They’re creepy and they’re kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They’re altogether ooky. The Addams Family. Springing from the mind of cartoonist, Charles Addams and appearing in a series of 150 single panel cartoons in The New Yorker from 1938, the beloved Addams Family has been portrayed on TV and film, but it is the Netflix Series, Wednesday, that I am excited to post about today.
Wednesday
My family was not normal, and if you read my book, Life with Fred and Lucy, you will understand why I compare my family to this fictional family. The Addams Family made its TV debut in 1964, and later hit the movie screens in 1991. The Addams Family is definitely unique, but it was always the gothic Wednesday that that I identified with…starting with the original Wednesday (Lisa Loring) to the film version of Wednesday (Christina Ricci)…but after watching the Netflix series, I have to say that Jenna Ortega is my favorite Wednesday.
Tim Burton has outdone himself with the revival of this dark comedy starring Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie, Christina Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Jamie McShane, and the amazing Emma Myers. The series starts with Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) getting into big trouble after she gets even with the high school jocks picking on her little brother, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez). I guess getting even by releasing two bags of piranhas into the school’s swimming pool was a bit too much…especially since it led to the partial castration of one of the bullies.
Wednesday is now a teenager with big shoes to fill. How does one compete with a stunning mother like Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones)? Morticia feels that Wednesday will blossom at Nevermore Academy, but Wednesday has no interest in fitting in. Plus, how does one compete with Morticia’s many awards and fame? Morticia was a rock star at that academy. The best interactions take place between Wednesday and the headmistress, Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie). I don’t know about you, but casting Gwendoline Christie as the no-nonsense school principal was a stroke of genius. Christie had won my loyalty on Game of Thrones as the loyal warrior, Brienne.
Wednesday is cold to the other students who try to befriend her, and to Wednesday’s horror, her roommate, Enid (Emma Myers) is a bundle of happiness somewhat like the character Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Enid is a werewolf who hasn’t been able to fully wolf out in a school of vampires, werewolves, gorgons, and sirens. Wednesday, at first, snubs every attempt at friendship with Enid, but it is this perky little roomie that helps Wednesday solve the serial killings happening in the town.
Yes, my little monsters, this series has fangs. People are being killed by a monster, and the sheriff (Jamie McShane) thinks that Wednesday is behind the deaths. He might have a grudge against the family since he feels that Gomez was responsible for the death of Garrett Gates while both boys were students at Nevermore. But the deaths may be connected to an ancient curse.
Wednesday, who has been experiencing psychic episodes whenever she touches a person or object, learns more about the curse from Goody Adams, an ancestral witch who was responsible for the death of Joseph Crackstone…the town’s forefather.
Wednesday makes it very hard for people to get close to her. She drives Principal Weems crazy. She won’t talk to the school psychiatrist, Dr. Kinbott (Riki Lindhome), and she won’t accept help from teacher, Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci). She has many allies, but she constantly frustrates the two boys who like her: Xavier (Percy Hynes White) and Tyler (Hunter Doohan). Enid is really the only person who can handle Wednesday’s rebuttals. But Wednesday will need to change if she is to solve these deaths.
Conclusion
Jenna Ortega does a fantastic job of carrying on the name of Wednesday. She has sharpened the claws of Christina Ricci’s already sarcastic Wednesday, and it is a beautiful sight to see. The series offers a lot of laughs and plenty of horror. There is a great storyline, a true mystery, gore…everything to keep you coming back for the next episode.
I did not expect to love this series as much as I did. Maybe it’s because I see myself in the character of Wednesday…remember my family was not a normal family. We just didn’t have our own Lurch. The entire cast was perfect, beginning with the stunningly beautiful Gwendoline Christie to the loveable and perky Enid.
In one scene, Wednesday goes to a school dance. Jenna Ortega does one hell of a dance routine which includes the dance steps from the original TV series. TikTok has been ablaze with people trying to imitate Ortega’s dance steps. I can’t wait until season two which showrunners Miles Millar and Alfred Gough are working on with Netflix.
Do yourself a favor and watch Wednesday on Netflix. You won’t regret it.
