Shyama Krishna Kumar

DUBAI: Jenna Ortega once again knocks it out of the mausoleum in “Wednesday” season two, but the first four episodes suggest her scene-stealing brilliance will have to fight harder for attention this time around. The macabre Netflix hit returns with Ortega once again in razor-sharp form as the morbidly deadpan Wednesday Addams, but a crowded ensemble keeps her from shining the way she did in season one.

After saving Nevermore Academy last time out, Wednesday returns to the school as an unlikely hero. The spotlight is, understandably, a curse in her book, and Ortega leans into that discomfort with precision, delivering barbed quips and withering looks a mile a minute. But this time, she’s not the only one taking up valuable screen space.

Her younger brother Pugsley (now a Nevermore student too) arrives with his own chaotic subplots, including grisly pranks, dubious alliances, and a knack for attracting trouble. To make matters worse, Wednesday’s mother Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones, chewing every gothic inch of the scenery) takes up residence at the school, resulting in some frosty mother-daughter showdowns.

As if familial entanglements weren’t enough, a fresh murder-mystery unravels, this time involving a spate of killings carried out by murderous crows. It’s a case tailor-made for Wednesday, but some trouble with her powers means she’s not at 100 percent.

Wait, it doesn’t end there. Wednesday also has a new stalker on campus. And whoever they might be, they also control the murderous crows.

If all this weren’t enough, Wednesday also has a vision about her best friend Enid’s (Emma Myers) impending death, a vision she’s now fighting to prove wrong with everything she has.

All in all, the narrative feels more scattered than in the first season. The introduction of new side characters and expanded arcs for returning ones make the Nevermore halls feel crowded, occasionally slowing the pace. Ortega is still magnetic, but in episodes with multiple competing storylines, the show loses some of its bite.

However, if the latter half of the season narrows its focus, season two could yet match season one’s haunting charm.