What Happened in Wednesday Season One?

Things take a turn for the murderous, though, when Wednesday witnesses the death of fellow student Rowan Laslow at the hands of a monstrous beast—one we will later come to know as a Hyde. Despite the efforts of shapeshifter Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie) to cover up Rowan’s death, attacks and mysterious events continue.

Then, Wednesday starts to experience visions from her 1600s ancestor Goody Addams. It’s there that Wednesday witnesses Goody confront pilgrim Joseph Crackstone who, despite being praised as a founder of the local town Jericho, actually massacred a group of outcasts (including Goody’s mom) by burning them alive inside a barn.

The much more recent past then rears its ugly head when Morticia (Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Gúzman) visit and a decades-old murder allegation comes to light. While students at Nevermore, Gomez was arrested on suspicion of killing Garrett Gates, a descendant of Crackstone. Ever since, his family—including sister Laurel Gates—all suffer mysteriously tragic deaths.

Morticia and Wednesday are forced to team up to prove Gomez’s innocence, their investigation unearthing a covered-up plot of Garrett’s to kill the students of Nevermore during the annual Rave’N dance. When Garrett confronted Gomez, the vial hidden in his jacket containing a poison was smashed, causing the teen’s death.

With her father officially acquitted, Wednesday refocuses on unraveling the secrets of Goody and Crackstone. As she tries to connect the dots of the past and her present—ignoring questions from her therapist Dr. Kinbott (Riki Lindhome) and the attempts from teacher Marilyn Thornhill (Ricci, who played Wednesday in the 1991 movie) to connect—Wednesday recruits the help of Tyler, Eugene and Enid.

Their investigation leads to a startling truth: Laurel Gates is actually alive, and she’s controlling the Hyde—though her alias remains unknown.

Wednesday’s increasingly desperate search for answers turns her suspicions towards classmate Xavier (Percy Hynes White), despite—or perhaps because—of his constant offerings of assistance. Soon, she discovers damning evidence indicating he is the Hyde and Xavier is arrested by Tyler’s dad, Sheriff Galpin.

Meanwhile, against her better judgement, Wednesday finds her connection to Tyler growing, even bringing him as her date to the Rave’N dance (with the unwanted help of Thing) and sharing a kiss with him in the café after hours. The second their lips lock, however, Wednesday is presented with a game-changing vision: Tyler is the Hyde. As Wednesday quips, “Of course the first boy I kiss would turn out to be a psychotic, serial-killing monster. I guess I have a type.”

Wednesday then lures Tyler to the school and gets him to confess his identity through torture. Thinking she’s finally gone too far, Wednesday’s friends report her actions to Weems and she is subsequently expelled and arrested—only for Tyler to confess the truth to her in the police station where her hands are tied.

Keeping up? Because there’s another twist. Eugene—hospitalized after an incident with the Hyde—wakes up from his coma and points his finger at Ms. Thornhill, now revealed to be Laurel Gates. During a confrontation, Thornhill (a.k.a. Laurel) admits to manipulating and controlling Tyler, before killing Weems and subduing Wednesday.

It is then that Laurel’s plan to bring back Joseph Crackstone and destroy Nevermore forevermore is revealed, using Wednesday’s blood to resurrect the crazed pilgrim.

What happens next? Enid—in her werewolf form—takes down Tyler as the Hyde, Wednesday destroys the pilgrim with the help of siren Bianca (Joy Sunday) while Eugene helps defeat Laurel.

Ultimately, Tyler is detained, Xavier is released from prison and the remaining students are sent home as Nevermore closes its doors for the remainder of the semester.

And while details on what season two of the series will entail have remained scarce—though Jenna teased the second installment begins with her kidnapping—showrunner Miles Millar confirmed the Laurel Gates-Crackstone storyline was strictly a one-season arc.

Yet, he told Netflix’s Tudum, “Not all the loose ends have been tied up as neatly as Wednesday thinks they have. And she loves the idea of a new mystery.”

The first part of Wednesday season two—featuring Lady Gaga—premieres on Netflix August 6, followed by part two September 3. For a look back at the many times Jenna channeled her onscreen counterpart off the screen, keep reading.