Abhiroop Das
Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ follows the protagonist on a series of mysteries she solves with her exceptional wits and a touch of the supernatural. In her second year at Nevermore Academy, Wednesday is the center of all attention, but that also comes with a downside. With old enemies returning into the fray, many band-aids are ripped off, and she soon finds herself backed into a corner. However, out of all these challenges, one that stands out the most is the one posed by the avian serial killer. As Wednesday goes digging, she realizes that her path extends deep into the Willow Hill Psychiatric Facility, where Dr. Fairbun and her trusted assistant, Judi, hide as many secrets as patients. Before long, the stage is set for an ultimate face-off, with several wild-card entrants wanting a piece for themselves. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Judi Stonehurst Meets a Brutal End at the Hands of Isaac
Judi Stonehurst’s antagonistic role in ‘Wednesday’ reaches a crescendo in the fourth episode of season 2, titled ‘If These Woes Could Talk.’ However, her showdown with Wednesday does not go as planned, and instead, she is faced with a crushing defeat. The consequences of that fateful night ripple out in the rest of the narrative, most notably with Slurp escaping along with several of the outcasts Judi had imprisoned. Although she manages to neutralize most threats to her safety, the zombie, whose real identity is Isaac Night, turns out to be her match. After quietly making his way to her home, Isaac promptly kills Judi, satisfying his desire for vengeance. Following this, he keeps Judi’s corpse as a part of his feast, and in the process regains even more of his true self.
Judi’s death also means the complete end of the Willow Hill Psychiatric Facility, and along with it, her entire illegal operation. With most of the L.O.I.S. inmates’ deaths, Francoise Night remains the sole survivor of those horrors. In an ironic twist, Francoise turns out to be the sister of Isaac Night, which further attaches a personal meaning to his actions. The ties between the two parties do not end there, as a deeper dive into the past reveals that Judi and her father, Augustus Stonehurst, had stolen their entire research from Isaac. The latter was the original inventor of a device capable of erasing one’s outcast abilities, but following his death, Stonehurst used that device to plant an outcast ability into the normies instead, upsetting the natural balance. With Judi gone, Isaac now has the chance to restart his mission and uses Willow Hill itself as a base for his operations.
Although ‘Wednesday’ is full of spiritual elements dealing with spirits, revival, and the afterlife, Judi’s fate appears to be set in stone, with very little possibility of her returning into the story. To begin with, she is a uniquely malevolent figure, whose share of evil directly triggers many of the plot beats to follow. With most of them now resolved, she does not serve a greater purpose, reiterating her exit from the story. This is also substantiated visually, as a horrifying scene shows Judi stuffed into the trunk of a car, with her brain already consumed. This solidifies her status as a dead person, and with Isaac dead as well, the police are soon to find the car and retrieve Judi’s corpse. With this, her secrets might also see the light of day, with Willow Hill firmly becoming a thing of the past.
Heather Matarazzo is Unlikely to Reprise Her Role in Wednesday
Judi Stonehurst is a character of many shades, starting as a cheerful and upbeat receptionist, before turning into a cold-hearted killer at the drop of a hat. Conveying every step of her character is a challenging task in its own right, but actor Heather Matarazzo shows off her expertise by portraying Willow Hill’s leader perfectly. Although she leaves a lasting impact on the show, Judi’s death points to Heather Matarazzo’s involvement similarly coming to an end. Although a case can be made for her returning in the form of a flashback sequence, that is unlikely to happen, largely due to the nature of her character and her position in the story. In just a single season, Matarazzo manages to convey the mythology of ‘Wednesday’ through the rise and fall of her character. To that end, Judi’s final appearance remains one of the show’s most chilling moments, brought to life by the actor’s stellar performance.
Heather Matarazzo’s intimate understanding of Judi and the twists and turns within her character come to light in an interview with Tudum. She spoke at length about Judi’s hidden motivations and how she learnt them beforehand to better mould her performance. She stated: “(I asked,) What is it that she had within herself? What was the drive of that ambition? Was it the fact that she desperately needed her father’s approval and that she never felt that she really got it? And so in her way, she wanted to surpass her father, but she also wanted to keep an eye on him.” With that arc completed, it makes for Judi’s role within the story to come to a close, but the actor also teases a possile return, stating “as we can see in Season 2, even if you were considered dead, it doesn’t mean that you necessarily are gone.”
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