The following contains spoilers for Wednesday Season 1, now streaming on Netflix.
The newest installment in The Addams Family franchise, Netflix’s Wednesday series continues the more than decade-long trend of combining to two genres: teen coming-of-age and murder mystery. This creepy, kooky and spooky, and altogether ooky series masters this merging of themes where others have failed. Utilizing The Addams Family's relevant and familiar history and Wednesday’s macabre nature, this high school drama doesn’t need to force violence or more adult themes to make it work and embraces some classic tropes from some of the best teen shows and movies.
While bringing the audience characters they both know and love, Wednesday is a totally different beast than any of The Addams Family stories. Using her name and recognizable black and white wardrobe, Wednesday elevates the story of this character and keeps a tight hold on viewers well past the pure nostalgia wearing off. Netflix turns Wednesday into a supernatural teen drama that one could expect to have appeared alongside the likes of Teen Wolf.
Wednesday Borrows from the Classics
This entertaining series isn’t just living off of the nostalgia of its characters but brightens up the dark series by using classic teen tropes. As such, if some moments in Wednesday seem familiar, it’s probably because fans have seen similar takes in classic films and TV series. From the very beginning of the series, with its introduction of the supernatural, murder mystery elements and super-powered protagonist, Wednesday seemed to be reminiscent of the days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars. Wednesday is even accompanied by a gang of friends that include her roommate, a werewolf, a supernatural hunk and an ordinary human. Wednesday actively adds its own Addams Family twist on high school tropes.
In this amalgamation of classic teen TV and film, the series uses these tropes to lighten the dark halls of the new school. The series introduces the new girl, Wednesday, to the Nevermore Academy cliques in a Clueless-like fashion. This harkens to the times of standing up and facing the school’s group of mean girls. Like in the film Mean Girls, this allows special students to wander the grounds of their boarding school and run into mysteries similar to the chilling adventures of Harry Potter and his friends. There is even a parallel to their game of Quidditch, and they even call the none supernatural individuals “normies.”
Wednesday features a secret society and the small-town drama of Riverdale. The show even delivers a clear and obvious nod to the 1976 classic Carrie. In the latter case, the school’s Edgar Allen Poe-referenced dance, the Rave’N, is interrupted when a gang of “normies” connect a hose of red paint to the sprinkler system and have it rain down on the dance -- in this instance, Wednesday utters, “They couldn’t even spring for real pig’s blood.”
Wednesday is Worth the Watch
Wednesday shifts focus from the entire Addams Family to Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) herself, as she is forced to enroll in a school for outcasts, Nevermore Academy. The show seemingly uses "outcast" as a euphemism for the supernatural: werewolves, vampires, sirens, gorgons, etc. If switching schools wasn’t enough, a string of gruesome murders and Wednesday’s newfound power drag her deeper into the school's mystery. As she begins having psychic visions that seem to connect her to the local murders, her obsession with and drive to solve them is ignited even brighter. The show’s use of Easter eggs to reference the numerous other Addams Family onscreen iterations, classic teen TV and movie tropes and a combination of genres come together perfectly to deliver a darkly intelligent and humorous series.
Ortega’s modern portrayal of the character adds a new warm layer to the sadistic Wednesday fans all know and love. Audiences, however, should not fret as she still is the same Wednesday that loves to write on her old typewriter, talk of smothering and mutilating people, and stick to her shades of black and white. Wednesday is a dark, campy comedy that pays homage to the older versions of the character, and adapts the source material for today’s audience. Updating the Addams Family lore and combining it with classic teen tropes from some of the most famous teen stories in pop culture history made Wednesday the reappraisal Wednesday Addams has needed.
Wednesday Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.