Series Title: Wednesday
Release Date: November 23, 2022
Streaming Service: Netflix
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Riki Lindhome, Emma Myers, Jamie McShane, Hunter Doohan, Percy Hynes White, Joy Sunday, Naomi J. Ogawa and Christina Ricci
Episodes: 8
Scorecard: 4/5
For the first time in a long list of the Addams family remake, Wednesday Addams is given her own spotlight and she shines as creepily and charmingly as only she can.
Whenever a new series comes along and it’s hyped (or over-hyped) on social media, there is the tendency to give it the customary eye-roll. Why? Half the time, a Netflix product that has been pampered with unending praise more often than not ends up falling face flat below expectations. Tim Burton’s Wednesday is however not like that and critics need to take a backseat. Not only does it live up to the hype but it is arguably one of the best Addams Family adaptations. In case you are unfamiliar with the Addams Family, they are gothic legends in pop culture, known for their all-black ensembles, their knack for all things creepy and condemned and their half-dead looks that automatically makes them different from “normies” (a term for humans) in society. The family consists of Gomez, Morticia, and their children, Pugsley and Wednesday.
The series focus is on Wednesday (obviously) and she is all grown up. Most of the adaptations centred on the Addams Family depict Wednesday as a child or a pre-teen, but here, she is a teenager who is forced to transfer schools because she gave a bunch of bullies a “biting” taste of their own medicine. Gomez and Morticia thought it best to enroll her in the school that they attended when they were teenagers−Nevermore Academy. Nevermore is a school for outcasts like Wednesday, thus it is seemingly a perfect fit for her, but she ends up being miserable because her anti-social personality makes it difficult for her to connect with people; she butts heads with her classmates, school authorities, and the local police. As the series progresses, it pivotally shifts from a teen angst series to a horror cult classic filled with dead bodies, monsters, necromancy, and a prophecy that Wednesday must fulfill.
That is a lot to handle, even for a teenager like Wednesday who professes that one of her favourite pastimes with her mother is grave-digging but she handles it beautifully thanks to the stellar execution of Jenna Ortega. She is the lifeblood, the Alpha, and the Omega of the series. Not only is her acting perfect, but she also embodies exactly who fans of the Addams family pictured Wednesday to be as a teenager−incredibly sharp, mean, selfish, harsh, blunt, brash, soulless, and cynical. Her cynicism and outlook on the world are next-level dark, and no one can blame her really because “normies” have ostracized her family for years and painted them to be spawns of the devil himself.
Ortega makes Wednesday fun with her blank stares (she didn’t blink, not once), her one-liners, and her IDGAF attitude. She was born to play this role and she made her predecessors proud (Christina Ricci played the young Wednesday in 1991 and 1993 and she just so happened to have a recurring role in this series) with the way she executed the character with skill and care. Her recent Golden Globes nomination is well deserved and she is definitely on everyone’s radar because Wednesday broke Stranger Things record as the most viewed show in a week on Netflix.
Of course, there are boys and crushes. Wednesday is caught in a love triangle that she doesn’t want to be in and it becomes extremely difficult for her to navigate her feelings. Morticia may have enlightened her about her psychic abilities (yes, she is psychic) and Gomez may have taught her how to be a bit more humane, but no one ever taught her about boys. It is with little wonder that she dismisses one of her potentials interest when he confesses that he likes her and practically distances herself from the other the minute her heart skips a beat for him. Wednesday may never admit it but her “undead” heart beats, exposing the duality of her character. She claims to care about no one but herself yet she helps her chirpy “best friend” and roommate, Enid Sinclair beat the resident mean girl, Bianca in the Poe Cup. She claims to hate everyone yet she saves Nevermore from extinction. The Addams family always sticks together and helps each other out no matter the crises. That lesson must have rubbed off on Wednesday and it impacts (even if it’s just a fragment) her interactions at Nevermore.
The rest of the characters that surround Wednesday are equally delightful, from Principal Weems down to Uncle Fester. They make the narrative a lot more interesting and Wednesday’s life a lot less macabre than it already is. Enid is a fan favourite for obvious reasons because not only is her overly-positive personality in stark contrast with Wednesday’s depressing one, she manages to weave her way into the gloomy girl’s heart and their opposing personalities just make sense.
If you can forgive the high school drama clichés like the Queen B ruling the school (The CW and ABC Network have given audiences enough doses to last a millennium), the murder-mystery plot (Hi Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars), and the supposedly good boy falling for the outcast storyline, Wednesday is a solid series with stellar direction thanks to Tim Burton. Bigger praises go to Ortega for being an on-screen delight (or dread, whichever floats your boat) and not disappointing the Wednesday’s before her.
Kemi’s Corner 