Spoiler alert! The following contains details from Netflix’s “Wednesday” Season 2, Part 1.
Well we certainly didn’t see that coming.
Four episodes into the second season of Netflix’s “Wednesday” (Part 1 now streaming), and the season’s first villain has been unmasked. It was a shocking and juicy twist to keep fans sated while they wait for the second half of the season to premiere in September (hopefully with 100% more Lady Gaga).
The new season sets our fair (literally, just look at how pale she is) hero Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) on a quest to find whoever is threatening the life of her roommate Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), and murdering people near the campus of Nevermore Academy with the help of, well, a murder of crows. Wednesday suspects that the mystery all revolves around the ominous Willow Hill Psychiatric Facility, an asylum for Outcasts (aka people with supernatural abilities) that currently houses none other than Season 1 villain and secret metamorphizing “Hyde,” Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan).
Willow Hill is run by the affable “normie” Dr. Rachael Fairburn (Thandiwe Newton), who Wednesday immediately believes may have nefarious intentions. Also on Wednesday’s suspect list is new Nevermore teacher Isadora Capri, a musical prodigy slumming it teaching high school students, and who has ties to Willow Hill.
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Who was the avian villain in ‘Wednesday’?
But not even Wednesday Addams could have guessed that the mysterious “Avian” controlling all those murderous crows was chipper Willow Hill executive assistant Judi Spannegel (Heather Matarazzo), who just happens to be the daughter of Willow Hill’s former chief psychiatrist and Nevermore’s ex-science teacher, Augustus Stonehurst. With a maniacal grin and perfectly evil black cloak, Judi explains that her father was so fascinated with Outcasts that he kidnapped and experimented on them, trying to claim their powers for himself.
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Poor Gus never managed to make himself magical, but Judi got her powers from her father’s mad scientist operation and kept things going, locking away tortured Outcasts in a secret laboratory under Willow Hill. Wednesday and her quirky Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) release the poor traumatized souls, who seem to deal with Judi on her own as the inmates quickly take over the asylum. In the chaos Tyler escapes his bonds, quickly dispenses with his old handler/master/groomer Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci) and goes after Wednesday, throwing her through a second story window and leaving her bleeding on the pavement. The episode ends with Wednesday’s fate left unresolved.
Where have you seen Heather Matarazzo before?
When Judi first appears in the season she’s wearing a cheesy sweater and gleefully chirping to Wednesday about the genius of Dr. Fairburn and her love for Outcasts. But if you’re wondering where you’ve seen her before, the actress is best known for her work in 1990s and 2000s films like “The Princess Diaires” (2001) and “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (1995). In “Diaires” Matarazzo, 42, played protagonist Mia’s (Anne Hathaway) quirky best friend Lilly.
The actress has had less work in the past few years, and discussed her difficulties working in Hollywood on social media.
“I feel at a loss because I feel I have done THE WORK, for a long time, with no complaint,” she wrote in a series of tweets on X, then Twitter, in 2022. “I have taken the disappointments, the rejections, etc., and maintained that rejection is redirection. I have had continual FAITH in the Universe, but today, something broke.”
In 2017, the actress shared similar sentiments with The Guardian.
“I don’t know if I took a step back from Hollywood,” she said. “Or Hollywood took a step back from me.” Matarazzo also shared in the interview that she previously considered suicide in 2009, after months of unsuccessful auditions. “I was like, ‘What kind of sick and twisted universe is this?'” she recalled. “The fact that I’m still here is a miracle in itself.”
Is Judi the only ‘Wednesday’ villain?
Wednesday unmasks Judi only four episodes into the eight episode season, which will conclude on Sept. 3. But there are still many unanswered questions. Was Judi working alone? Who is Slurp, the zombie Wednesday’s kid-brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) accidentally brought back to life? When will Lady Gaga show up? What will Tyler get up to now that he’s free? And will Wednesday survive her fall?
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As far as the last question goes, we’re pretty sure that she will make a miraculous recovery. Afterall, there’s no “Wednesday” on Netflix without Wednesday Addams.
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