One of the details that makes Freaky Friday such a delight is the fact that actors are given a chance to challenge themselves—to play their characters but someone else at the same exact time. It always looks like they’re having a blast, and it translates off-screen so well, we feel it, too. And Wednesday Season 2 playing with the trope through the titular character and Enid is nothing short of genius. Wednesday and Enid are a large part of the reason why the series is so exceptional, and this experience in their friendship fortifies their bond beautifully.
The season is undeniably spookier, darker, and chock-full of higher stakes, but the episode not only adds a bit of levity, it underscores a significant amount of heart and touches on the love hidden beyond the dark edges.
The entirety of “Woe Thyself” is a compelling delight, but the quiet moments of Wednesday and Enid realizing how important they are to each other are everything. A show like Wednesday could’ve gotten away without any female friendships. Wednesday Addams is the real lone wolf, after all, but this decision to pair her with a complete opposite and give the girls a genuine admiration for each other is not only profound, but it’s a bit indescribable, too. It’s the warmest part of the entire show. And the episode isn’t just about Wednesday and Enid—it’s about Agnes, too.
It’s about a young girl’s desire to make friends and find her person. Sure, she goes about it in an awkward manner, but this idea that she needs to see herself as a whole person connects to Wednesday and Enid as well, because that’s what the women are missing this season. Caught up with so many matters and trying to protect the ones they love most, they’re missing their own ability to see themselves clearly.
For the majority of this season, both women have been on their own quests, fighting on their own, fighting through their pain, and “Woe Thyself” gives them the chance to explore what it really means not to be alone. In more ways than one, this idea of community is a recurring theme in Wednesday. No matter how headstrong a character is, no one is meant to be alone. It’s a theme present in the first season as their friendship stands as the unexpected heart, but it comes out beautifully in this episode as the girls switch bodies and uncover things they wouldn’t have otherwise known.
Wednesday and Enid have always needed one another in a way that goes beyond what either of them understands. It’s more than a pack. More than a family. They are, in every way, each other’s person, and this switch allows them to give one another the thing that no one else could’ve. The understanding that they need to stand up for what they believe in.
Could they have gotten to this similar level of closeness without switching bodies and walking in each other’s shoes? For sure. But characters like Wednesday and Enid need something like this, and so does the season. As a darker period than its debut, this beat of joy not only emphasizes how much heart both characters have, but it also explores the root of their friendship in a format that’s genuinely touching. For viewers who love fantastical elements like this woven into the fiction we consume, it’s so much easier to appreciate what the trope brings out of the characters.
There’s also much to be said about the incredible performances both Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers bring not only as themselves, but as their characters in each other’s bodies. We could’ve all imagined a number of dance breaks in this season, but Wednesday, in color, dancing to BLACKPINK’s “BOOMBAYAH” likely wasn’t on any of our lists.
In a nutshell, this episode is proof of how to subvert expectations in a strong, effective manner. It’s evidence that you can change the tone while still keeping the heart of the characters fully intact. Wednesday and Enid aren’t the only ones who needed this turn of events, but the characters who crossed their path did, too. It’s fun, but it’s significant—so well-written and deeply enlightening. The message it sends out that people are complete, so long as they see that completion within themselves isn’t just universal, but it’s rare still. Yes, romantic love, families, and friendships are important, but in our quest to uncover whatever we feel is our calling, we have to remember how to see ourselves as a whole. The Season 2 finale is solid, but “Woe Thyself” is the show’s bright spot—and the outburst of color on our titular character isn’t the reason why.
Now streaming on Netflix: What are your thoughts on Wednesday and Enid’s switch in Season 2? Let us know in the comments below.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Netflix