If you are wondering if you should check out Wednesday streaming today, and are on the fence about giving it a try, maybe this column can convince you one way or the other.
The Addams Family is a show I enjoyed during its syndicated re-runs in the 80s and 90s. I also enjoyed the films that released later with Raul Julia, Angelica Huston, Christina Ricci among others in a fantastic cast. As such, Wednesday had a lot to live up to. As always our reviews are broken down into story, acting, and overall. So, let’s get creepy and kooky, shall we?
Story 6/10
I would love to rate this higher. My issue comes from a point of love for the original series; the point of the Addams Family is that they are a strange, one of a kind sort of oddity in an otherwise perfectly normal world. They were a caricature of old money families that still managed to be charming and heart warming due to their general closeness and niceness, even if it came wrapped in a strange and sinister package. The general idea being one of self acceptance in the face of a world that might otherwise dismiss you.
So, to find out that, in point of fact, the Addams Family is comparatively normal when compared to the various other mythological beings that make up the bulk of Wednesdays schoolmates was a bit disheartening. Wednesday is a strange person, yes, but she isn’t a werewolf or vampire or gorgon. She has a very strong sense of self and that does turn the classic ‘fish out of water’ narrative on its head in some fun ways, but even still I find myself wishing for the series that’s set up in the first few minutes of the show where a completely bizarre young girl terrorizes her normal classmates by infesting the swim club meet-up with piranha…
Wednesday is a show about solving a central mystery which is fairly easily unraveled early on. Because it’s set in a school, there’s teenage love triangle goings on (Because of course there is.) despite the protagonist being somewhat deadpan and mostly emotionless throughout. (One character tells Wednesday he’s receiving mixed messages and I had to scratch my head because, to me at least, he had received exactly no messages of any kind.) Also, considering Wednesday seems to have a love for torture and maiming and causing pain in general, it’s odd that she’s willing to work so hard to prevent any of the same. It was an interesting direction to take an Addams Family spin-off and I don’t want to come off as entirely negative. Enid is a fantastic character who’s arc could be a show on its own and having Uncle Fester pop in for a bit warmed my heart. There are a lot of fun moments and great callbacks to the various other Addams outings too… but based purely on plot? There’s a lot to nitpick.
Acting 9/10
Jenna Ortega is fantastic as Wednesday. Her ability to keep up that dead, blinkless stare for entire scenes is incredible and I can only imagine how many bottles of Visine she had to chug through her eye sockets to do it. Despite my story based complaints, she makes this entire show shine and makes me look forward to a potential Season 2. (I believe they’ll have a lot of the kinks ironed out of the formula by then as well.)
Emma Myers’ Enid was, however, my favorite. A werewolf who’s having trouble actually becoming a wolf under the full moon, her relentless positivity in the face of Wednesday being a jerk to her most of the time is soul crushing and uplifting all at once. Her bright and colorful personality is emphasized by her Lisa Frank aesthetic.
Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta Jones do a fantastic job as Gomez and Morticia Addams, respectively. I was pretty amused by the initial backlash against Guzman picking up the role; obviously the people complaining had never seen the original comic. He is urbane, gleeful and affectionate just as you’d expect.
Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday back in the 90s, comes back as a teacher at Nevermore Academy and it’s a welcome return! I won’t give away too much about her character, but she does a great job.
Overall 7.5/10
While I definitely have my issues in regards to the general story, there’s a lot to love about Wednesday. Fantastic acting, great production values, plenty of Easter eggs for long time fans and really nice pacing. Things move quickly, but you never feel lost.
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