One Wednesday Season 2 Scene Calls Back To One Of Catherine Zeta-Jones' Best Movies

Warning: This article contains spoilers for episode 3 of "Wednesday" season 2.

Here we woe again, "Wednesday" fans. Season 2 of the hit Netflix series is finally upon us (the first half, at least, with the final batch of episodes in this split season set to arrive next month), and the Addams Family has never looked more ghoulish. Jenna Ortega's gothic title character receives the lion's share of attention, grounding this otherworldly story in a classic tale of a loner Outcast struggling to fit in at a new, preppy academy. This time around, however, her creepy clan is back and ready for even more hijinks to come. Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez, sporting a growth spurt you won't be able to miss) is now a fellow student at Nevermore, while both Morticia and Gomez (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán, respectively) have moved onto the campus, as well — much to the chagrin of Wednesday, naturally.

It isn't until episode 3 where things ultimately come to a head, however. For much of the show to this point, some serious tension has simmered in the background between Wednesday and her mother Morticia. Their ever-growing disagreement was initially brought to light during the first season's storyline centered on Goody Addams, Wednesday's ancestor (also played by Ortega), who held the key to unlocking her own psychic abilities in the form of a mystical book. Understandably, Morticia wants her stubborn daughter to have nothing to do with this, having seen firsthand what happens when such powers are abused. The opportunity to embark on a weekend camping outing provides the optimal setup for this emotional subplot to suddenly take center stage all over again ... and, in the process, it gives Zeta-Jones the perfect chance to exercise some skills she first picked up almost 30 years ago.

When mother and daughter can't resolve their differences any other way, an old Addams Family tradition involving a sword fight becomes the only course of action left. In the process, savvy viewers will no doubt end up thinking about a very different swashbuckling sequence that helped put Zeta-Jones on the map in the first place: Martin Campbell's criminally underrated "The Mask of Zorro." For the famous star, wielding a sword (blindfolded, at that!) to deadly precision once again might as well have been just like riding a bike.

I'm not sure anyone had it on their BINGO cards that "Wednesday" would hearken back to "The Mask of Zorro," of all movies, but here we are. In retrospect, there's certainly some overlap between a film at least partially about a headstrong daughter (in this case, Zeta-Jones) reconnecting with her estranged father (as played by Anthony Hopkins) and the Netflix series where Wednesday's relationship with Morticia has taken on so much importance. The way it all plays out in episode 3 of season 2 certainly lives up to the hype, all while having loads of referential fun with Zeta-Jones' casting.

It all begins when Morticia takes matters into her own hands and steals Goody Addams' book right out of Wednesday's dorm room. A series of unfortunate events later (which includes a capture the flag-like game between rival students crammed in amid all sorts of other camp shenanigans), Wednesday invokes the family tradition and challenges her own mother to settle accounts through a dazzling sword fight. The catch: They both must be blindfolded and the first one to shatter the glass heart they each wear will win. The stakes: If Wednesday emerges as the victor, she keeps the book; if Morticia wins, she burns the book. What follows is an epic duel, intercut with several of the hour's ongoing subplots, as Morticia ends up winning it all. The similarities with "The Mask of Zorro" won't be lost on at least a segment of the viewership, many of whom may remember watching Zeta-Jones flash her swordplay skills as Elena Montero. In fact, the "Wednesday" writers are clearly having fun with Zeta-Jones' presence on multiple layers. Earlier in the episode, an impromptu campfire song allows Morticia to show off her pipes that ends with a killer quip: "I usually only sing at funerals." Anyone else pick up on that "Chicago" reference?

Both "Wednesday" and "The Mask of Zorro" focus on questions of lineage and the ghosts of the past ... even if only one does so literally. By the time the smoke clears and Morticia wins her fight, fans familiar with both properties will likely appreciate the thematic and visual callbacks. Any excuse to make us think about one of the best blockbusters of the 1990s is a good one in our book. 

"Wednesday" season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.