This review contains spoilers.
Words by Amy Wild
A show that everyone seems to be talking about is the new Netflix series Wednesday. It has an impressive 71% rating on Rotton Tomatoes and won the record for most hours viewed in a week on Netflix at 341 million. I’m sure the writers at Netflix are clinking their cups of tea together at the decision to make a spin-off from The Addams Family.
Its sudden success must be partly due to the amount of advertising I saw on TikTok – Netflix definitely has a target audience, and also the infamous Wednesday Addams dance scene that went viral on TikTok.
I was initially excited to watch Wednesday due to its stellar cast with the likes of Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Emma Myers. Tim Burton took on this adaptation by directing half of the episodes himself. You could see the Tim Burton flare throughout like Wednesday didn’t blink in the entire eight-episode series.
The series follows a now teenager Wednesday Addams who has been enrolled into a Monster High-Esque boarding school, Nevermore Academy, after punishing her brother’s bullies by putting piranhas in their swimming pool. The pupils at Nevermore were called Outcasts by the town, what a lazy name, as they were supernatural. First things first, as no one knew about her visions, I never understood why Wednesday was accepted into the monster’s only school. What was her powerÔǪbeing goth? You were introduced to the characters in a classic Mean Girls cliche in classic coming-of-age style where Enid (Emma Myers), Wednesday’s new roommate, shows her each group clique.
Some of the choices didn’t fit with the original Addams family characters. Something that was definitely missing from the original was the family bond from the first and second adaptations of The Addams Family. I know Wednesday was meant to be an angsty teen, but she would never hate her mother, and Morticia would never make her go to Nevermore Academy if she didn’t want to.
I wish they didn’t try and make a romantic trope for Wednesday. It is definitely tailored towards the teen audience and not someone in their early twenties, so I can’t judge adding some coming-of-age tropes, but it just didn’t seem to fit her character. So if you want to make the infamous Wednesday Addams fall in love, why choose Tyler, who was quite a dull character? I felt like the writers could have really accentuated Wednesday as a weirdo, as in a school full of outcasts, she looks almostÔǪ normal.
That aside, I did really enjoy the show. Some moments made me want to cringe at the writer’s decisions, and others I applauded. It’s definitely an easy watch and a nice spin on the other one million high school teen dramas on Netflix. The costume choices were perfect for each character. All of Wednesday’s outfits were so Wednesday and made me want to throw away all the colours in my wardrobe.
Regarding the characters, I think we can all agree that Thing was the best character and showed the most emotion throughout. The casting of Jenna Ortega was such a perfect casting choice, and she really gave a good Wednesday. I had only seen her before in Netflix’s YOU as Ellie, but it was nice to see her really thrive in a role. I enjoyed that Christian Ricci, who played Wednesday in the 1991 adaptation, was given the main character part as Marilyn, which gave the nod to the past Wednesday. Some honourable mentions have to be Eugene (Moosa Mostafa) and Enid (Emma Myers), who were enjoyable characters throughout.
It is undoable a good show, but as they make more series, I worry that it could become Riverdale-like. But for everyone’s sake, let’s hope not.