Review of Netflix's Wednesday

by Melissa Ramos

Netflix’s Wednesday is a pretty Christmas package of fantastic noir comedy. This series includes the visually stunning cinematography we have come to expect from Tim Burton, a clever and humorous soundtrack with soaring notes in Danny Elfman’s haunting and jaunty style, and a sensational performance by Jenna Ortega. The series is rife with spooky characters from the original broadcast TV show that are sure to please anyone who remembers reruns of the original black and white gem with nostalgia like I do.

The star of of this macabre comedy-drama is the Addams family daughter: the brilliant and talented Wednesday Addams. Wednesday’s dark and witty quips are one the show’s most pleasurable elements as the show invites us to enjoy laughing at things we probably shouldn’t:

Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Wednesday’s therapist): Tell me how you are adjusting to school.

Wednesday Addams: Sartre said, “Hell is other people.” He was my first crush.

I must be honest and admit that I have only had time to watch the first three episodes, but I am hooked. And while all the elements listed above form part of the show’s irresistible allure, the storyline is its most captivating feature.

Wednesday Addams: This story is about to take a dark turn. Usually, I love dark turns. Like when the carousel brakes mysteriously failed at my eighth birthday party. But not this one.

The twist of this new series is the spotlight on the Addams family women. 

The broader storyline of the series is Wednesday’s journey of self-discovery as she struggles to understand her nascent spiritual and supernatural gift -- seeing visions. 

Wednesday’s struggle with her gift is also punctuated by her desire to establish an individuated self distinct from the powerful figure of her mother, Morticia Addams (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones). 

Wednesday Addams: I’m not you, Mother. I will never fall in love, or be a housewife, or have a family.

Morticia Addams: I’m told girls your age say hurtful things, and I shouldn’t take it to heart.

Wednesday Addams: If only you had one.

Morticia Addams: Finally, a kind word for your mother.

The lightning-fast dialogue with witty quips is reminiscent of Gilmore Girls — full of snark and sass, but Wednesday adds an extra helping of the macabre.

The setting for Netflix’s Wednesday is a predatory academy for misfit high schoolers harboring these supernatural gifts. Always a loner, Wednesday does not seem to want or need other people. 

Wednesday Addams: I act as if I don’t care if people dislike me. Deep down, I secretly enjoy it.

Her parents, Gomez and Morticia, hope Wednesday will finally make friends at Nevermore Academy. While at this supernatural boarding school, Wednesday witness a murder and uncovers a conspiracy.

The ensuing storyline is broadly shaped around archetypal narratives and characters from European and American history and mythology. The social misfits at Nevermore Academy are heroines and heroes persecuted by “pilgrims” or (Christian?) religious extremists who are threatened by those with supernatural gifts.

Wednesday’s murder investigation cleverly interweaves her own journey of self-discovery as she uncovers a hidden truth about the legacy of the Addams family women and their gift of seeing visions.

Wednesday Addams: There were so many threads to my investigation, I could weave a burial shroud.

The plot of this whodunit takes many unexpected and refreshingly unforeseen turns. I give the series a hearty thumbs-up and can’t wait for Episode 4. Did you watch the series also? Post a comment with your thoughts in our social media.