Wednesday: The Unfair Cut (Released)

Since season 2 is sort of out now I guess I’ll post this edit I made of the first season. Not sure yet whether I’ll edit the second, I have mixed feelings about the episodes they’ve released so far. Season 2 has been added in second post

This edit cuts quite a bit of side plot from the first season but so far there haven’t been any continuity issues with the second season, so technically you could watch it as a “catch up” replacement for the first season. The only minor point is that they don’t really introduce Uncle Fester well in the second season, assuming you already know who he is, and he’s cut from my Season 1 edit.

I enjoyed Season 1 for the most part in its original form, but the Uncle Fester section felt out of place to me, as did the real-world political references and the attempt to insert common tropes about needing friends and love, which are a sappy and trite twist that weakens Wednesday’s unique character. I think this edit cleans up a lot of those rough edges and allows the main character to triumph in all her oddball glory rather than the “yay WE did it” ending of the original show after everyone constantly doubts and abandons her for seven episodes.

These cuts reduce the runtime from 6.75 hours down to 4 hours.

Here’s a cliptrailer: https://bestedit.net/trailer/Wednesday.2022.Trailer.1080p.webm

PM, or Email me for info on how to get the edit

Below is the high-level edit list:
- trims to make the parents less cringey in the car
- trim Wednesday being unnecessarily mean to mom (feels out of character to me - I like her righteously vengeful, not spiteful for no reason)
- cut wolf girl lamenting her late puberty and Wednesday’s childhood flashback
- cut Thing delivering Wednesday’s message
+ move carnival to next episode

- cut some of the voiceovers
- remove all references to Wednesday passing out
+ move canoe scene later
- trim train station transformation - don’t show viewer spoilers Wednesday/Thing can’t observe
- trims to make the bee kid less cringey

+ move forward Wednesday figuring out the transformation from Ep5
- cut some side character scenes
- remove references to photograph of the monster
- tone down the dating/romance emphasis a bit for all the characters
- discard most of the “Family day” episode, including all the parents flashbacks

+ move forward and recut the safecracking scene to remove Uncle Fester
- cut the “psychic training” plot point that goes nowhere
- cut most of the mayor stuff, we only see him at the statue ceremony

+ use the old series logo for the last episode to be consistent
- remove a lot of the “kids club” in the final episode and keep the focus on Wednesday
- recut the final fights to be a bit more natural, no ghost healing
- cut the escape at the end

Season 2 edit has now been released.

This one is a much deeper cut than the initial season - I cut anything where the show felt like a parody of itself, or lacked the heart/charm of the original season. As much as the show focuses on supernatural stuff the zombie angle felt out of place to me, so that’s where I started my cuts, and it just evolved from there. This brings the entire second season down to a single 90 minute film length - primarily focusing on one of the side plots from the season rather than the core narrative.

Below is the high-level edit list:
- cut serial killer cold open and airport scene (keep doll and mention of where it came from)
- cut drive to Nevermore showing brother’s power - we only see it once when he revives a tarantula during a musical interlude
- cut birds mystery
+ keep new headmaster
+ keep stalker storyline, but trim down the fame scenes a bit
- heavily trim down Enid romance to be more natural
+ rework headmaster\Bianca scenes to reveal his intentions earlier
- cut stalker trying to burn Wednesday’s book, but keep bonfire
- cut zombie storyline
- cut most of the black tears storyline aside from seeing it happen once and mention her powers not working to explain why she isn’t using it to solve the stalker mystery
+ keep Prank Day
- cut Asylum storyline
- cut camping trip
- Uncle Fester only arrives at the end since he isn’t needed for the Asylum plot
- cut return of Weems, and body swap
+ keep most of Enid’s alpha storyline
- cut Thing origin story
+ rework the ending monologue to be a bit more vague in line with the new edit direction