WEDNESDAY
Season 1 Streaming on Netflix
~TV Series Review~
*Warning! Moderate Spoilers!*
AS AN ALL-AROUND NEWBIE to the
Addams family (originally created by Charles Addams), I came into Netflix’s
mega-hit with vague recollections of pale people, dark hair, and yes, I did
remember the severed hand—who is this series’ MVP. Even being a casual Tim
Burton viewer, I was still familiar with the iconic characters of Morticia,
Wednesday (played by Jenna Ortega), and Gomez, but boy, is this take ever like
Veronica Mars goes to magic school—and I am here for it.
After teenager Wednesday (named
after a line from her mother’s favorite poem “Wednesday’s child is full of
woe”) sets piranhas on her younger brother’s bullies, she is whisked away to her
parents’ old boarding school called Nevermore, where she discovers an entire
class of outcasts and odd-ducks—you know, sirens, gorgons, werewolves.
Headmistress Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie) protects the school from
increasing scrutiny by the hostile neighboring town of Jericho, which was
founded by a diabolical pilgrim. Wednesday’s magical abilities range from
strange visions to deadpan humor to sleuthing, which she immediately puts to use
when someone starts attacking students. Like I said, Veronica Mars with
magic.
Ortega is hysterical. It does
suspend belief that someone could be quite this witty and have the perfect
comeback to every authority, but it’s entertaining, and I love that she fully
embraces herself and dances like no one is watching (the dance scene had me in
stitches). I loved Wednesday's thorny relationship with her mother and the softer side
with her father and brother, but the best partnership of course goes out to
Thing (the aforementioned severed hand that likes manicures), her closest
confidante in cracking the murder mystery of Nevermore. Thing’s origin did make me curious to look up, since in Wednesday’s family, having an animated hand
keep tabs on your daughter at boarding school is, ya know, tots normal.
You may guess that Wednesday has
a problem with trust, considering the Hand-best-friend-thing, but her intrepid
classmates don’t give up on her—including a beekeeper and Enid Sinclair (Emma
Myers), her bubblegum-pink late blooming werewolf roommate. I could have sworn
Enid would turn out to be a cat instead (give the werewolf trope a break), but I still liked how she
finally came into her own. Thankfully no vampires—but will be very interested
to see more of the sirens and gorgons in future episodes. I think they jumped
the shark a bit on humanizing Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday), the siren
queen bee of the school—her relationship with her mother and the influence that
had on her upbringing was too rushed, introduced at a moment where there was
too much going on to get the focus it deserved. I also found Wednesday and
Xavier’s relationship to be a bit unbelievable, not really seeing what the
attraction was when she continued to treat him like gum on the bottom of her shoe.
Despite some moments when there
is so much going on, the characterization suffers for it, this is overall another bingeworthy
Netflix series that will entrap you for the long haul. We’ve got former
Wednesday alum Christine Ricci back in a new role, and gosh does Gwendoline
Christie (Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, Lucifer in The Sandman)
continue to demonstrate her acting versatility in the sweet-but-lethal
headmistress character. Plus you’ve got Catherine Zeta Jones as Morticia,
Wednesday’s darkly ethereal mother, and Luis Guzmán as her doting father.
Here’s to eagerly awaiting Season 2!
*The above is depicted as
fiction, not fact
