‘Wednesday’ (Season 1) Review: New Generation of the Addams Family
Netflix’s Wednesday comes with its own rules. The Addams family has existed in the horror world for many decades, and Tim Burton’s new series shows the audience its sincere appreciation for the original material. Jenna Ortega plays the titular character, a blunt, kooky, and mysterious teenager who seeks her own legacy in a world of outcasts. The series is created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who bring these iconic characters to life and pay homage to Charles Addams’ spooky and hilarious family. This eight-episodic series has some promising elements with deadpan line delivery, a wildly entertaining set of characters, and a good old-fashioned gothic family where all of their weird parts are on full display.
Wednesday begins when Wednesday Addams gets expelled from high school after she exacts revenge on jocks by setting a school of piranhas loose in a swimming pool because they bullied her brother, Pugsley Addams (Isaac Ordonez). Her parents, Morticia and Gomez Addams (Catherin Zeta-Jones and Luiz Guzmán, respectively) decide to send her to their alma mater — Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts. Wednesday is expected to follow in the footsteps of her parents, who met and fell in love while attending this school. She is placed in the same dorm as her mother and her roommate, Enid, (Emma Myers) is a late-blooming werewolf who surrounds herself with bright colours. It doesn’t get easier when Wednesday’s every move is watched by Headmistress Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie), Morticia’s former classmate, who requires the young Addams to take counselling sessions. Ultimately, Wednesday comes face to face with a wide-eyed, long-limbed monster at Nevermore Academy and discovers a doomsday prophecy tied to her.
The previous iterations of the Addams family focused on them, either dealing with interpersonal relationships or not being part of the traditional family. The new series follows the legacy of the characters and brings a fresh perspective and spin to the beloved show, while also staying true to its original materials. From Christina Ricci’s portrayal of the titular character to Ortega’s dark performance, who has no trouble taking on the role of the grim character, she nails the role perfectly. The new cast members who portray these characters bring their own charm to it. Zeta-Jones and Guzmán, barely supporting characters, manage to bring charisma and horniness to the screen. They attempt to maintain the weird, kooky personalities of the characters, even though it is a lot to re-create the chemistry between Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia from The Addams Family movies. Even Uncle Fester, played by Fred Armisen, appears in one episode and brings a deadpan, comic relief performance in homage to Jackie Coogan’s portrayal.
While the new iterations are charming and follow the legacy of Addams’ characters, the series has an issue with explaining certain aspects of the story. The series introduces a new world and characters but it doesn’t take the time to answer the questions and rather, leaves the audience to pick up the pieces. From the beginning, Morticia and Wednesday have a strained relationship, but it is never explained why or what is the cause of it. Wednesday throws new information everywhere and it doesn’t utilise the screentime to explore them further. It is a recurring theme that follows throughout the series.
Outside of the Nevermore Academy, there is a conflict that has been brewing between the outcasts and normies. Jericho has a long history of conflict between these gifted, supernatural beings and humans. Outcasts believe that humans are oppressing them, and vice versa. The audience never knows what and who actually makes an outcast. It is just assumed that anyone with supernatural powers, like Wednesday, who has premonitions and Enid, are supernatural beings who belong in Nevermore Academy. Then again, Gomez and beekeeper Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) don’t have any powers, so what makes them an outcast? Nobody at the school knew about Wednesday’s powers, so how was she qualified? These are the kind of questions that Wednesday leaves the audience to ponder. The audience knows that there’s tension between normies and outcasts, which is rooted in the generation-long feud between the Pilgrims and Wednesday’s direct ancestor. As Wednesday attempts to solve the mystery surrounding the monster, she discovers that Jericho was founded by a group of religious zealots. This devotion to the land has been passed down from generation to generation and continues in the local community. Why is there a division between normies and outcasts? Unfortunately, these questions are never truly answered; at least not immediately, since the series is too busy establishing the world and the characters, which slows down the story’s development.
Regardless, the best part of Wednesday is when the show puts focus on Nevermore Academy and its traditions. It’s a boarding school for gifted, supernatural students, who take part in dark academia, canoeing competitions focusing on Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, a secret society, and cliques based on their own species. There’s queen siren Bianca (Joy Sunday), who is the mean girl and roommate Enid, who is the exact opposite of Wednesday’s personality.
Also, Wednesday introduces an exhausting romantic trope, involving Tyler (Hunter Doohan), a normie barista from town and Xavier (Percy Hynes White), a tortured artist. Both of these characters are bland and uninteresting to the point where their conflicts become unbelievable. There are several other characters like Bianca and Enid, who provide proper conflicts, the latter deals with the late-blooming werewolf stage. Instead, the series focuses on Tyler and Xavier’s love triangle with Wednesday, who has absolutely no interest in pursuing them. It’s a high school drama that portrays the trials and tribulations of teenagers, school dances, crushes, and secret clubs, all of which are part of the Nevermore Academy’s culture.
Wednesday does have a few issues, but the series is still a success. It’s funny, spooky, and even a whole lot of weird works with this iteration of the hilarious family. The series establishes the world and the characters, focusing mainly on the conflict between Jericho’s residents and the supernatural outcasts. Wednesday faces new dynamics and challenges, where she has to learn to put her friendship first before herself. Her roommate and best friend, Enid, help to turn her life around by embracing Wednesday’s weirdness and teaching her to appreciate the people around her.
With its dark take and quirky characters, Wednesday’s story pushes the boundaries of the genre. The series could have used some time to answer the questions regarding the characters’ relationship and the town’s conflict. In a world full of weirdos and outcasts and Wednesday Addams and her family belong here. However, the series does not discuss the aspects of this connection. If it had explored these questions further, the story wouldn’t have felt rushed towards the end. Wednesday has all the hallmarks of the beloved characters and it never loses focus on the humour and spooky horror elements.
All eight episodes are streaming now on Netflix.
