Episode Grade: (8.2/10)
Despite making progress in her investigation into the monster’s identity, Wednesday is unable to prevent the monster’s next attack. Tensions rise at Nevermore both internally and externally during the Rave’N school dance.
Plot (41/50)
There were some meaningful discoveries in the investigation of the monster’s identity. First, Wednesday learned that the monster is collecting body parts. Second, she (with the help of Eugene) found the monster’s lair, which had chains as if the person behind the monster had tried to subdue themselves. After someone drove by and burned the lair, another option arises in that some other individual created the monster then lost control of it. Finally, and most intriguingly, we learned that the monster was at the dance. I may be misinterpreting this, but seeing as how Eugene and the monster were the only two out in the woods during the attack, and Eugene was not at the dance, Wednesday must’ve bumped into the monster when she had the vision of the attack. She bumped into what looked like Tyler right before her vision, but it easily could’ve been someone else on the dance floor. Speaking of the dance floor, the prank Lucas and his friends pulled furthered the growing tensions between Nevermore and the normie residents of Jericho. This was a well-structured episode with decent suspense, solid consistency with the revolving relationships at play, and good follow-through in general. It seems like Eugene will live, whether he’s able to offer any valuable information remains to be seen, but I’m sure Wednesday will at least extract some value from his recordings. One thing to note, the show has been surprisingly quick in resolving mysteries. This comes off as original but it does also lead to anticlimactic moments. They did it with Wednesday’s kidnapping in the previous episode, and they did it again this episode with Xavier’s scar. Love it or hate it, the teen drama aspect of the show is in full effect. Finally, the direction of the coming episode hinges on whatever the sheriff’s DNA test yields.
Character Development (12/15)
This episode featured the most character development we’ve seen from the show so far. Between Tyler, Xavier, Eugene, and Bianca, Wednesday’s indifference to other people’s opinions or feelings of her was put in the spotlight. Tyler and Xavier’s attempts at guilting Wednesday for toying with their emotions were largely unsuccessful. She would not be drawn into pitying Eugene either. Bianca, on the other hand, managed to scratch the surface, as Wednesday admitted that sometimes she wishes that she cared a little more about what people thought. This suggests the Wednesday has the awareness to recognize that her indifference makes it difficult for her to empathize with others which in turn makes it near impossible for her to make meaningful connections with others. Her look of vengeance upon arriving too late to save Eugene from the attack suggests that she may be feeling a bit guilty for leaving him on his own or at least aggrieved that her friend was hurt. The fact that Eugene reminds Wednesday of her brother played a big role in how she’s feeling and how she will react. Moving on to Weems, we learned that her rift with Morticia is at least partly due to Gomez turning her down for Morticia back when they were in high school. I’m assuming there’s more to her grievance, because this on its own is not enough to warrant such a strong negative sentiment decades later. Also, if Weems has such a grudge against Morticia, why did she go out of her way to admit Wednesday into Nevermore. Weems isn’t quite adding up just yet, luckily, there’s still half a season’s worth of time to connect the dots. Elsewhere, Thornhill continue to act shady and Lucas succumbed to peer pressure after it seemed like he’d turned a corner with Enid. Oh, Enid and Ajax finally got together… crazy how much trouble open communication can resolve, huh?
Theme/Messages (4/5)
- Peer pressure is a powerful phenomenon.
- Not all wounds heal with time.
- Open communication is of paramount important in any and all successful relationships.
- Which end of the spectrum is worse when it comes to caring about what others think?
Acting (13/15)
Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) had her best performance of the show so far. She was finally supported by some of her fellow cast members, namely Joy Sunday (Bianca) and Emma Myers (Enid).
Cinematography (12/15)
- Cool profile shot of Enid and Wednesday’s silhouettes facing eachother, with the color contrast of their sides of the room on full display (9:43)
- Striking image of Wednesday’s fake-bloodied face looking at Thornhill with a vengeance in her eyes as the music crescendos (44:27)
- The dance sequence was well-done, as was the choice of music. I wonder how much Netflix paid for the rights to play Dua Lipa’s “Physical.”