Wednesday is an excellent addition to the world of Addam's Family. The show really surprised me with its premise and weirdly fun narrative. This is how all the adaptations should be made.
About Wednesday
Creators: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar
Production: MGM Television, Netflix
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan, Percy Hynes White, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Crime
Runtime: 8 Episodes each 55 minutes on average
IMDB Rating: 8.4/10
Rotten Tomatometer: 72%
My Rating: 4.5/5
So Wednesday follows Wednesday Addams who is suspended from her school for attacking boys who were bullying her brother. Nothing can hook me up to a show if it's not a teenager attempting to murder kids. The show starts with a bang. Morticia Addams and Gomez Addams admit Wednesday to the infamous Nevermore Academy a school for outcasts. Wednesday is not happy with this decision as this means the first step in turning into her mother. And she definitely doesn't want that.
Then, we meet her cheery and bubbly roommate Enid Sinclair, a werewolf completely opposite to our half-dead goth girl. I have to say I absolutely love Enid. But soon the academy starts to show signs of something going incredibly wrong. There is a prophecy that seems to say Wednesday will be the doom of Nevermore Academy with a monster called ‘The Hyde’ killing people all over the town. But our girl is busy. She is finding new friendships with Enid, meeting cute boys in town and discovering secret societies.
The monster could be anyone. The murders keep piling up. The Sheriff of the town just waiting for a single mishap by the Nevermore Academy to pin it against the outcast community and shut Nevermore indefinitely. The Sheriff also carries a personal vendetta against the Addams Family because he could arrest Gomez Addams for a murder he allegedly committed years ago during their time at Nevermore. Of course, he didn't commit the crime but Morticia Addams did because a Kid names Garette Gates from town was getting obsessed with her. But the normie won't be in favour of the outcasts ever. So, they pulled strings to get the murder charges dropped.
Wednesday is filled with red herrings. The whole show we were kept on our toes about who the monster is. Xavier, the psychic boy with the power of animating objects is at the top of the list of suspects because he keeps drawing the monster in his secret hut when nobody knows how the monster looks except Wednesday.
But the Hyde is not completely in control. They are bound to a master to serve them if the master can gain their trust. So there is another mastermind at play. The town worships its founder Joseph Crackstone who we find out from Wednesday's vision as an outcast hater. The Gates family of the town is descendants of them and is known to hate the outcasts too. But the everyone in Gates family dies except Lauren whose body was never discovered.
So we slowly put the pieces together and understand Laurel Gates might be behind the Hyde attacks. But who is Laurel Gates? The penultimate episode of the show ends on Wednesday proving Xavier to be the Hyde and the town therapist to be Laurel Gates. Wednesday then kisses Tyler and learns that Tyler is the real Hyde from her vision. This reveal was very carefully foreshadowed and set up really well. Even if you guessed that Tyler may be the Hyde, the show tries to throw you off with red herrings and you will start to doubt yourself.
Finally, the mastermind of the whole thing is revealed to be the 'Normie' teacher at Nevermore who is actually the real Laurel Gates. She is trying to resurrect Joseph Crackstone with the body parts of the victims killed by Tyler.
Wednesday
Wednesday is not a morally upright character. She is a borderline psychopath who tried to kill a bunch of kids for bullying her brother. But somehow in this world, she becomes the most interesting character for whom you will be rooting. Her character growth is the best thing in this show. The girl scoffing at emotion and human interaction go from hating hugs to giving hugs. I loved how she cultivated good friendships even with that 'winning' personality. Her scenes with 'The Thing' and Enid are my favourites.
Jenna Ortega gave the best performance of her career. I liked her in You Season 2 and have watched X and The Babysitter: The Killer Queen where she played major characters. I loved her body of work. I am so happy that she is finally receiving so much love for her portrayal as Wednesday. She is a truly talented actor.
Enid
Enid is my second favourite character and I loved her dynamic with Wednesday. Her finally transforming into a werewolf was my favourite moment from Wednesday. Her wolf form even has pink highlights on her fur. That was so cute. It can't be more perfect than this. Emma Myers brought the cheery girl with the kindest personality to life and I loved it.
I didn't care much about Enid's romance with Ajax. The show thankfully spends less time with that subplot. Enid is the life of this show and I am here for her.
Tyler
Tyler's reveal is the best part about him. I really liked him when he was introduced and Wednesday first met him. But I got weird vibes when he said Wednesday is giving her confusing signals. I was like ‘Did you see her face? What signals are you talking about?’ That failed my vibe check. After that, I got thrown off by the red herrings and was genuinely confused about who could be the Hyde.
I kind of guessed the Laurel Gates identity right. But Tyler's one I didn't see coming. This is why I liked the reveal so much. This was truly surprising to me. The show did its job well in maintaining the mystery.
The Thing
Yes! I consider Thing as a main character. My heart literally stopped when I saw Thing bloody and injured. I never cared this much about a hand. The hand gestures are completely understandable to me. The maker did a really good job of conveying the non-verbal messages and emotions of Thing.
The world of Nevermore and the Town of Jericho is fascinating. The world has 'Normies' who are humans with no special powers and 'Outcasts' who are people with various superpowers. The tension between Normies and Outcasts is ever-present. Normies are discriminated against for their powers and often get bullied. So Nevermore Academy was created inspired by Edger Allen Poe to help Outcasts find community and a safe space to grow.
Enid describes the factions in Nevermore in simple terms. The Furs (Werewolves), The Fangs (Vampires), The Stoners (Gorgons) and The Scales (Sirens). Our Wednesday however doesn't fit any of these factions. She is a 'Psychic' with the power of vision of both past & future. Xavier is also a psychic who has the power of animation. Enid is a werewolf, Ajaz is a gorgon and Bianca is a siren.
Wednesday uses the concept of Outcasts and Normies as an allegory of real-world discrimination. It becomes clear when Enid's mom suggests conversion therapy for her to change into a werewolf as she is a late bloomer. Wednesday also uses the pilgrim festival as an example of colonization and the whitewashing of various cultures. I loved how the makers used these concepts to convey such deep messages.
Wednesday is a great addition to the Dark Academia genre full of murder, mysteries, secret societies and morbid characters with morally grey arcs. ‘The school for children with special abilities’ as a concept is nothing new. We have seen it in Harry Potter Series, Legacies, the X-Men franchise and many more. But Wednesday brings a special type of arc to the show. It combines dark themes with morbid comedy while still maintaining the campy style of its predecessors 'The Addams Family' franchise. It respects the previous iterations of the character and brings the weird world from Tim Burton's brain to life. The adaptation is truly genius.
I loved how Wednesday having visions were shot. The transitions were interesting and conveys Wednesday's convulsing onto the screen. I didn't like the transition of Enid into a werewolf. She looked cool after the transformation but the process looked a little unfinished.
The pacing of the show is perfect. There is not a single scene that feels unimportant. It either serves to progress the plot or as much-needed character development. I would have loved to see more of Morticia Addams played by the gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones. Her performance was spectacular. The show is not boring at all. It manages the murder mystery and the world-building carefully which delivers outstanding entertainment.
I enjoyed this series very much. This would have been a perfect show for October. But I can get into spooky vibes any time of the year if the show wants me to. Absolutely in love with the character of Wednesday and Enid. There is a reason that it broke the weekly viewership record previously held by Stranger Things.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that Wednesday has gained 411.29 million hours of viewership from November 28 to December 4 and 752.52 million hours of cumulative streams. It became the third most popular English Language series on Netflix just behind Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story at No. 2 and Stranger Things season 4 at No. 1. And it deserves it all.
Wednesday has become one of my favourite series in 2022. The show is weird, funny and morbid. I haven't watched anything related to Addam's Family before. But I loved this show despite it. I never felt lost in any part of the series. The characters are cast spectacularly. Jenna Ortega steals the show and gave an amazing performance. She will be forever Wednesday to me now. The casting of other characters in flashbacks was also done perfectly.
The show is full of murder, mysteries and monsters. The allegorical take on the premise was quite unique. It delivers on what it has promised. I have rarely seen dark academia done well on movies and tv shows. But Wednesday is done brilliantly. I have high hopes for the next season. Netflix hasn't confirmed season 2 yet but with a huge success like this, it's just a matter of time. I am so excited to spend time in this world with these characters.
The only thing I would have liked more is if the show had more interaction with the rest of the Addams Family. I love Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams. She is perfect. I want to see her more in future seasons.
IMDB Blurb
A sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams' years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday's attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago - all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.
[…] Furthermore, I'm concerned that Netflix has been struggling to deliver good second seasons after exceptional first seasons, as seen with The Witcher, You, and now Shadow and Bone. This makes me worried about upcoming shows such as Arcane and Wednesday. […]