Wednesday EPs Defend 'Impactful' Death In Episode 4: 'Not Everyone Is Going To Make It Out Alive'

Spoiler alert: We're about to break down a major death from Wednesday Season 2, Episode 4. Haven't watched yet? You've been warned.

Wednesday fans were stunned, elated even, when the second season's third episode ended with the shocking return of Christina Ricci as villainous Nevermore teacher Marilyn Thornhill. Unfortunately, the reunion was short-lived, as Thornhill soon met her end for real in Episode 4.

During an especially chaotic riot at the asylum, Thornhill was reunited with Tyler, immediately attempting to convince him that Wednesday is his real enemy. The Hyde hottie was kind enough to give his master a five-second head start before eventually impaling her with his killer claws.

Bringing Ricci back in Season 2 was a no-brainer for the show's producers, but the rest? That was another story.

"It's always a hard choice," co-showrunner Alfred Gough tells TVLine. "When you kill off a character like that, you want to make it count. You want it to lead to something, you know, and it definitely does. We established that a Hyde can't really live without a master, so what does that mean? Now you have this unhinged monster out in the world, and what's that going to be? We wanted to make sure that it was an impactful death."

Adds co-showrunner Miles Millar, "When you kill a character as significant as as Thornhill, it reminds the audience that, yeah, people die in this world. There are serious stakes, and not everyone is going to make it out alive. I think that's an important tonal thing for the show, even though we primarily think of it as a comedy. Hopefully this season is even funnier than the first season, but there are also these moments of high drama and moments of of death."

Were you surprisingly moved by Thornhill's death? Are you disappointed that Ricci's time in the Wednesday universe is over, barring a ghostly return? (Hey, anything's possible!) Weigh in via our polls below, then drop a comment with your thoughts on Season 2 overall.