Wednesday (2022-): Season 1

A PLEASANT SURPRISE

For someone who’s not all that familiar with the Addams family, this Netflix series Wednesday has been a franchise used and re-used for a long time, and these eight hours tended to become a surprising treat. It’s the typical coming-of-age and adventure series that was well-crafted. In both how well-thought-out story is. This goth teenage amateur detective writes horror novels and is addicted to her mystery to be unsolved. It’s sarcastic, has satire, and has remarkable visual effects. It follows the four-part structure in each chapter, eight episodes combined and the adventure is complex enough to pique my interest. 

It’s about a girl who gets expelled from her ordinary school and moves over to Nevermore. A  school filled with vampires, scales, and werewolves. It’s a school for outcasts. Those that don’t fit in elsewhere. There’s a fantasy appeal that goes deep and works with the plot.  What Wednesday Addams tries to do is to solve a mystery of a monster that has killed several people. By the end, she concludes that someone close to her was the perpetrator.

For a first season, it comes off to a good start. There’s enough mystery, distinctive characters, and a setting for this series to become watchable. Sure, some plot elements are overused and plot points that are missed, but overall it’s an intriguing coming-of-age drama with comedy elements that makes it worthwhile. There have been a lot of films and TV series around the Addams, a family that isn’t like any other family, and these eight episodes are a good way to get an insight into what they do and what they don’t. They like macabre, ghosts, and ghouls. Even talking to ghosts of the past. 

Jenna Ortega plays a charismatic, slightly deranged Wednesday who completes her role as a lead actor in a series like this. Her energy, performance and dedication with comedic timing make her character depth, unlike many others in the show. Catherine Zeta-Jones provides a chilling and tempting impression as Morticia. Even Gomez and Pugsley by Luis Guzmán and Isaac Ordonez respectively. Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems is a good counter-weight to Jenna Ortega, objecting to her in her quest for the truth. They’re not always friends but there’s an ounce of mutual respect.

The music by Danny Elfman is probably the man for the job, creating nuanced and thrilling music that fits the atmospheric world inspired by Tim Burton’s vision. The acting is good, the writing becomes better with each episode and there’s a surge and thrill for the exploration. The pace is good, enough is revealed in each part to go further along. The Thing is a character in himself, I guess. He has a certain personality, and that’s only using his fingers. For those not all familiar with Addams macabre world, this is a good start.