Wednesday: Season 1 (Full Season)
November 27, 2022 3:53 PM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe
Smart, sarcastic and a little dead inside, Wednesday Addams investigates a murder spree while making new friends — and foes — at Nevermore Academy. (Netflix) Starring: Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie and Christina Ricci
Official Trailer
The Guardian Review: "Netflix have absolutely smashed this fantastic Addams Family revamp"
NYMag Vulture Recaps
Wednesday Addams | Dance Scene Jenna Ortega choreographed this epic Goo Goo Muck dance herself!
Official Trailer
The Guardian Review: "Netflix have absolutely smashed this fantastic Addams Family revamp"
NYMag Vulture Recaps
Wednesday Addams | Dance Scene Jenna Ortega choreographed this epic Goo Goo Muck dance herself!
I quite enjoyed this, though I think I lost track of the number of misdirects so much that I think there was a point I suspected every main character other than Wednesday.
I agree re Morticia & Aubrey Plaza; I think Luis Guzman was great as Gomez. Raul Julia was a great actor, but too handsome for the character.
posted by Marticus at 6:51 PM on November 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I agree re Morticia & Aubrey Plaza; I think Luis Guzman was great as Gomez. Raul Julia was a great actor, but too handsome for the character.
posted by Marticus at 6:51 PM on November 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
I thought that Guzman's Gomez needed more energy. I also disliked the whole outcast vs. normie thing they had set up, where all of the outcasts have powers. (And the outcasts have their own cliques as well.) It really struck me as something lifted from X-Men rather than from Charles Adams.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed it. Wednesday's really good at a ton of things, but not necessarily the best, and she manages to be her own worst enemy. The supporting cast was excellent, too, and I really liked how quickly Enid bonded with Thing. Here's hoping that season 2 maintains Wednesday's character development.
At one point, art boy mentions saving Wednesday from Ethan. When did he do that?
posted by Spike Glee at 10:53 PM on November 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
Otherwise, I really enjoyed it. Wednesday's really good at a ton of things, but not necessarily the best, and she manages to be her own worst enemy. The supporting cast was excellent, too, and I really liked how quickly Enid bonded with Thing. Here's hoping that season 2 maintains Wednesday's character development.
At one point, art boy mentions saving Wednesday from Ethan. When did he do that?
posted by Spike Glee at 10:53 PM on November 27, 2022 [1 favorite]
This Hot Topic Goth X-Men pocket universe is rather charming.
posted by hototogisu at 4:20 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hototogisu at 4:20 AM on November 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
Devoured it in two sessions and agree that Zeta-Jones had the aesthetic but not the gravitas. Watching Jenny Ortega fight down all facial expressions until a certain favorite family member appeared was delightful though.
Loved Enid as a sort of anti-Wednesday, and the show kept up a good dose of subtle misdirection and obvious misdirection over the nature and identity of the threat.
The Gomez/Sheriff reconciliation seemed odd - "I've been waiting to put you away for thirty years! But the mayor said something off screen and now I guess I'd like to shake your hand"
My only other complain was there were too many exchanges that set up "thing X or Y normies would find painful/disgusting/horrifying... (beat). That's just Tuesday for me." Like, we get it, you're creepy and kooky.
Spike Glee: Art Boy (Xavier) expressed regret at saving Wednesday from Rowan (the TK who toppled a gargoyle), I thought?
posted by Molesome at 4:49 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Loved Enid as a sort of anti-Wednesday, and the show kept up a good dose of subtle misdirection and obvious misdirection over the nature and identity of the threat.
The Gomez/Sheriff reconciliation seemed odd - "I've been waiting to put you away for thirty years! But the mayor said something off screen and now I guess I'd like to shake your hand"
My only other complain was there were too many exchanges that set up "thing X or Y normies would find painful/disgusting/horrifying... (beat). That's just Tuesday for me." Like, we get it, you're creepy and kooky.
Spike Glee: Art Boy (Xavier) expressed regret at saving Wednesday from Rowan (the TK who toppled a gargoyle), I thought?
posted by Molesome at 4:49 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
I inhaled it in a day. It wasn't perfect, but it was a lot of fun, and Ortega was fantastic as Wednesday. All the young actors were very good -- although I find it increasingly difficult to suspend disbelief when 20-year-olds play high-school-aged teens. I also liked Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester.
I guessed half of the reveal for Doylist reasons, but not the other half (although the clues were there).
Are we about to have an epidemic of ill-advised copycat bangs?
posted by confluency at 5:05 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I guessed half of the reveal for Doylist reasons, but not the other half (although the clues were there).
Are we about to have an epidemic of ill-advised copycat bangs?
posted by confluency at 5:05 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I loved this. Ortega was perfect, and Fred Armisen as Fester was inspired. Ricci also did a great job, and her presence helped ground the whole thing.
The Wednesday dance sequence is probably one of my favourite TV moments of the year.
All in all, it felt like a love letter to the Addams Family movies that I grew up with, while also bringing the franchise into the present. Really good stuff.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 7:04 AM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
The Wednesday dance sequence is probably one of my favourite TV moments of the year.
All in all, it felt like a love letter to the Addams Family movies that I grew up with, while also bringing the franchise into the present. Really good stuff.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 7:04 AM on November 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
>> although I find it increasingly difficult to suspend disbelief when 20-year-olds play high-school-aged teens
Depends if you grew up watching 21 Jump Street. That was a premise that couldn't support one season, let alone five.
posted by Molesome at 7:13 AM on November 28, 2022
Depends if you grew up watching 21 Jump Street. That was a premise that couldn't support one season, let alone five.
posted by Molesome at 7:13 AM on November 28, 2022
I enjoyed this, and I though Jenna Ortega was great but I was hoping for something more layered than what was delivered. It almost made me wish I had a tween in my life to enjoy it with, since I found much of it a let down on an adult level.
I would've loved to see more kooky and funny - like the scene with Wednesday and Fester on the motor-bike wearing matching doggie helmets! That was so cute and a great visual image. Fred Armisen was really fun as Fester, and I don't usually enjoy him.
And if we have to have a magic school, I would've loved to see much more curiosity from the writers about the setting. More world building as a chance to make things really rich. Is Enid an outcast from the werewolves? Does she spend any time with them? Why weren't more werewolves enlisted to take down the Hyde at the end? What were the classes everyone was taking? What's up with the faculty at the school? What kind of kooky note-taking does Wednesday do in class - fountain pen and bat's blood? Where does Thing sleep? Did Enid get him a fluffy pet bed? Or maybe he has a Habitrail and Wednesday has to remind him not to use his wheel while she's trying to sleep. Does Wednesday have black towels and a black shower caddy and a black flat iron for her bathroom kit? What's served to everyone in the mess hall? What is gym class like with so many supernaturals? Shouldn't the vampires think Wednesday is a hoot?
I never bought Xavier as the threat, unless it was to keeping my eyes open because he was so boring. And Tyler was pretty creepy so I figured something was up there. The mystery format didn't give much of a chance for him to present how he really felt about the situation and Wednesday and being used for revenge, and it would've been nice to have more insight there. Also, why is everyone so straight?
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 8:09 AM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
I would've loved to see more kooky and funny - like the scene with Wednesday and Fester on the motor-bike wearing matching doggie helmets! That was so cute and a great visual image. Fred Armisen was really fun as Fester, and I don't usually enjoy him.
And if we have to have a magic school, I would've loved to see much more curiosity from the writers about the setting. More world building as a chance to make things really rich. Is Enid an outcast from the werewolves? Does she spend any time with them? Why weren't more werewolves enlisted to take down the Hyde at the end? What were the classes everyone was taking? What's up with the faculty at the school? What kind of kooky note-taking does Wednesday do in class - fountain pen and bat's blood? Where does Thing sleep? Did Enid get him a fluffy pet bed? Or maybe he has a Habitrail and Wednesday has to remind him not to use his wheel while she's trying to sleep. Does Wednesday have black towels and a black shower caddy and a black flat iron for her bathroom kit? What's served to everyone in the mess hall? What is gym class like with so many supernaturals? Shouldn't the vampires think Wednesday is a hoot?
I never bought Xavier as the threat, unless it was to keeping my eyes open because he was so boring. And Tyler was pretty creepy so I figured something was up there. The mystery format didn't give much of a chance for him to present how he really felt about the situation and Wednesday and being used for revenge, and it would've been nice to have more insight there. Also, why is everyone so straight?
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 8:09 AM on November 28, 2022 [8 favorites]
Ortega is amazing and totally worth watching the series for by herself. The series is quite nicely plotted though the episode where Morticia and Gomez come for Parents' Day seemed like the weakest, for a variety of reasons: it was the most TV-like (problem/resolution in a single episode), Zeta-Jones seemed to be dialing it in, and Gomez's character gets pretty short shrift.
In general, I liked it a lot, though the students at Nevermore seemed a little too generically teen-agers. Their attributes really only came into play as needed for a plot point. The callouts/Easter eggs are also a lot of fun. 4/5. Bonus points for Tim Burton restraining his past excesses. From what I've read, his directorial instructions to Ortega were really on point.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:12 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
In general, I liked it a lot, though the students at Nevermore seemed a little too generically teen-agers. Their attributes really only came into play as needed for a plot point. The callouts/Easter eggs are also a lot of fun. 4/5. Bonus points for Tim Burton restraining his past excesses. From what I've read, his directorial instructions to Ortega were really on point.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:12 AM on November 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Oh, also meant to mention there were some good shout-outs to mid-1950s horror, like the design of the Hyde creature and the Cramps song, and I would've liked to have seen even more campy horror pop culture references.
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 8:15 AM on November 28, 2022
posted by See you tomorrow, saguaro at 8:15 AM on November 28, 2022
I thought Ortega was great, and this scratched a bit of the Hogwarts itch that's been ruined by JKR being so terrible. I agree that I wish they'd leaned into the school life/the other students' abilities more. I did think that Enid was great, though, and I loved her cheery and unapologetically girly contrast to Wednesday's dourness.
I did LOL that the acapella group's name was the Pitch Slaps.
posted by TwoStride at 9:56 AM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
I did LOL that the acapella group's name was the Pitch Slaps.
posted by TwoStride at 9:56 AM on November 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
Maybe I've been scarred by too much Depp/Burton collaboration, but Burton's stuff does NOT register on my radar anymore so it was a pleasant surprise that this was so good. I loved Ortega, who I eventually recognized as Kid Jane the Virgin, to the degree that she's probably the first Gen Z actor that I'm putting on my radar as a person to follow. I also usually have an allergic reaction to Armisen, but I enjoyed him here.
My appetite for worldbuilding details tends toward the insatiable--it's the only reason I like zombies--but I was okay with the amount of detail we got about the workings of Nevermore, for now anyway. The show is set at school simply to get Wednesday around other kids; it's more about the town/gown dynamics. If it had focused more on the school, I think it would have felt very Harry Potter-like, and this didn't, which I really appreciated. I think the powers are a really good metaphor for growing into your power as a teen, and in this respect the show reminds me some of Jane the Virgin, which uses the telenovela melodrama to get at some emotional truths that are harder to get to in more realistic shows.
The Wednesday dance sequence is probably one of my favourite TV moments of the year. Hard agree. I've watched it in the double digits already.
I thought Catherine Zeta Jones was fine. Based on my resonance with this show, I just rewatched the two Ricci/Juliá/Huston/Lloyd movies, and she didn't seem that different than Huston to me.
Wednesday's really good at a ton of things, but not necessarily the best, and she manages to be her own worst enemy. These are my favorite kinds of characters.
posted by emkelley at 11:07 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
My appetite for worldbuilding details tends toward the insatiable--it's the only reason I like zombies--but I was okay with the amount of detail we got about the workings of Nevermore, for now anyway. The show is set at school simply to get Wednesday around other kids; it's more about the town/gown dynamics. If it had focused more on the school, I think it would have felt very Harry Potter-like, and this didn't, which I really appreciated. I think the powers are a really good metaphor for growing into your power as a teen, and in this respect the show reminds me some of Jane the Virgin, which uses the telenovela melodrama to get at some emotional truths that are harder to get to in more realistic shows.
The Wednesday dance sequence is probably one of my favourite TV moments of the year. Hard agree. I've watched it in the double digits already.
I thought Catherine Zeta Jones was fine. Based on my resonance with this show, I just rewatched the two Ricci/Juliá/Huston/Lloyd movies, and she didn't seem that different than Huston to me.
Wednesday's really good at a ton of things, but not necessarily the best, and she manages to be her own worst enemy. These are my favorite kinds of characters.
posted by emkelley at 11:07 AM on November 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I just found it really hard to get past the depiction of the Addamses as anything other than a tight-knit, genuinely loving family. When I heard the series title, I thought, "Oh, I bet they're doing Wednesday Addams at boarding school!" and thought the initial conflict would be that she was homesick.
posted by praemunire at 1:58 PM on November 28, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:58 PM on November 28, 2022 [13 favorites]
1st episode - I love this so much, 100% in!
Jenny Ortega is perfect. Zeta Jones was fine, except she showed too much mammalian emotion. Guzman is a treasure and spot on.
posted by porpoise at 8:10 PM on November 28, 2022
Jenny Ortega is perfect. Zeta Jones was fine, except she showed too much mammalian emotion. Guzman is a treasure and spot on.
posted by porpoise at 8:10 PM on November 28, 2022
I'm enjoying it overall, but the one thing that just doesn't sit right is Wednesday resenting her parents and her parents having unfair expectations of her. I neither expect nor want slavish devotion to every detail of the source material, but the one thread that all previous adaptations have in common is that the Addamses radically love, accept, and support each other no matter what. It's the thing that keeps me coming back to every new incarnation, and I know other people who grew up in unhappy homes and feel the same way. I mean, in the 90's movies, when the baby brother turned into a "normal" child, they didn't try to change him back or stop spending time with them. They supported Fester's wife when she tried to kill them. While I understand you have to have some kind of conflict to make a story work, there are much better sources of conflict they could have mined.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:51 AM on November 29, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:51 AM on November 29, 2022 [16 favorites]
Aand I should have read previous comment more carefully, because I see now that praemunire said the same thing I did, but much more succinctly.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:53 AM on November 29, 2022
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:53 AM on November 29, 2022
My kids grew up in the era of Monster High and the one who still lives at home was eager to see the newest manifestation of the franchise, a live action movie, which recently premiered on Paramount +. It was even more disappointing than they feared, and they hated it. But I suggested Wednesday instead which in this series uses a lot of the same tropes as Monster High but actually had a bit of substance. They loved it and so did I. Everything Monster High wanted to be, but much much better.
posted by Stanczyk at 7:24 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Stanczyk at 7:24 AM on November 29, 2022 [2 favorites]
My husband and I are enjoying this! It's not perfect, but it's well made and a lot of fun. My husband is generally not a fan of things that tend in the supernatural/spooky/fantasy/sf direction, so I was truly relieved when he agreed after we watched the first episode that he'd like to continue watching.
Jenna Ortega is an absolute star, love watching her work.
posted by obfuscation at 9:03 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
Jenna Ortega is an absolute star, love watching her work.
posted by obfuscation at 9:03 AM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]
BTW, there were a couple of scenes taken directly from the original cartoons, which I really appreciated. Fishing with grenades is just one example.
posted by Stanczyk at 9:25 AM on November 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Stanczyk at 9:25 AM on November 29, 2022 [4 favorites]
Thanks for posting this, pjsky: I’ve been working my way through the episodes a bit at a time, and just finished the series.
To me, the show struggled to find a consistent tone, careening as it did between comedy, horror and mystery while trying to awkwardly balance a YA love triangle (which apparently even Jenna Ortega didn’t want, so I’m not alone in hating it). While Ortega absolutely mastered Wednesday’s preternatural stillness, deadpan delivery and unblinking stare, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was a decent choice for Morticia,* I found the rest of the casting uneven. Luis Guzmán was more visually accurate to the original character, but I felt he lacked both Raul Julia’s charisma and John Astin’s mania without bringing anything new, while most other characters remained bare sketches.
Things did start to improve somewhat in the third episode, and really picked up in the seventh, but overall I found the series both predictable and poorly paced, especially at the end. There were a few high notes, tho:
All in all, I found it an entirely competent production, even good at times, just not a particularly compelling one. I’m hopeful that they’ll truly pull things together in a second season.
* Commenters are absolutely right that in a decade or so Aubrey Plaza will probably be perfect to play Morticia, just as two decades ago she might have made an ideal Wednesday.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 6:43 PM on November 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
To me, the show struggled to find a consistent tone, careening as it did between comedy, horror and mystery while trying to awkwardly balance a YA love triangle (which apparently even Jenna Ortega didn’t want, so I’m not alone in hating it). While Ortega absolutely mastered Wednesday’s preternatural stillness, deadpan delivery and unblinking stare, and Catherine Zeta-Jones was a decent choice for Morticia,* I found the rest of the casting uneven. Luis Guzmán was more visually accurate to the original character, but I felt he lacked both Raul Julia’s charisma and John Astin’s mania without bringing anything new, while most other characters remained bare sketches.
Things did start to improve somewhat in the third episode, and really picked up in the seventh, but overall I found the series both predictable and poorly paced, especially at the end. There were a few high notes, tho:
- It was nice to see Christina Ricci’s cameo last the entire series and develop into a character, while Gwendoline Christie was wonderful, as always.
- Wednesday’s “sales pitch” to the German tourists in Pilgrim World and the denouement of Crackstone’s statue was excellent, reminiscent of the turn at the summer camp in Addam’s Family Values, as was her dance at the Rave’n.
- Thing was well thought-out, and apparently hand-acted by a single person, rather than being all-CG, becoming a character unto itself and earning dramatic tension during its impalement. Fred Armisen’s turn as Uncle Fester was well done too.
- The implications of conversion therapy for insufficiently “wolfy” lycanthropes and Sirens running a wellness cult were pointed and clever, but weren’t taken anywhere.
- There were decent attempts at representation, although none seemed to warrant more than a few minutes of screen time.
- The setting of Nevermore Academy, in the form of the real-life Cantacuzino Castle (located, appropriately enough, in Transylvania) was interesting.
- Some of costume designer Colleen Atwood’s choices were noteworthy – in particular, Wednesday’s choice of Prada Monoliths and her prom dress – and how, while never moving beyond the monochromatic, her clothes featured bolder uses of patterns as she started to adjust to the school.
All in all, I found it an entirely competent production, even good at times, just not a particularly compelling one. I’m hopeful that they’ll truly pull things together in a second season.
* Commenters are absolutely right that in a decade or so Aubrey Plaza will probably be perfect to play Morticia, just as two decades ago she might have made an ideal Wednesday.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 6:43 PM on November 29, 2022 [5 favorites]
Bora Horza Gobachul, I'm also with you on hating the romance plot. I quickly developed a headcanon that Ortega's Wednesday is Aro-Ace. There was zero chemistry with either of those 'love interests'.
posted by ursus_comiter at 11:14 AM on November 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by ursus_comiter at 11:14 AM on November 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
I would 100% watch a show about Enid and Thing's adventures.
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 11:39 AM on November 30, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 11:39 AM on November 30, 2022 [13 favorites]
A fun and undemanding watch, just what I needed!
Totally agree that this story did not need a love angle at all. I didn't enjoy Enid's character as much as many others did, but I did think that she was the only person outside Wednesday's family with whom Wednesday had anything resembling a real emotional connection with.
I get where people are coming from re: how the show should have leaned harder into the magical school element. But I'm glad it didn't, as it would have felt very Harry Potter. Speaking totally personally, I do not enjoy magical school stories, so I would have enjoyed this less if it had been more magical school-oriented. I liked that the focus of the story felt very much on the mystery and the past.
I really enjoyed the aesthetics of this show. It felt very Corpse Bride, especially the appearance of the monster. I really enjoyed the styling - the outfits were so good, and I immediately went online to look for the shade of lipstick Jenna Ortega wears as Wednesday, only to find that I'm not the only one who's been digging her look.
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:09 AM on December 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
Totally agree that this story did not need a love angle at all. I didn't enjoy Enid's character as much as many others did, but I did think that she was the only person outside Wednesday's family with whom Wednesday had anything resembling a real emotional connection with.
I get where people are coming from re: how the show should have leaned harder into the magical school element. But I'm glad it didn't, as it would have felt very Harry Potter. Speaking totally personally, I do not enjoy magical school stories, so I would have enjoyed this less if it had been more magical school-oriented. I liked that the focus of the story felt very much on the mystery and the past.
I really enjoyed the aesthetics of this show. It felt very Corpse Bride, especially the appearance of the monster. I really enjoyed the styling - the outfits were so good, and I immediately went online to look for the shade of lipstick Jenna Ortega wears as Wednesday, only to find that I'm not the only one who's been digging her look.
posted by unicorn chaser at 3:09 AM on December 1, 2022 [3 favorites]
OMIGOSH one of the things I literally said while watching this was "I LOVE all the liptsticks in this show"!
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 2:52 PM on December 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Gyre,Gimble,Wabe, Esq. at 2:52 PM on December 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
This is an entertaining, expertly written show for the fan service/fan fiction era. I enjoyed virtually all of it, but I would be challenged to find an element of it that is not captured within the producers office pitch: Wednesday Addams goes to Hogwarts and solves mysteries. Fun, enjoyable, well-made, but very much of the era where lifelong nerds get all grown up and make recombinant versions of their favorite IP's.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:18 AM on December 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:18 AM on December 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
Haven't watched this yet, but I want to know: did they give Melissa Hunter a cameo? Because they should do that.
posted by adamrice at 6:34 AM on December 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 6:34 AM on December 2, 2022 [2 favorites]
Just saw a quick interview with Jenna Ortega. She did all the dance choreography for the goth prom herself.
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:51 AM on December 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:51 AM on December 2, 2022 [3 favorites]
Was glad when at last Wednesday broke into a genuine grin at the sight of her favorite uncle.
posted by SPrintF at 8:35 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 8:35 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Just gonna throw it out there that Enid was throwing off Willow Rosenberg vibes the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME.
posted by Snowishberlin at 9:08 AM on December 2, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by Snowishberlin at 9:08 AM on December 2, 2022 [12 favorites]
Totally support Wednesday and Enid becoming a couple in S2.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on December 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:23 AM on December 2, 2022 [6 favorites]
I enjoyed the romance plot and shipped Xavier, but I'm not sure how much of the shipping Xavier was my getting slowly more irritated with Tyler and being like NO NOT THAT ONE a lot.
But I think that's also, like, my own nerdy goth girl baggage growing up, like, I want Wednesday to have a great romance because that's the thing I wish I had, rather than it being necessary for the story specifically. I do think there's some interesting potential tension there, where Wednesday is trying to reject all the things her parents did, like love, because she thinks it will make her into a housewife, but also think they didn't really go into the interesting aspects of that, because Tyler sucks.
posted by corb at 5:00 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
But I think that's also, like, my own nerdy goth girl baggage growing up, like, I want Wednesday to have a great romance because that's the thing I wish I had, rather than it being necessary for the story specifically. I do think there's some interesting potential tension there, where Wednesday is trying to reject all the things her parents did, like love, because she thinks it will make her into a housewife, but also think they didn't really go into the interesting aspects of that, because Tyler sucks.
posted by corb at 5:00 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Can I just say that the music used throughout this show is fantastic.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:37 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 4:37 AM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
The thing that continues to bug me about the "Wednesday hates her awful parents" angle is that it's completely gratuitous and unnecessary. The plot would work just fine without it; the goings-on at school do not require it. It would actually have been more interesting if Wednesday were the odd woman out by being the only teenager at the school who DID get along with her parents. Eighty-four years of precedent flushed down the toilet for no other reason than lazy writing.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:19 PM on December 3, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 3:19 PM on December 3, 2022 [7 favorites]
I think the love triangle that Wednesday herself seems largely uninterested in was a device to get us to care more about Gloomy Art Boy and Gloomy Coffee Boy
posted by Jacen at 7:37 AM on December 4, 2022
posted by Jacen at 7:37 AM on December 4, 2022
It felt really strange that Tyler expected Wednesday to be interested. She’s 15 going on 16, he’s a guy in his 20s. As a friend? Fine. Romantically though, creepy. And not in the “and kooky” way.
posted by explosion at 8:00 PM on December 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by explosion at 8:00 PM on December 4, 2022 [1 favorite]
Wednesday to be interested. She’s 15 going on 16, he’s a guy in his 20s.
Is he? He and his abuser former friends read as fellow high schoolers to me.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
Is he? He and his abuser former friends read as fellow high schoolers to me.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 12:13 PM on December 5, 2022 [2 favorites]
He’s working on his own at a coffee shop while others are doing school things. Plus the actor is 28, he’s not pulling off “kid” in the slightest!
posted by explosion at 3:15 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by explosion at 3:15 PM on December 5, 2022 [3 favorites]
Not read any comments above yet and not got any deep insights to deliver because I've only just watched the first episode so far. Hat tip for the Roy Orbison! Wasn't sure at first, but decided I do like how Wednesday's affect is a fairly-mild, naturalistic flat, rather than a full-on sitcom flat which probably wouldn't work over the course of a dramatic series. Luis Guzman is a great casting choice for Gomez. Most bemusing thing so far was the fun, cheesy line-down-the-middle-of-the-room, colourful/goth bit which didn't pop at all visually
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 10:43 PM on December 5, 2022
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 10:43 PM on December 5, 2022
He’s working on his own at a coffee shop while others are doing school things. Plus the actor is 28, he’s not pulling off “kid” in the slightest!
Sure but don't let the "directed by Tim Burton" fool you. The show was pitched by Millar & Gough, ie the Smallville guys. This is basically a CW show, and you know what, per their brand, it's a very decent debut season indeed. They seem to have the knack for rebooting established IPs with just enough references it feels like part of the rebooted worldbuilding and not just gratuitous fanservice. And they got a team that is actually good at plotting episodic stories while keeping a season-long arc. Certainly I didn't feel like wringing the necks of anyone involved in storyboarding the season, unlike the first season of the Witcher.
posted by cendawanita at 2:46 AM on December 8, 2022
Sure but don't let the "directed by Tim Burton" fool you. The show was pitched by Millar & Gough, ie the Smallville guys. This is basically a CW show, and you know what, per their brand, it's a very decent debut season indeed. They seem to have the knack for rebooting established IPs with just enough references it feels like part of the rebooted worldbuilding and not just gratuitous fanservice. And they got a team that is actually good at plotting episodic stories while keeping a season-long arc. Certainly I didn't feel like wringing the necks of anyone involved in storyboarding the season, unlike the first season of the Witcher.
posted by cendawanita at 2:46 AM on December 8, 2022
Yes, I'm basically saying Tyler is evil Lana Lang.
posted by cendawanita at 2:50 AM on December 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 2:50 AM on December 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
The show was pitched by Millar & Gough, ie the Smallville guys.
Who also cast this guy as a high school freshman. I think a lot of people in the fandom just threw up their hands and said, maybe he's older than his classmates because he's an alien and it took him longer to learn English or something.
posted by praemunire at 8:26 AM on December 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Who also cast this guy as a high school freshman. I think a lot of people in the fandom just threw up their hands and said, maybe he's older than his classmates because he's an alien and it took him longer to learn English or something.
posted by praemunire at 8:26 AM on December 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
I enjoyed how the show tried to find its way through the story of Wednesday, while narrowly avoiding the shoals of Harry Potter and Scooby Doo. Also, Tim Burton is a real director, which comes in handy.
posted by sneebler at 9:57 AM on December 8, 2022
posted by sneebler at 9:57 AM on December 8, 2022
Really loved this. I wish they could let Wednesday be ace or queer (she and Enid would make a cute couple). A bit tired of monsters as metaphor for queerness while showing no actual queerness (yes, yes it's Netflix).
I am also doing a lot to ignore that the big reveal of who the monster is makes no sense given that he talked about waking up naked and covered in blood while also showing up after most attacks clothed and clean. Feels like they cheated a lot for their mystery story.
Hope they get a season 2...the adventures of Wednesday, Enid, and Bianca... mystery solvers! or maybe just high school students.
posted by kokaku at 5:43 AM on December 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
I am also doing a lot to ignore that the big reveal of who the monster is makes no sense given that he talked about waking up naked and covered in blood while also showing up after most attacks clothed and clean. Feels like they cheated a lot for their mystery story.
Hope they get a season 2...the adventures of Wednesday, Enid, and Bianca... mystery solvers! or maybe just high school students.
posted by kokaku at 5:43 AM on December 9, 2022 [3 favorites]
the adventures of Wednesday, Enid, and Bianca... mystery solvers!
OMG, Netflix needs to roll up to John Allison with a wheelbarrow full of money and have him write the rest of Wednesday in perpetuity.
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:43 AM on December 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
OMG, Netflix needs to roll up to John Allison with a wheelbarrow full of money and have him write the rest of Wednesday in perpetuity.
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:43 AM on December 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Having not yet completed the entire season, I so far agree with praemunire and The Underpants Monster. I overall am enjoying it, but there was always something decidedly earnest and wholesome about the Addams Family, despite the creepy and kooky exterior. That is missing here, to a large degree, though I suppose we can maybe brush it off as partly to do with normal teenage rebellion that even an Addams will experience?
posted by asnider at 8:33 AM on December 9, 2022
posted by asnider at 8:33 AM on December 9, 2022
The ending was a bit flat for me. Why did reincarnated bad guy have magical powers other than to have an MCU-style final battle?
posted by signal at 6:48 PM on December 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by signal at 6:48 PM on December 10, 2022 [5 favorites]
Right?
Resurrected monster guy: "Curse your devilish sorcery! I will rid the world of magical outcasts!" [waves undead claws and does some telekinesis]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:17 AM on December 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Resurrected monster guy: "Curse your devilish sorcery! I will rid the world of magical outcasts!" [waves undead claws and does some telekinesis]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:17 AM on December 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Also, it sort of made me groan that the moral-to-the-story-they-barely-resisted-saying-out-loud was (no kidding) "The real magic was the friends we made along the way."
Even our far less cynical thirteen year-old said, "This is a real My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ending."
Also from the kid: "Here comes Chekhov's Werewolf."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:21 AM on December 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
Even our far less cynical thirteen year-old said, "This is a real My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ending."
Also from the kid: "Here comes Chekhov's Werewolf."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:21 AM on December 12, 2022 [12 favorites]
Oof. That last episode was… something else. Something bad.
posted by obfuscation at 4:08 AM on December 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by obfuscation at 4:08 AM on December 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wednesday (the character) appealed to me because she read (to me) as someone on the spectrum. Her avoidance of body contact/bright colors/loud music and her frequent inability to "read" the person she is talking to, all say neurodivergent to me. Which is great, because she is in a loving family that supports her and a school that (more or less) found accommodations for her needs, and I love to see positive examples of how neurotypicals can support neurodivergents.
posted by Mogur at 6:40 AM on December 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 6:40 AM on December 14, 2022 [5 favorites]
Just gonna throw it out there that Enid was throwing off Willow Rosenberg vibes the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME.
So much so! The way she bobbles her head around when she's overflowing with uncontainable excitement is just so identical it's either a conscious acting choice or convergent evolution.
posted by traveler_ at 12:33 PM on December 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
So much so! The way she bobbles her head around when she's overflowing with uncontainable excitement is just so identical it's either a conscious acting choice or convergent evolution.
posted by traveler_ at 12:33 PM on December 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Wednesday mostly reminded me a Daria Morgendorffer.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:57 PM on December 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:57 PM on December 14, 2022 [4 favorites]
The way she bobbles her head around when she's overflowing with uncontainable excitement
I totally read that as a (were)puppy-ism...
posted by porpoise at 3:49 PM on December 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I totally read that as a (were)puppy-ism...
posted by porpoise at 3:49 PM on December 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
The dance - right before the pop screenshot of Wednesday/ Ortega with elbows out - with her arms tentacle-ing behind her: that's from Lisa Marie in 'Mars Attacks!' , no?
posted by porpoise at 11:09 PM on December 14, 2022
posted by porpoise at 11:09 PM on December 14, 2022
Thing. Was. The. Best. That is all.
posted by Zumbador at 7:26 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Zumbador at 7:26 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
The ending was a bit flat for me. Why did reincarnated bad guy have magical powers other than to have an MCU-style final battle?
Finally coming back to this thread after finishing the series and, yes, this made no sense at all.
"Curse your evil magic! I will destroy you by...using magic."
It made no sense, though I did like that he told Christina Ricci's character to fuck off, because of course a Puritanical, undead asshole would treat a woman that way, even one who was helping him fulfill his legacy or whatever.
I *think* I still overall liked the show and I am curious about a possible second season, but I worry that it'll go even deeper into Wednesday Addams: Teenage Detective and lose even more of the Addams Family essence.
posted by asnider at 2:55 PM on December 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
Finally coming back to this thread after finishing the series and, yes, this made no sense at all.
"Curse your evil magic! I will destroy you by...using magic."
It made no sense, though I did like that he told Christina Ricci's character to fuck off, because of course a Puritanical, undead asshole would treat a woman that way, even one who was helping him fulfill his legacy or whatever.
I *think* I still overall liked the show and I am curious about a possible second season, but I worry that it'll go even deeper into Wednesday Addams: Teenage Detective and lose even more of the Addams Family essence.
posted by asnider at 2:55 PM on December 23, 2022 [3 favorites]
I really enjoyed this and watched it really quickly.
The thing I'm wondering about, do you think Tyler was genuinely interested in Wednesday or just pursuing her for nefarious reasons? During the dance scene, he really not able to take his eyes off her but then he flipped really quickly to trying to murder her, so I'm leaning towards nefarious.
posted by carolr at 7:00 PM on January 3, 2023
The thing I'm wondering about, do you think Tyler was genuinely interested in Wednesday or just pursuing her for nefarious reasons? During the dance scene, he really not able to take his eyes off her but then he flipped really quickly to trying to murder her, so I'm leaning towards nefarious.
posted by carolr at 7:00 PM on January 3, 2023
Just finished it yesterday, and after enjoying so much of it but not loving the finale (at all), it suddenly hit me: surely FanFare noticed, too? (Thanks, all, for being right on the ball.)
posted by progosk at 2:06 PM on January 8, 2023
posted by progosk at 2:06 PM on January 8, 2023
I just finished, and that was a lot of fun. I didn't have a big problem with Wednesday being somewhat at odds with her family: you can only hear 'just like your mother!' so many times. And when she talks about her childhood, it's clear she thinks it was idyllic.
I do think they needed to introduce 'normies' doing magic well before resurrecting a warlock as the Big Bad. Maybe even two separate branches of Crackstone descendants, one that leaned into the witchiness and built Nevermore on the family property, and the burn-the-outcasts branch that justified magic as fighting fire with fire?
I'm not thrilled with the Tyler storyline. The scene where he dropped the act was pretty great. But: he knew what he was doing, and was doing it all willingly, and also he tried to start a relationship with a psychic who gets visions from touching things? Not smart. Also, how could he not know his mother was a Nevermore alum? Everyone in that town would have known that, he would have been 'monster boy' by first grade.
Tyler seemed like a slightly less awful romantic option than Xavier, but I really wanted to see more of Wednesday bonding with Enid and later Bianca.
posted by mersen at 6:55 PM on January 30, 2023
I do think they needed to introduce 'normies' doing magic well before resurrecting a warlock as the Big Bad. Maybe even two separate branches of Crackstone descendants, one that leaned into the witchiness and built Nevermore on the family property, and the burn-the-outcasts branch that justified magic as fighting fire with fire?
I'm not thrilled with the Tyler storyline. The scene where he dropped the act was pretty great. But: he knew what he was doing, and was doing it all willingly, and also he tried to start a relationship with a psychic who gets visions from touching things? Not smart. Also, how could he not know his mother was a Nevermore alum? Everyone in that town would have known that, he would have been 'monster boy' by first grade.
Tyler seemed like a slightly less awful romantic option than Xavier, but I really wanted to see more of Wednesday bonding with Enid and later Bianca.
posted by mersen at 6:55 PM on January 30, 2023
Jenna Ortega sure sounds like she doesn't want to do a season two.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:14 AM on March 15, 2023
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:14 AM on March 15, 2023
We finally got around to watching this this week and mostly loved it. Definitely not perfect, but the hits rang out more memorably than the misses, which is a big deal to me in something like this.
• The casting was generally great. Luis Guzman was an inspired choice (even if he almost always seems like he's just playing Luis Guzman, a.k.a. "Guy who can't believe he's allowed to be in movies and on TV but who'll be charmingly happy about it for as long as they let him." Also, they were shooting this thing right in the area of Vermont where Guzman lives (according to our friend from the same area who introduced us to the show as she was visiting last weekend) and there has to be either a story or a wild coincidence there.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones was fine, and I don't think the writing gave her a lot of room to find more depth to Morticia in this season, unfortunately. Similarly with Pugsley (though Pugsley was an utter cipher in the Sonnenfeld movies as well, of course, so that felt right to this 90s kid at least.) The bit with the Potpourri was funny though, especially when shared with Guzman's Gomez.
• Jenna Ortega was a revelation. Just absolutely fantastic. And from everything I've seen, she seems to "get" the character and what the show needs to be better than the writers/producers even.
• I didn't mind that Crackstone was all railing against sorcery and shit while clearly using it himself - that felt like a good jab at neo-fascist hypocrisy to me. But the climax of the mystery being an "oops I'm evil!" monologue from Christina Ricci, in a Tim Burton production, gave me way too many Sleepy Hollow memories.
• Enid was the best character by far for me (at least aside from Wednesday herself. Let's say that Enid was the biggest surprise for sure, at least.) She's introduced with everyone well-in-mind of the Mercedes McNabb character from the Sonnenfeld movies, and i'm glad they knew that that was not at all the way to take the role. I spent most of the season thinking "ok, so she's going to finally wolf-out in the big climax," and then, somehow, by the time it happened it actually took me by surprise in a triumphant way. I'm not sure that "conversion therapy" worked as a metaphor there, but if they had to do that, I like that it was "I don't know what I'm going to be yet, and you need to accept whatever that ends up being."
• Similarly, I didn't love the love-triangle thing (I'm fine with Wednesday having romantic inclinations, or not, but neither Xavier nor Tyler had personalities, which is some real television-teen-drama hack shit and I don't enjoy it.) But the show at least knew that the relationship at the emotional heart of the show was Wednesday and Enid, and their long hug at the end was pretty great.
• This show really killed off all the adult characters connected to the school/town, huh? Except for Sheriff Galpin, I guess.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:08 AM on October 28, 2023
• The casting was generally great. Luis Guzman was an inspired choice (even if he almost always seems like he's just playing Luis Guzman, a.k.a. "Guy who can't believe he's allowed to be in movies and on TV but who'll be charmingly happy about it for as long as they let him." Also, they were shooting this thing right in the area of Vermont where Guzman lives (according to our friend from the same area who introduced us to the show as she was visiting last weekend) and there has to be either a story or a wild coincidence there.
• Catherine Zeta-Jones was fine, and I don't think the writing gave her a lot of room to find more depth to Morticia in this season, unfortunately. Similarly with Pugsley (though Pugsley was an utter cipher in the Sonnenfeld movies as well, of course, so that felt right to this 90s kid at least.) The bit with the Potpourri was funny though, especially when shared with Guzman's Gomez.
• Jenna Ortega was a revelation. Just absolutely fantastic. And from everything I've seen, she seems to "get" the character and what the show needs to be better than the writers/producers even.
• I didn't mind that Crackstone was all railing against sorcery and shit while clearly using it himself - that felt like a good jab at neo-fascist hypocrisy to me. But the climax of the mystery being an "oops I'm evil!" monologue from Christina Ricci, in a Tim Burton production, gave me way too many Sleepy Hollow memories.
• Enid was the best character by far for me (at least aside from Wednesday herself. Let's say that Enid was the biggest surprise for sure, at least.) She's introduced with everyone well-in-mind of the Mercedes McNabb character from the Sonnenfeld movies, and i'm glad they knew that that was not at all the way to take the role. I spent most of the season thinking "ok, so she's going to finally wolf-out in the big climax," and then, somehow, by the time it happened it actually took me by surprise in a triumphant way. I'm not sure that "conversion therapy" worked as a metaphor there, but if they had to do that, I like that it was "I don't know what I'm going to be yet, and you need to accept whatever that ends up being."
• Similarly, I didn't love the love-triangle thing (I'm fine with Wednesday having romantic inclinations, or not, but neither Xavier nor Tyler had personalities, which is some real television-teen-drama hack shit and I don't enjoy it.) But the show at least knew that the relationship at the emotional heart of the show was Wednesday and Enid, and their long hug at the end was pretty great.
• This show really killed off all the adult characters connected to the school/town, huh? Except for Sheriff Galpin, I guess.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:08 AM on October 28, 2023
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posted by pjsky at 4:04 PM on November 27, 2022 [4 favorites]