“Wednesday” Season 2 Part 1 Ending Explained: Does Wednesday Survive?

NEED TO KNOW

• Netflix’s beloved Addams Family spinoff Wednesday returned for its sophomore season on Aug. 6

• The show released four episodes at once and will premiere the rest in September

• Here is everything to know about how Wednesday season 2, part 1 ended

Netflix’s Wednesday returned for season 2 on Aug. 6 with more mystery and macabre humor, but the midseason finale left fans with more questions than answers.

The hit series, which is a spinoff in the famous Addams Family universe, follows the sharp-witted Wednesday Addams (played by Jenna Ortega) as she continues her education at Nevermore Academy while uncovering sinister secrets hiding beneath its gothic  — and rather creepy — façade.

Season 2 picked up with Wednesday settling back into Nevermore life after the chaos of season 1, this time with her brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and father (Luis Guzmán) in tow. Things quickly spiral into darker territory after a string of gruesome events caused by some new characters with murky intentions. Secrets from the Addams family’s past all converge as Wednesday is once again forced to play detective. By the end of part 1, it’s clear that the game is far from over.

Part 1 of Wednesday season 2 concludes with a major twist, setting up even higher stakes for the second part, which drops later this fall. With alliances shifting and Wednesday facing personal revelations that could change everything she thought she knew, the midseason finale left fans reeling.

So, before part 2 premieres in a few weeks, let’s break down the shocking final moments of season 2, part 1.

Warning: Wednesday season 2, part 1 spoilers ahead!

How did Wednesday season 2, part 1 end?

Wednesday season 2, part 1 ends with a bloody twist, a major villain reveal and quite the cliffhanger. The fourth episode brings Laurel Gates (Christina Ricci) back into the fold. She has been locked up at Willow Hill and interrogated by Dr. Fairburn (Thandiwe Newton), who is seeking insight into how to control the Hyde, a murderous species that was banned from Nevermore.

Laurel agrees to help — but only if she can see Tyler (Hunter Doohan) first. That visit nearly turns fatal when Tyler morphs into a Hyde, claws raised, but ultimately spares her.

Meanwhile, Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) infiltrates Willow Hill to help Wednesday uncover a mystery involving someone named “Lois.” After being caught and imprisoned, Fester and Wednesday escape and discover that “LOIS” is actually an acronym — Long-term Outcast Integration Study — and the institute has been secretly imprisoning and experimenting on outcasts.

Dr. Fairburn’s mild-mannered assistant Judi (Heather Matarazzo) is revealed as the true mastermind. She reveals that she’s continuing her father’s twisted experiments to give “normies” outcast powers. Just when things go south, Fester’s powers cause a blackout, triggering an outcast uprising that allows Wednesday and her uncle to flee.

The episode ends with Tyler transformed, Laurel fatally wounded and Wednesday thrown from a window, left unconscious in the rain as the Hyde vanishes. “Maybe I have made everything worse. Much worse,” she says in the voiceover.

Is Wednesday still alive and will she get her powers back?

Wednesday may have looked lifeless as she hit the ground at the end of season 2, part 1, but she’ll be alive when part 2 picks up. The teaser for part 2 that plays after the credits shows Wednesday in a coma, lying in a hospital bed, so fans can definitely expect more from her in part 2. That said, the fall from the second story during her showdown with Tyler most likely left her severely injured.

Another big mystery is the status of her psychic powers, which stopped functioning after she had a vision of Enid’s (Emma Myers) death. Whether it’s due to her near-death experience, a possible reconnection with her mother, Morticia, or the search for the elusive Ophelia, Wednesday season 2 part 2 is expected to explore how — and if — her abilities return.

Where is Tyler at the end of Wednesday season 2 part 1?

Tyler may have escaped Willow Hill, but freedom doesn’t come without consequences — especially for a Hyde without a master. After impaling Laurel in a fit of rage, Tyler has sealed his own fate.

After the interaction with Wednesday, which ended with her being hurled out the window, Tyler disappears into the nearby woods, his fate uncertain and his mental state rapidly deteriorating without a master to ground him.

As for where he’s gone, possibilities include his abandoned home in Jericho, the ruins of the Gates estate or deep into the surrounding woods.

What is LOIS?

Initially mistaken for a person, LOIS is revealed to be an acronym, Long-Term Outcast Integration Study, and was discovered after Uncle Fester willingly gets himself committed to Willow Hill to investigate. It turns out that this secretive and disturbing program was masterminded by Augustus Stonehurst (Philip Philmar) and later continued by his daughter, Judi, who masquerades as Dr. Fairburn’s mild-mannered assistant throughout the season.

The LOIS project’s goal was to extract supernatural powers from outcasts and transfer them to normies, essentially erasing the line between the two groups. To conduct these experiments in secret, Stonehurst and Judi kidnapped outcasts from Willow Hill, faked their deaths and imprisoned them in a hidden underground facility beneath the hospital.

When Wednesday and Uncle Fester uncover the truth, they find a row of cells housing the long-lost test subjects. Among them is a longtime Willow Hill patient with an alien-like appearance, a monstrous, Frankenstein-esque man and a terrified woman whose identity is unknown — but fans speculate she could be Francoise Galpin, Tyler’s mother and a suspected Hyde.

What happened in the love triangle between Enid, Ajax and Bruno?

Enid returns to Nevermore with a new pack and a new crush — Bruno (Noah B. Taylor), a kind and charming werewolf who offers the popularity and acceptance she’s always craved. But while sparks fly with Bruno, Enid struggles to be honest with Ajax (Georgie Farmer), her ex-flame from season 1.

Meanwhile, Ajax grows closer to Bianca (Joy Sunday), who’s juggling school, protecting her mom from the cult called MorningSong and keeping Principal Dort (Steve Buscemi) at bay.

What happened to Morticia’s sister, Ophelia?

In episode 4, viewers finally get a long-awaited update on Morticia’s elusive sister, Ophelia. Uncle Fester reveals to Wednesday that Ophelia was once a patient at Willow Hill, the same facility where he himself was later held. According to Fester, Ophelia managed to escape Willow Hill before his arrival, but her fate remains a mystery.

The story takes a darker turn when it’s revealed that Grandmama Hester Frump (Joanna Lumley), Morticia and Ophelia’s mother, was the one who had her daughter committed. Ophelia’s breakdown occurred after she pushed her psychic abilities too far while at Nevermore. She was found screaming uncontrollably, with black tears streaming down her face (much like Wednesday), a disturbing physical reaction to her powers spiraling out of control.

Ophelia has not been seen or heard from in over 20 years. Even Morticia is unaware of what became of her sister, leaving Ophelia’s story open-ended for now.

When does Wednesday season 2, part 2 come out?

Wednesday season 2, part 2 premieres on Sept. 3 on Netflix. The final four episodes will conclude the eight-episode season.

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