Mirror Netflix Review: Wednesday

The new Netflix show “Wednesday” has solidified itself as a spin-off worthy of the Addams Family name. The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was released on November 23rd and is directed by esteemed American filmmaker Tim Burton. Burton is famously known for his work on Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Sweeney Todd, all of which express his offbeat gothic style.

The start of the show finds the main character, Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), in trouble for hospitalizing a classmate by putting piranhas in a swimming pool. As gruesome as this incident sounds, Wednesday shows no remorse—even stating later on that she hoped this attempted murder wouldn’t go on her record, as people would know she failed to get the job done. This is just the first of Wednesday’s many witty remarks. In response to this incident, her parents Gomez (Luiz Guzman) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) Addams decide Wednesday will go to a boarding school called Nevermore—the very school they met at. It’s immediately clear that this is no ordinary school—its selling point is that it’s a “School For Outcasts”—a school for teenagers that don’t fit in the normal world. Despite not being a siren, vampire, werewolf, or other different creature like students at her school, Wednesday is still considered weird, even by Nevermore standards. At Nevermore, Wednesday finds herself roommates with a girl named Enid. Enid is the complete opposite of Wednesday—she’s bubbly, has colored hair and bright clothes, texts all hours of the day, and is adamant about getting a hug or smile from Wednesday—both of which Wednesday constantly shuts down. Their pairing serves to highlight the quirkiness of Wednesday’s character.

While at Nevermore, Wednesday meets several other interesting characters, including a stereotypical mean girl who cheated her way into school, a headmaster who will do anything to preserve their school’s reputation, a student artist who’s been seeing some troubling visions, and the son of a sheriff who she finds a genuine friend in. Wednesday’s tough personality and unforgiving harshness cause a lot of conflict with others, as one character states, “Being your friend should come with a warning label.”

After the suspicious death of a fellow student, Wednesday throws herself into investigating what becomes a series of murders by a nearby monster. Through her investigation, Wednesday finds herself uncovering her family’s past, discovering secrets about fellow students, and unveiling new truths about herself.

The series hooked me—and apparently many others—from the first episode. Most of the episodes conclude with a cliffhanger, leaving the only logical choice of watching “just one more.” Wednesday’s immediate popularity is one for the records—it surpassed Stranger Things 4 for most-watched English-language series in a week!

The series definitely has its cringey moments, which are expected to come with a Netflix show in the fantasy genre. It tries to appeal to teenagers with references to different social media platforms, which can be a bit much. Certain characters are worse with this than others, but it’s more of a minor annoyance than a big problem. The show also plays into stereotypical teen mystery tropes. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Despite the ending being predictable, it is still very entertaining.

Ortega had a compelling performance playing Wednesday. She showed full dedication to Wednesday’s character. A particular scene that stood out to me was at the school dance. Ortega choreographed this scene fully on her own, drawing inspiration from the types of dance seen among goth kids in the 80s. In addition, the performance included an allusion to the original Wednesday dance, seen in the 1964 TV show, “The Addams Family.” Behind the scenes, Ortega was still just as dedicated—in one interview she explained that to prepare for her role as Wednesday she studied German, learned the cello, and took fencing lessons. Ortega has been making a name for herself, and I think it’s safe to say she will continue to impress audiences with her skills.

Many other characters also had strong performances. Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday in both 1991’s “The Addams Family,” and 1993’s “Addams Family Values” played a teacher at Nevermore. It was really cool to recognize her in this new adaptation of the Addams family. Gwendoline Christie, best known for her performance in Game of Thrones, also had a solid performance, though she was a bit underused.

The music, costumes, and cinematography were a very distinctive and memorable aspect of the series. Maintaining the very gothic, dark academia, and burtonesque aesthetics, it was a breath of fresh air from the tv shows being produced recently as the impact of Burton was heavily felt throughout the show. This was a step in the right direction for Netflix, and with its success, I hope to see similar projects of this style in the future.

The season ended with another cliffhanger, giving a very plausible chance for renewal. I am excited to see where Wednesday's journey will be taken next.

4.25/5 stars