Wednesday's friends throw her a surprise birthday party. They mean well... but she'd much rather mark the miserable occasion by solving the murders.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Thornhill says that she and Wednesday are alike, which is appropriate given that Christina Ricci has also played Wednesday.
- Birthday Episode: For Wednesday, who celebrates her 16th birthday. Downplayed in that the birthday is not the focus of the entire episode, mostly due to Wednesday not wanting to celebrate it.
- Downer Ending: Sherif Galpin removes Wednesday from the case for endangering his son, Weems is prepared to expel Wednesday if she causes any more infractions, and Enid is so angry that she goes to Yoko's room for the night, leaving Wednesday all alone.
- Dumbwaiter Ride: Wednesday and Enid hide from the monster in the Gates Manor's dumbwaiter. It tries to reach them by clawing at the door, but the shaking and the weight of the girls mean the rope holding the dumbwaiter give up first, sending them falling to the basement.
- Hand of Death: A gloved hand is seen removing the mayor from life support.
- He Knows Too Much: Mayor Walker is hit by a car and hospitalized just when he's about to meet with the sheriff to tell him about something he saw in the old Gates house. For Wednesday, this is proof enough that the mayor was onto something important and whoever is behind the monster wanted to silence him.
- Hypocrite: Enid brings up defending Wednesday, even though Wednesday never asked her to defend her, while yelling at Wednesday for not thinking about other's feelings or desires.
- It Was Here, I Swear!: Wednesday takes the sheriff back to the Gates mansion to show him all the stuff she found. All of it has been removed by the time they arrive.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Weems exasperatedly asks Weddnesday, "How do you end up at the center of everything terrible that happens?!" Well, she's the main character, that might explain it...
- Let's Split Up, Gang!: Wednesday, Enid and Tyler split up in the old Gates mansion to search for clues. However, Enid is aware that whoever splits up from the group in a horror movie-like scenario, things never ends well for them.
- Manipulative Bitch: Wednesday ropes Enid and Tyler into helping her by pretending she wants a girls' night out with the former and a date with the latter. It gets her in hot water when they find out.
- Pet the Dog: Despite already being in hot water with Weems, Wednesday specifically asks for Enid and Xavier to be spared from expulsion as well.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Wednesday gets a series of these at the end, with Enid's being especially brutal. It doesn't have its intended effect, as Wednesday only becomes more determined to solve the mystery.
- Spider Swarm: One of the flashbacks to Wednesday's previous birthdays shows her hitting a spider-shaped piñata, which proves full of live spiders, scaring the other kids. The young Wednesday, however, let them swarm over her without a hint of discomfort.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sheriff Galpin, Weems, and Enid all tear into Wednesday for sneaking out of school during lockdown and endangering her friends.
