Wednesday, Netflix
The way that Netflix chose to reintroduce the Addams family to audiences this winter was an enjoyable deviation from how we remember them on TV. The teen series Wednesday took the Addams’ gothic daughter and shoved her into a classic Hollywood high school drama – creating a gripping story through exploring what makes Wednesday’s child reclusive but brilliant.
In this series, Produced and Directed by Tim Burton, Wednesday is tasked with uncovering the truth around a spate of murders in the town of Jericho. The murder mystery is intricate, weaving together multiple character strands and time periods, without being overly confusing. The final villain reveal in Wednesday perhaps comes slightly out of the blue (unless you’re familiar with the famous actor = perpetrator rule) and isn’t completely satisfying, but these things hardly ever are.
By far the more engaging aspect of Wednesday, that makes it bingeable as a show, is the homage to well-trodden teen drama tropes. Wednesday’s high school, Nevermore, is a classic teen Hollywood setting that draws parallels with all of your favourite high school films and tv shows. There are meet cutes; unrequited crushes and awkward friendships.
Not so Hollywood, but equally familiar at this point in history, are the ways Wednesday reminds us of the Harry Potter Universe. It’s an easy comparison to make when the subject matter is a school for extraordinary pupils with magical powers, but Wednesday works harder to align itself with the British franchise than that. There is a reminiscent dichotomy of “normies”and “outcasts” that feels like muggles and wizards. Not to mention that The Poe Cup feels uncannily like The Triwizard Tournament.
The audience may feel safe and warm in these familiar teen tropes, but they are less fulfilling in wrapping up some really interesting and relatable tensions in Wednesday. What makes Wednesday great as a character is how she is the perfect outcast. Entirely self-sufficient, she has learned what she needs to to survive and thrive in the absence of compassion and human company. Because this is teen Hollywood though, by the end of the series, Wednesday is in fact lusted after and has more friends than most popular members of any high school. A teenage recluse or anyone that has fantasised about finally drowning out the noise of other people, may find this story resolution less inspiring than seeing Wednesday finally finish her novel or realise the value of hours of solitary cello practise.
Despite this minor betrayal of hermits everywhere, Wednesday provides a fresh spin on the Hollywood teen drama and also finds a way to make the Addams family relevant in 2022.
