Chapter 5: You Reap What You Woe – As the fifth episode of Wednesday begins, Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) questions how well people know their parents before revealing her father was accused of a murder on the campus of Nevermore Academy. A flashback shows Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie) walking out of the dance just in time to see a man fall from the balcony above her. A young Gomez stands above with a sword in his hand. When Larissa speaks to the sheriff, she blames everything on Morticia since they were fighting over her. As Gomez (Lucius Hoyos) is led away in cuffs, Morticia (Gwen Jones) tells him that she has never loved him more. In the present, Gomez (Luis Guzman) and the others arrive for parents’ week at Nevermore. Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) hopes Wednesday is happy to see them.

Weems talks to the parents and reveals that Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) is on the mend and will make a full recovery. Wednesday thinks he is in a coma though. Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) insists it wasn’t her fault before reminding her that the monster hasn’t attacked anyone in the past week. They discuss their families. Wednesday talks to her parents about Thing and how they used him to spy on her. She tells them what has happened to her at Nevermore while Esther (Amanda Drew) looks over her daughter Enid. Xavier (Percy Hynes White) apologizes to Bianca (Joy Sunday) for asking her to siren-song him at the dance. His dad isn’t coming. Bianca says Gabrielle (Gracy Goldman) hasn’t shown her face since she started here only for her to show up now. Morticia looks at their old yearbook while talking to Larissa about their good times.

After a few brief insults, Morticia asks her if she remembers the duet they did for the Solstice Talent Show. She is surprised to find her picture missing from the yearbook. Eventually, Weems admits that Wednesday’s assimilation has been rocky at best. After Wednesday mentions the monster, Weems floats the idea of the family attending a session with Dr. Kinbott this weekend. Although they’re against the idea, they agree to do anything for their little girl. Sheriff Donovan Galpin (Jamie McShane) orders his team to search the cave thoroughly. He also wants the DNA results on the claw. When he sees Gomez outside, he tells Tyler (Hunter Doohan) that it is hard to stomach a murderer wandering around town scot-free. Tyler thinks it is good they went to therapy with her while taking a dig at his dad. Donovan admits he isn’t comfortable dredging up the family past with a complete stranger.

Tyler reminds him that it isn’t easy for him either. After the Sheriff gets a call, he tells his son that the local coroner named Reggie just blew his brains out. Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Riki Lindhome) asks the Addams family who wants to start. Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) says it has been hard not having Wednesday at home. Wednesday changes the subject by asking her parents about the murder of Garrett Gates. She says the local Sheriff doesn’t seem convinced that Gomez is an innocent man. When Morticia refuses to discuss the matter, Wednesday says she’ll have to excavate it for herself. Pugsley believes he has been eating candy only to find out that it is potpourri. Morticia scolds Wednesday for ambushing her father like that. Morticia tells her that she doesn’t know the whole story because her father did nothing wrong. Gabrielle tells Bianca that the Morning Song community misses her and she does too.

Although Gabrielle calls it a personal development movement, Bianca thinks it is a cult. She also says they take control of their bank accounts. Gabrielle calls her Brandy Jane. Bianca reminds her that her name is Bianca and she has a new life now. Gideon told Gabrielle that Bianca would resist. Bianca doesn’t think he’d care about a single mom and her daughter if they weren’t sirens only to learn that Gideon is her stepfather now. He wants her to come home so they can be a real family, but Bianca isn’t interested. When Bianca tries to leave, Gabrielle makes her sit down so she can tell her that her siren song is drying up. She explains that the recruitment numbers are down and the wrong people are starting to ask questions. If Bianca doesn’t comply, Gabrielle will tell everyone how she siren’d her way into Nevermore. Gabrielle accuses her of scamming a higher class of people.

They will see through her soon because a siren can never change her scales. Gabrielle gives her until the end of the weekend to say her goodbyes. Wednesday takes the honey from hive number three to Eugene who is still in a coma. She thanks Thing (Victor Dorobantu) for keeping an eye on him. Wednesday thinks she should be in that bed instead. Then, she is introduced to Eugene’s mother Janet (Rina Mahoney) and Sue (Georgia Goodman). Wednesday has been the only thing he has talked about in a while. The Sheriff checks out the crime scene at the morgue. Deputy Ritchie Santiago tells him that the gun was legal and registered in his name. The camera was obscured by black bubblegum. They found a suicide note that said the coroner felt guilty about an old case. He supposedly covered it up and faked the coroner’s report. Donovan is shocked to learn that it was the case of Garrett Gates.

He finally has proof that they’ve been covering up the truth. Wednesday watches her mother walk over to Garrett’s tombstone, rip apart a rose, and leave part of it there. Back at the academy, Gomez tells his wife that they need Wednesday the truth, but Morticia doesn’t think she’ll believe them. She says they have to stay strong and hope something else comes around to distract her. Enid’s mom wants to know if she has wolfed out yet. When she learns she hasn’t, Esther calls it a disappointment. Sheriff Galpin arrives so he can arrest Gomez for murder. Wednesday visits her father at the jail and tells him what she saw her mother do earlier today. Gomez reveals that Garrett was infatuated with her mother after mistaking her kindness for interest. He became obsessed with her and started stalking her. Since his family was the oldest and richest in Jericho, nobody believed what they said.

His father was an outcast-hating bigot who was furious that his son had been accused of that. It all came to a head on the night of the Rave’N dance. Garrett broke into the school with murderous intent. Gomez had to defend himself with the sword and ended up killing Garrett. Wednesday admits that his confession sounds entirely plausible, but she suspects he is lying. She reminds her father that he taught her how to navigate a world full of treachery and prejudice. Then, Wednesday visits Sheriff Galpin to tell him her father did not kill Garrett Gates. Donovan says he has a signed confession and Gomez identified the saber used to do it. Wednesday tries to tell him that the timing is suspicious. She believes someone is trying to derail her investigation only to learn that the DNA didn’t match. Still, Wednesday is convinced that the same person hurt Eugene and murdered the coroner.

Donovan says Garrett’s family deserves closure even if none of them are around to take comfort in it. Wednesday learns about the tragic deaths of his family members. Enid’s mother gives her pamphlets for conversion camps that can help her wolf out. Esther reminds her it worked well for Lucille. Enids gets upset and walks away from her mother and father. Wednesday goes to the dock to sit down with Pugsley. She tells him what will happen to their father and how he’ll lose his mind being away from their mother. Wednesday reassures him by saying it isn’t over yet and he is innocent. Pugsley encourages her to find the truth and help free Gomez. He tells his sister that Morticia said she wanted to be alone somewhere no one would find her. Once Wednesday finds her in the hidden room, her mother realizes that she is already a Nightshade. Wednesday doubts she’ll ever live up to her mother’s legacy.

She doesn’t know why her mom would send her somewhere where she’d have to live in her shadow. Morticia claims it isn’t a competition, but Wednesday quickly disagrees. She admits she rejected them because they’re trivial social clubs anyway. They begin talking about Goody before Morticia reveals she is the one who killed Joseph Crackstone. The Nightshades were created to be her secret but deadly answer to his oppression. When asked, Morticia admits that Gomez didn’t kill Garrett Gates. She says she found Gomez fighting for his life. She’ll never forget the way Garrett looked at her and how he was foaming at the mouth. Morticia grabs the saber and ends up stabbing Garrett before he crashes to the ground below. She only realized what she had done when she heard the scream. Gomez calmly and bravely took responsibility for her actions.

He instructed her to go to her room and pretend that she was never there. Although Morticia was grateful when he was cleared of wrongdoing, she knew this would come back to haunt them at some point. Wednesday suggests Garrett could’ve been poisoned due to his symptoms at the time. They decide to dig up Garrett’s body to see if there are signs of poisoning. Once she gets the casket open, Wednesday says she was right. Deputy Santiago catches them and takes them to jail. Wednesday tells her parents that they won’t have to serve hard time thanks to her before showing them the souvenir she borrowed from Garrett’s grave. She explains that he died from nightshade poisoning and the blue tint proves it. In a flashback, Garrett’s father forces him to take the poison and use it to spike the punch bowl. However, it ends up breaking in his pocket.

Wednesday returns from her vision and tells her parents what she just saw. Wednesday and Morticia take the evidence to Mayor Noble Walker (Tommie Earl Jenkins). They accuse him of helping cover up the case when he was the Sheriff of Jericho. He tells them that Ansel Gates hated outcasts and Nevermore. Ansel confessed the entire plan to the Mayor in a drunken stupor and admitted it was his idea. He says they wanted to prevent Jericho’s reputation from being tarnished. Morticia remembers Garrett bragging about his father having the sheriff in his pocket. She mentions that he got elected mayor and likely had the full support of Ansel Gates. Morticia believes he could’ve stopped Garrett’s death if he had done his job when she filed her stalking complaint. The Mayor asks what they want. Morticia and Wednesday want all charges dropped and Gomez released immediately.

Outside, Wednesday tells her mother that she was very impressive in there. Once Morticia asks about her visions, Wednesday says they started before she left for Nevermore. She tells her daughter that she is always here for her. Wednesday tells her how it works and that she isn’t able to control it. Her mother explains that it resides on the spectrum of who they are. She is a dove while Wednesday is a raven. Without the proper training, her visions may lead to madness. They’re not trained by the living. Someone from their bloodline will reach out from beyond to help when they’re ready. After Wednesday suggests that is why she saw Goody, she is warned to be careful because Goody is a witch of great strength. Vengeance pushes her too far and she wasn’t able to save herself. The Sheriff apologizes to Gomez before he mentions that Tyler and Wednesday have become close. Gomez suspects he is a good egg since his daughter wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Esther tells Enid that it has been decided and she will spend six weeks at Camp Howl. Enid refuses to go and says she’ll wolf out on her own timeline if she is meant to do it. Her mother gets upset and walks away. Murray (Ryan Ellsworth) hugs his daughter and admits he is proud of her. Bianca tells Gabrielle that she’ll come back after the school year is over, but MorningSong is out of her life forever after that. Wednesday says goodbye to her family at the end of parents’ week. Morticia tells her daughter that she has her own path to blaze. She is only a crystal ball away if she needs her for anything. Wednesday goes to Principal Weems to tell her that she did witness Rowan getting murdered that night. She believes Weems was impersonating Rowan when she saw him the next morning. Wednesday tells her that she became Judy Garland at the talent show so she is a shape shifter.

Larissa seems worried when she mentions telling Sheriff Galpin. She tells Wednesday that she won’t tell anyone. Even if she did, Rowan’s father knows what happened and fully supports her decision not to involve the authorities. He agreed because Rowan’s telekinetic abilities were driving him mad and he attempted to murder her twice. His tragic death allowed them to rectify the situation without casting the school or Rowan in an unflattering light. Wednesday thinks that Larissa is the same as the Mayor since both are burying bodies to cover up dirty secrets. When Larissa claims she is protecting the students, Wednesday urges her to tell that to Eugene. They hear students yelling nearby. They walk out onto the balcony and see fire on the ground that spells out, “fire will rain”.

 

Wednesday Review

While the 5th episode of Wednesday had some interesting moments, it was mostly a step away from the main story and could easily be considered a filler episode. It could possibly be considered a necessary episode to get Wednesday and Morticia back on good terms while also discovering more about Gomez’s history, but these things likely could’ve been covered quicker. It is somewhat difficult to connect with these characters because they have barely been in the series since the first episode.

There hasn’t been much in terms of unpredictability through five episodes and it is questionable how well the casting choices work for the elder Addams characters. Ultimately, this just felt like an underwhelming episode with a slightly uninteresting side story that wasn’t needed. Each episode seems to be building new branches off of the main storyline with this episode adding more to Enid’s struggles to wolf out and whatever is happening with Bianca.

It is hard to imagine everything will be wrapped up this season so the creators are likely already laying the groundwork for a season two of Wednesday. The 5th episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Wednesday can be found on Reel Mockery here. Consider supporting our work and future expansion by following this link.