Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in 'Wednesday'. Image: Courtesy of Netflix 
Tim Burton taking on Charles Addams’s comic-turned-TV-and-film-series The Addams Family has felt like long-overdue destiny given the creators’ overlapping gothic aesthetic and pitch-black sense of humour. Excitement may have dimmed somewhat when it was announced that Burton’s Netflix adaptation would be a high school-set mystery centred on the kooky family’s daughter Wednesday. But while the new series, out Wednesday 23 November, may not be what fans necessarily wanted, it is, in fact, better than expected and definitely worth watching.
Wednesday opens with titular character Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) enacting some gruesome revenge on behalf of her bullied brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez). Seeing as setting piranhas on the school polo team is considered attempted murder, the 15-year-old troublemaker is expelled and shipped off to Nevermore Academy – a boarding school for paranormally “gifted” outcasts, run by Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie). Notable alumni of the school include Wednesday’s parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez Addams (Luis Guzmán).
At Nevermore, Wednesday has to navigate new social cliques with the unrequested assistance of her colourful and enthusiastic roommate Enid (Emma Myers), survive both monster attacks and assassination attempts, unravel an old family mystery, and grapple with her developing psychic powers.
The last may be a sticking point for some. While Jenna Ortega is outstanding as the lead, the addition of these latent psychic powers as a plot device is somewhat out of place. The Addams family has, traditionally, been a satirical inversion of “the ideal 20th Century family,” in that they delight in the dark and morbid – but maintain strong familial bonds with their extended Addams clan, are supportive of each other and generous with their time and money. However, they’re not magical. So, shoehorning in a reason for Wednesday to be considered an “outcast” is a hard departure from Addams lore.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-2.jpg "Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams (left) and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Adams (right) in 'Wednesday'. Image: Courtesy of Netflix")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-1.jpg "Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in 'Wednesday'. Image: Courtesy of Netflix")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-6.jpg "Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in 'Wednesday'. Image: Courtesy of Netflixda")
Luckily, where the plot may stumble, Jenna Ortega is there to carry it on her stoic shoulders. The best embodiment of Wednesday since Christina Ricci, and the first ever actress with Latina heritage to play the part, Ortega channels a fierce confidence, balanced by the awkwardness of being an outsider among society’s outsiders. Her unblinking, expressionless intensity with just the slightest smirks and expression changes show a subtle but surprising range of emotion.
Wednesday is the embodiment of the teenage goth girl fantasy of being able to speak with zero filters, face few consequences for your cutting frankness and still, somehow, have people gravitate to you. Cute boys want to date you, and friends keep coming back. Biting, razor-sharp dialogue in the form of Wednesday’s asides is part of the reason the show is so enjoyable. Ortega’s deadpan delivery of her character’s ripostes is the unquestionable highlight of the series.
style="font-weight: 400;">The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which has similar macabre leanings and supernatural high school setting, but played things straight. Wednesday is more fun thanks to its embracing of dark humour, and it runs the full emotional range as needed.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-3.jpg "Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in 'Wednesday'. Image: Courtesy of Netflix")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-8.jpg "Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in 'Wednesday'. Image: Courtesy of Netflix")
There’s a high concentration of young adult references in Wednesday, and the goings on at Nevermore Academy play out like a gory Harry Potter. If your tolerance for CW-esque shows is low, you may struggle. Luckily, the twisty main mystery keeps the show energised. The fact that it’s only eight episodes works to Wednesday’s advantage here, ensuring the story stays tight and the momentum trundles along at a decent, if a little uneven, pace.
That said, the pared-down number of episodes (for a Netflix series anyway) doesn’t serve the supporting characters. As the main plot picks up pace, they sort of fall away, which is jarring after the Parents’ Day episode which is practically dedicated to Wednesday’s classmates.
At this point we have to give a special shout out to the casting of Christina Ricci (enjoying a career resurgence thanks to
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-9.jpg "Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair in 'Wednesday'. Courtesy of Netflix")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-4.jpg "Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin (left) and Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams (right) in 'Wednesday'. Image: Vlad Cioplea / Courtesy of Netflix")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday-7.jpg "Gwendoline Christie as Larissa Weems in 'Wednesday'. Image: Vlad Cioplea / Courtesy of Netflix")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Wednesday_Netflix.jpg "'Wednesday' series art. Image: Netflix")