Two Snaps and Three Cheers for Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’

A smart plot and sublime protagonist make it a must-watch.

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“For some reason I cannot fathom or indulge, you seem to like me,” observes Wednesday Addams to a classmate in the first season of her eponymous new Netflix series.

And yet the reasons to admire both Jenna Ortega’s performance in the title role and the series as a whole are both manifest and manifold.

Produced by Tim Burton, Wednesday is in part a murder mystery, a dark comedy, and a high school drama. Played by Ortega, Wednesday is a unique, frustrating, and delightful protagonist more than worthy of her near-omnipresence onscreen.

The series begins innocently enough: With Wednesday siccing a school of piranhas on bullies tormenting her younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez). In her defense: “He lost a testicle. I did the world a favor. People like Dalton shouldn’t be allowed to procreate.” That act provides her parents, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán), with all the excuse they need to drop their unwilling daughter off at Nevermore Academy, the educational institution for outcasts (including werewolves, vampires, sirens, and more) where the Addams parents first laid eyes on each other.

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  1. Brandon.Shafer

    Good review. Though, personally I loved seeing Fred Armisen as Fester, and I'm ambivalent about Guzman. My biggest downside was that there is too much WB "Beautiful people doing things" aspect to the show, but the dark comedy and especially Jenny Ortega herself overcome that. She's a revelation, and if it wasn't for her dynamism, I'm sure the whole thing would have fallen flat. It reminds me somewhat of Netflix's show Chilling Adventures of Sabrina except I stopped watching that show because it became humorless and caught up in its own moralizing. This show, on the other hand, maintains a dark wit and especially fun, throughout.

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  2. Eralph

    Agreed, except for Mr. Guzmán as Gomez. He's a different Gomez contrasting with Morticia's mature goth svelte. He's the handsome prince before being magically kissed. His observations lack poetry; she is all wry nuance. There is a different texture here from the predecessors. I must admit I found it jarring at first, expecting another witty and urbane Gomez, not a Mr. Hyde in mid-transition. Perhaps it was the enjoyment of everything else in this series and sensing Mr. Burton's vision come to wonderful life that got me over a bit of rough start accepting the new Gomez.

    You failed to mention Christina Ricci. I believe that she carries off this homage seamlessly, enjoyably and unobtrusively. Then again I am a long time admirer of her work.

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    1. Shaunpatrickconley

      Agreed. Mr. Guzmán was serviceable in his role. Zeta-Jones, however, appeared flat and disinterested to me.

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        Dennis

        Perhaps we’re in a minority, but I too expected more from Zeta-Jones. And regarding that “mature gothic svelte,” that’s true only in relation to Guzman. She’s put on considerable avoir du pois—too much for a Morticia, at any rate

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  3. Borkus Flimflam

    My father decided to become a woman and my mom a man. But they didn’t go for transitional surgery because really, what’s the point of swapping junk?

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  4. Dennis.Trask.Z

    A fun show. Far better than much of the streaming universe. The review addressed the flaw rather well. Ready for more.

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  5. Belisarius.Aves

    I see a number of your points but there are two jarring aspects. The first is the (naturally, Netflix) wokism that has to be mentioned. Everything from two loving moms to the titular character references to the odious pilgrims. At one point there is even a plea that before the pilgrims, all was harmony and joy. Not quite the reality of Native American tribal life. The other part is the challenge of making a teen drama out of the Addams family. At one point the parents are shocked at an accidental murder when the true Addams would have reveled in such an accident. Either the Addams live by a different code or, as in this case, their oddness is a thin veneer that covers a desire for conventionality. They try to have it both ways in this series.

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    1. Gerald Cuesta

      When will people just accept that what’s called ‘wokism’ is a perfectly natural reaction to the past and is now everyday part of our very varied culture. For decades we watched films and tv shows — retroactively for most of us — that had black Americans, gay Americans, other minorities, relegated to either demeaning status at worst, and exotic otherness at best, or guilt valves for the white characters, meaning the ‘others’ only served as a lesson for the straight white characters, not 3 dimensional human beings. I can’t stand virtue signaling or cancellation based on thought and words. This ‘woke’ thing that the right needs so much to childishly infuriate their base, is fading as we speak. Like most other reactions against injustices large and small, it starts like a wildfire, then burns itself out as things come to a more acceptable balanced normal. In short, I have no problem with it, and if I do, then just turn the channel.

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  6. Gerald Cuesta

    Yes, it’s Tim Burton’s dark-lite goth kid Harry Potter.
    Yes, Luis Guzman is the weakest link. Yes. Armisen was meh. No, it doesn’t build on the great comic nastiness of the opening piranha scene. But Ortega is a star. Thing is awesome. Enid is funny. The kids are all engaging. The production design is Halloween eye candy par excellence. And the whole vibe is charming turn off the mind and go with it entertainment. In short, I liked it very much.

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  7. Endofunctor

    Jenna Ortega was excellent in her portrayal of Wednesday Addams; if there is a reason for watching, it's her. There are quite a few funny moments, but the plot and dialog didn't do much for me, often seeming generic and predictable. Also, much of the show is an allegory for LGBT issues, which I found tiresome... I get enough of that messaging and virtue signaling elsewhere. It would be nice to be able to take a break from the culture wars and politics during my evening's entertainment.

    I'll probably watch season two.

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    Marion Coatsworth-Hay

    Hey, here's a TV show I actually DID watch! For me, this is a big deal. :). I grew up watching "The Addams Family", but have seen no sequel or homage until this one.

    I loved this show because of Jenna Ortega's performance, but also because of Thing. Thing was so very well done -- the degree of expressiveness in a severed hand was brilliant. My favorite quip was Wednesday, struggling with some object, saying, "Thing? A hand?" I was one of those who often laughed aloud.

    I didn't care for Luis Guzman's "Gomez" at first, but I came to appreciate him. The comparison to the Gomez of my childhood Addams Family, John Astin, was pretty stark. But, I watched a whole season, which my husband proclaims "shocking". I'm the freak who's watching the Tirreno-Adriatico bike race stages for the third time counting the days until the UCI 2023 season begins.

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  9. The Widow’s Son

    Could not disagree more. I understand it is a tv show, but it is nothing more than a Harry Potter ripoff targeted at tweens. Reminds me of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its progeny where adults are morons and children are genius. The dialogue and story are stupid.

    Also, there were no pilgrims in Vermont. Vermont had no permanent settlements of white Europeans until the 1700’s, well after the pilgrim era.

    It was obviously not filmed in Vermont ; there are no mountains in any scene, no snow, and no freezing temperatures. Other than a brief merciful break in late June and July, Vermont has two temperatures: cold and freezing.

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    Electricrook

    I do live the story-line, and the whole atmosphere ... however, I find great fault in the acting. The superb sultriness [is that a word?], the supreme sultriness of Angelica Huston is missing here.

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