Our episode begins with Wednesday behaving hilariously and suspiciously un-Wednesday-like, boppily dancing in sparkle platforms and a rainbow sweater to the tune of “Boombayah.” Enid’s voice-over asks us to admit that “this is the Wednesday Addams you didn’t know you needed.” I don’t know if I’d go that far, but before I can argue, we are flashing back 16 hours and 36 minutes earlier to explain how exactly we got here.

In Principal Dort’s office, Wednesday gets to say “I told you so” to Principal Dort and the sheriff; Enid doesn’t even get a seat. We learn Judi has “been reported missing” (RIP). No one feels secure in the maternal pact Morticia made with Francoise. The sheriff threatens to arrest Morticia on account of aiding and abetting a murderer, but Gomez points out that these clowns (the cops) abandoned Nevermore to protect Normies at Pilgrim World. I am so sorry, but I still cannot get over the fact that the show’s nomenclature is officially “Outcasts” and “Normies.” Feels very placeholder-text, but whatever! Dort cannot stop talking about the Gala, his entire personality and reason for being. He is instating a curfew, even though this attack actually happened because an outsider broke in to Nevermore, not because kids got out. Everyone is doing a fabulous job, as usual.

Spirit Weems pulls Wednesday aside and slow-claps her failure, spelling it out for her charge: Wednesday has to resolve her issues with her mom, or her powers won’t come back. Oh, and her visions — which I guess Weems has access to even though Wednesday does not? — still show Enid dying and it being Wednesday’s fault. Weems warns Wednesday that her lack of empathy is a WEAKNESS. Wednesday, as is her standard practice, immediately ignores the counsel and asks Professor Orloff about Francoise.

Here we learn that Francoise Galpin (f.k.a. Francoise Night) was not the one in her family who was super into science; that would be her brother, Isaac, who was a very talented Da Vinci (… okay) and actually designed the jar that keeps Orloff’s head alive. Can we not make enough story with the characters we already have? How many more names am I going to have to learn for literally 16 episodes of television over three full years? Whatever happened to Ophelia?! Anyway, I am somewhat relieved to learn later that while Isaac is a new name — new since Gomez dropped it at the end of the last episode, that is — he is not, actually, a new guy: Isaac is Slurp is … the Clockwork Boy of legend!

Isaac had a god complex. Fun timing re: Isaacs, monsters, and god complexes! His mentor was Augustus Stonehearst (Judi’s dad); Stonehearst build Isaac a lab in the Iago tower (evidently the largest and most complex tower at the school); they had a great relationship ’til the lab blew up (yes, this is the scorched-out part of campus where, in a D-plot, Bianca is hiding her mother); Isaac’s body was never found (because it was buried under the Skull Tree so he could become the Clockwork Boy).

With his new intel, Wednesday demands her brother tell her the latest on his zombie. He folds immediately when she says she has a waterboard in her closet (which is, like, not really a thing; waterboarding does not require some special type of board, but I guess Wednesday is too young to remember the War on Terror?). Quickly, Wednesday puts together that Isaac is looking for his sister, Francoise.

Tyler and his mom are in this underground bunker that Papa Galpin built to “keep you safe,” which in this case means that Francoise, who has been dead/absent for Tyler’s entire life, is now his jailer. Tyler is horrified to learn that his mother came back from the dead only to be his “master,” abuse him, and generally make his life even worse. Francoise is coughing blood into a handkerchief; in keeping with the Inviolable Rules of Television Health and Medicine, we know her death is imminent.

Bruno the wolfy boyfriend is checking in on Enid while attending to a lot of distracting messages on his phone. I assume we are supposed to be invested in their kiss, but this relationship has felt surface-level and has barely gotten any screen time, so. Capri arrives to kill the mood and basically spends the whole episode providing new lore about Alphas. We have quite enough lore for one series! I do hope Billie Piper is being paid handsomely for the underwhelming task of bustling in and out of rooms and reciting Wikipedia entries about werewolves. The gist: Alphas are rare; Enid’s probably one. The rumor is that they all “end up alone,” but Capri says the “lone wolf” thing is misinformation. Having thoroughly rattled her student, Capri departs.

Wednesday visits Grandmama Hester, a fellow Raven, to revive her psychic abilities. Wow, a girl who will do everything except go to therapy and have an open conversation with her mother — I love to see women in male-dominated fields! Hester says, in a tone that suggests there is a whole other heap of backstory there, that Ravens cannot be “held back” by family. She tells the tale of Rosaline Rotwood, and again, I swear to SATAN I do NOT want to learn one more name!!! Here we go: She was a Raven, taught at Nevermore in Grandmama’s day, and is buried in the Nevermore graveyard; if a Raven goes to her grave and reads the inscription and blah blah, spooky, whatever, they’ll be granted “temporary sight.” All warnings about how this could go awry are dutifully ignored by Wednesday.

Just in case you needed more stakes: If Wednesday gets busted breaking the new curfew, her entire dorm will be barred from the Gala. (But doesn’t Dort need everyone at the Gala to make it sufficiently gala-like?) She and Enid get in a blowout fight over this, wherein they finally say to each other all the resentments they’ve had inside on a simmer. Enid hates Wednesday’s arrogance, accusing her of only “unleashing chaos so you can stamp it out and feel superior.” Wednesday snarks back that Enid only feels powerful because she “wolfed out.” Ominously, Enid shouts that she can’t believe Wednesday has never put herself in someone else’s shoes.

Wednesday leaves anyway, but Enid chases her because Capri is doing dorm checks, and Enid will NOT miss the Gala. Meanwhile, Wednesday has her vision, and it’s a vision of LADY GAGA.

Always a pleasure to see a real star around here. Gaga-Rotwood shares some family goss: Hester “craved a family so badly, she fell head over heels with a huckster.” Rotwood approvingly sees no such sentimentality in Wednesday. We get yet another person telling Wednesday her weakness is arrogance. I think we get it!! If Wednesday pulls her palm away from the flame during the ritual, she will “break the Raven’s gaze” and pay some terrible price. Naturally, mid–flame ritual, Enid interrupts, and the price they pay is a classic Freaky Friday body swap. FUN.

I wish this episode weren’t so cluttered with other nonsense, because this part is what Wednesday does best. You can tell the actors are having an absolute blast impersonating each other. Emma Myers gives a great tilted-head dead eye; Jenna Ortega’s Enid mannerisms are delicious.

Wednesday-as-Enid says NO ONE can know they’ve swapped. Enid-as-Wednesday struggles to stay cool and aloof. Swiftly, they learn several things about each other, such as: Wednesday was not lying about being allergic to color; Enid’s boyfriend, Bruno, is cheating on her in the rudest way possible, by speaking Tagalog right in front of her because he knew she wouldn’t understand. Wednesday finds out that Enid is an Alpha, and Enid learns that Wednesday has been hiding this vision wherein Enid dies, and it’s all Wednesday’s fault.

Wednesday-as-Enid goes back to the Rotwood grave, where Weems tells her that two other Ravens tried this trick before, and both were dead within 24 hours. Which would be one way of fulfilling the vision! (Also: Love the way Gwendoline Christie says “penchant.”)

Meanwhile, Isaac-Slurp studies himself in a shattered mirror at Tyler’s house, presumably contemplating his multiple identities and broken inner life. He soon discovers the underground Galpin lair. He and his sister have one of those eerie reunions that make you think, Uh, okay, I have siblings, and that’s not the way we hug each other. (But it’s very Frankenstein to be in love with your sister, IYKYK!) Francoise confesses that her Hyde condition is killing her — each transition steals away some humanity until there is none left. But Isaac-Slurp wants to help, using the machine that August Stonehearst stole and “perverted.” Instead of putting Outcast juice IN a normie, Isaac-Slurp wants to use it as intended and take the Hyde OUT of his sister.

Enid-as-Wednesday is summoned to a family dinner she can’t get out of. Wednesday-as-Enid is told by Capri she needs to get to the Lunar Cages by sundown to manage the wildness of “being an Alpha in their first lunar cycle.” But first, she is going to bop over to the Rotwood cottage, where she finds the séance room and learns that her mother has been writing trashy romance novels under a pseudonym. Rotwood returns to call Wednesday-as-Enid a CHILD and make the terms of the curse clear: Wednesday needs to “completely understand the depths of Enid” by dawn, or else.

Enid-as-Wednesday wishes Thing could come to the family dinner with her for support. But Thing needs some support of his own — as in, he is literally attending a support group for body parts. Enid-as-Wednesday digs through Wednesday’s desk for anything that could help her; unfortunately, she finds Wednesday’s novel, where the character based on her is described in superficial and offensive terms. Girl, it’s fiction! But Enid panics and decides to humiliate Wednesday, which, honestly, is genius, and I’m surprised it didn’t occur to her to do this sooner.

After this breakdown, the girls experience those beautiful revelations that can only occur when a haunted gravesite ritual goes awry and you accidentally swap skins with each other. Wednesday-as-Enid dumps Bruno for being a cheating loser; Enid-as-Wednesday realizes that Wednesday’s bad behavior has come from a place of loyalty and love. She also tries to dump Agnes the Invisigirl, who, as Wednesday’s devoted stalker, can tell something is awry. Wounded by this conversation, Agnes crashes the support group. This whole scene takes forever, and I think it would’ve played much better as a quick one-note joke! We’ve got enough going on.

Isaac-Slurp returns to campus to murder Professor Orloff (sad!) and steal the magic ball that will serve as the energy source for the Outcast machine. I am very grateful to the show for not attempting to make that more complex or even logical. It’s like a Magic 8 Ball that is so easily removed from Orloff’s guts he could have been murdered any day by some bratty student? Sure! Agnes the Invisigirl witnesses this attack. (Side note: Why is the school so concerned about student safety, but there is literally no security anywhere at this school?) Isaac-Slurp returns to the car with the power source. Francoise makes Tyler buckle his seatbelt. In the trunk: Judi’s dead body and a very traumatized Agnes.

Family dinner at the Addamses. The menu is roadkill pot pie. The real agenda: Mom and Dad don’t like it when you kids lie to your parents. Lying is for business, politics, and jury duty! Pugs fesses up about Slurp and skips off for his punishment. Left alone, Morticia accuses her daughter of having gone clinically insane. Then she realizes Weems is in the room, and that Wednesday can’t see her, which means Wednesday isn’t Wednesday. Everyone gets caught up on the latest in body-swapping horrors. Enid-as-Wednesday has to break Wednesday-as-Enid out of the Lupin cages NOW.

See above re: lack of security, because Enid-as-Wednesday has zero issues breaking her(self) out of the Lupin cages. Before they can return to Rotwood’s grave, they receive a call from Agnes, who updates them on the situation and shares her location. You’d think priority No. 1 would be “get back inside your own body before dawn because other Ravens who attempted this literally died within a day,” but Wednesday-as-Enid says they need to take down the Galpins first. Maybe they should start teaching a time-management class at Nevermore.

Isaac-Slurp can’t wait to free his sister from “this horrible curse,” even though Tyler says being a Hyde is the freest he’s ever felt. Isaac-Slurp says he will stop his sister from dying. But, like, she will just be a human?? So she will die??? Just not, like, right this second???? Unless he also wants to make her a ZOMBIE?! Food for thought, not to be confused with thoughts for food. Anyway, Agnes gets busted and shoved in a cell to be a snack for later.

Isaac-Slurp uses the magic ball to make the machine go zippity-zap. (I am a woman in STEM.) Where did he get those goggles? I love them! Very B-movie science guy (complimentary). The girls show up and attack Tyler. Mid-battle, Wednesday-as-Enid wolfs out; Tyler locks her in a cell. Agnes Invisigirls and turns up all the machine levers. Wednesday-as-Enid breaks down the cell door because she is an ALPHA, baby!! Tyler responds to this as you might expect (going full Hyde), but his mom screams at him to stop. The girls escape; the machine overloads and explodes. Ahh, well, A for effort re: being a god and saving your sister from the horrible curse!

The sun is coming up, which is a PROBLEM. Enid-as-Wednesday thanks Wednesday-as-Enid for saving her life. Wednesday-as-Enid says, “I just asked myself: what would Enid do?” It’s very sweet. Also, Agnes the Invisigirl figured this whole thing out. Good for her. Back to the grave!

Time to unravel each other’s innermost secrets. I thought they had already done that, but as you know, this is not a show-don’t-tell show but a show-AND-tell show, so in addition to walking miles in each other’s shoes and changing/saving each other’s lives, our main characters must also articulate what it is about the other that makes them so special but no one else can see. So Enid proclaims that the fearless Wednesday is scared of disappointing her mom and that this is the real reason she pushes Morticia away, and Wednesday knows Enid has a quiet strength but fears being alone, which she (Wednesday) promises she won’t let happen. “I mistook your kindness for weakness,” Wednesday says. Okay, Lana!

KABOOM. The girls are alive and in their own bodies once again. The premonition of Enid’s imminent death is no more. But don’t worry: Another life is at risk now, thanks to Wednesday’s actions. Her janky vision only shows her half a headstone. An ADDAMS must die. But which one?!

 The classic body-swap high jinks come courtesy of Lady Gaga.