‘From the imagination of Tim Burton’ we were gifted with the series Wednesday. A director already known for his dark concepts present in The nightmare before Christmas, Batman (‘89-95), Beetlejuice, Alice in Wonderland (‘10) and Edward scissorhands. Wednesday is Burtons first tv series and his most well received production of this decade. Within its first two weeks Wednesday surpassed the ratings of Stranger things and Dahmer as the most watched English speaking show.
Plot
The show follows Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) on a dark, modern and nostalgic whodunnit mystery. After a well justified piranha in the pool incident The Adams spin off sees Wednesday sent away to The Nevermore Academy a school for the gifted. Committed to not wanting to be like her mother Wednesday attempts to run away. Eventually after her second close encounter with death and witnessing an indescribable monster Wednesday dedicates her time at the school to solving the murder mysteries. Whilst stepping on toes and breaking hearts she navigates by following the darkness once again. Not to mention accepting her psychic abilities and attempting to free her parents of accusations. Once again Wednesday voluntarily puts herself in danger.
Wednesday vs The Adams Family
Some critics and viewers called out the show for straying too far away from what the Adams family is meant to be. They believed that the characters were completely different, that Wednesday and Morticia would never share such hostility and that Wednesday would never allow herself to fall for a boy. What many forget is that Miles Miller, Alfred Gough, Tim Burtons version of Wednesday is far more Morden. It’s set in a world where the family is planted in the middle of normal society, surrounded by “normies” and eventually softening their unconventional hearts. The opposing argument doesn’t have much of leg to stand on when you witness the Morticia and Gomez relationship. The obsession and admiration for each other is a clear reflection of the movies. So much so that they had to escape criminal accusations against them. Despite Pugsleys timid and shy nature in the Netflix adaptation his respect for Wednesday as a big sister and role model is there. Wednesday herself is considerably older that previous versions, despite her reluctancy to care for others she is a teenage girl manipulated by an older guy. That being said she is still as standoffish and calculated as always, who else would feed a swimming team to piranhas?
Casting
The Adams family cast was known to be Hispanic/ Latino however this representation was lost in previous productions. The casting of predominantly Latino actors to fulfil these roles was the correct choice. Seeing how in touch they were with their roots gave the characters more depth and made them more relatable. With Jenna as Wednesday, Luis Guzman as Gomez and Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley it created room for Latin humour. The exaggerated phrases and ridiculous nicknames.
Gomez often referred to his daughter as any overly loving father would; “our little scorpion”, “Gracias my little death trap”, “my little tormenta”, “my little storm cloud”, “my little viper”. The mixture of the dark humour and Latin really fit his portrayal of Gomez. The show also paid homage to Latin culture with the smaller details too. Many viewers pointed out that upon visiting Wednesday on family day Pugsley is seen eating Flautirriko Tarugos Tamarindo, a sweet and savoury treat eaten in Mexico. Plus In the pilot episode Morticia gifts Wednesday with an obsidian necklace, another hat toss to the establishing Latin culture in the show. The choice to make the family more Latin contributed to its success and hopefully he same level of representation is maintained in the second season.
A love triangle
As previously mentioned Wednesday is a teenager, full of sound mind. Despite holding the same attitude towards death, people and anything colourful she is still a teenager. Placing Wednesday in a love triangle was the best way of exploring how she is capable of expressing emotion. How she will feel overwhelmed and run when too much love is thrown in her direction. One of the most beautiful scenes in the show is Xavier bringing to life a drawing of Wednesday playing the Cello. Overwhelmed and not knowing what to do she completely shuts him down. In the towns square she was told by Tyler that he thought she was nice and different but instead he was wrong. In every adaptation of the Adams family we see Wednesday with family or strangers. She has never been forced to grow closer to someone romantically as a teenager (post Joel) and that was executed well in the show.
Yes
The series ending left many different storylines open to questioning. Who is stalking Wednesday and how were they able to get her number already ? If Tyler goes full Hyde in the transportation van then who is the true mastermind corrupting him ? Will we get more “more will they won’t they” between Wednesday and Xavier or will she finally cave ? The series automatically received such a positive response so it wouldn't be surprising if season 2 is gifted to us before October 2023.
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