obviously trying to do anything to save her that he can, even dealing with his creepy uncle.
Tyler’s Family Dynamic in ‘Wednesday’ Season 2 Is a Complicated One

“”The relationship was so twisted and coiled up.”

Owen Painter as a slowly regenerating Isaac Night with Frances O’Connor as Francoise in Wednesday Season 2
Image via Netflix

Owen, how would you describe the relationship between Isaac and Francoise because it feels like there’s a bit of a Flowers in the Attic vibe going on. How did you view their whole dynamic? DOOHAN: That topic keeps coming up. PAINTER: Honestly, we never talked about it. It really just developed naturally. We were filling the emotional space. It felt fitting with how complicated Isaac’s nature towards Tyler was. It felt like that relationship was so twisted and coiled up in all these different familiar family dynamics that we wanted to have something else to counterbalance it. None of this was intentional, so I’m thinking about it after the fact. With Frances [O’Connor], we were just having so much fun, acting the scenes together and this relationship formed really naturally between them. It’s not like we were unaware that that was happening, but it wasn’t necessarily a conscious choice. But it was fun.

Wednesday

Release Date

November 23, 2022

Network

Netflix

Writers

April Blair

Wednesday is available to stream on Netflix. Check out the Season 2 Part 2 trailer: