This review is three years late, but at least it's here before season two which drops tomorrow (August 6th). This will be a review of season one, but not an episode by episode breakdown. If you're curious about the series, it is worth watching if for nothing else than Jenna Ortega's absolutely fabulous portrayal of Wednesday Addams.
Originally conceived as a reboot of The Addams Family, this production took on new life when Tim Burton came on board. It is a project with his fingerprints all over the place, from his usual visual aesthetics and tonal uniqueness to the lighting and characters, which end up being an absurdly perfect fit. I mean you would be forgiven for believing Tim Burton has been involved with the Addams family since the movies from a couple of decades ago with Raul Julia, Angelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci, but he had nothing to do with them.
But it was those movies that helped to create the now iconic version of Wednesday Addams as a deadpan, borderline psychopathic goth girl with extremely pale skin and a habit of torturing her little brother Pugsley. It was so iconic in fact that it defined much of Christina Ricci's career, to the point where she even appears in season one of Wednesday as one of the main secondary characters. It was a performance so good that it felt almost impossible to redefine in a way that would make sense as a follow up.
Which brings us to this adaptation. Which is less an adaptation of The Addams Family, as it is a spin off featuring Wednesday as the lead protagonist. At the start of the series we find our heroine defending her brother, because of course only she can torture Pugsley, and getting kicked out of school. We find out shortly afterwards that she has been drifting from normal school to normal school, refusing to go to her parents' alma mater for a number of reasons, which are mostly plot related. Except she now has no other option on the table if she wants to graduate.
Wednesday herself is reimagined here as a deadpan psychopathic goth girl... wait... that sounds familiar. Okay, so what are the differences? She's aged up a bit from a pre-pubescent girl of around 10 to around 16 to 17. She still has her trademark pigtails (like a negative version of Pippi Longstocking), but can now see flashes of the future. She's also fashioned herself into a detective, using her psychic talent combined with a deduction skill that could rival Sherlock Holmes to unravel the murder of a local that has pointed the guilty finger at her school, and her family.
The school is a bit of a Hogwarts derivative called Nevermore Academy, which caters to the weird and supernatural. From vampires and werewolves to sirens and medusas, which all seem to exist in the world and are somewhat known by regular people, but not really talked about very much. The secondary cast are okay, but for the most part feel like your usual band of high-school archetypes twisted to add the supernatural element to their personalities. For example, the mean girl is a Siren who can make people do what she wants.
When Wednesday finally arrives at the school in the first episode we are immediately introduced to her opposite, Enid. This pairing of mismatched personalities and appearances is at first comical and played for laughs in a lot of ways. Wednesday gets upset with their room because Enid likes colors and stuffed animals when Wednesday is allergic to colors. Then there's Enid's habit of hugging when Wednesday would rather stab someone rather than hug them. In every way they are depicted as almost natural adversaries. Except, that's not the direction things go. Enid ends up being the emotional center of the story and the one person that Wednesday grows to possibly love? More on that in a moment.
Wednesday works best when it is she and Enid working through the mystery and getting into trouble together. It works less well when it focuses on Wednesday's two love interests. Yes, two... which is a stretch for a character who doesn't really show any real romantic interest in anyone. Whether Wednesday herself is asexual or queer in some way is never explored, but it is telling that the big emotional scene doesn't involve a kiss with one of her suitors, but a major emotional breakthrough with Enid. (There's a reason why these characters are shipped pretty heavily).
Ultimately the first season goes to some places that were both unexpected and a bit murky, exploring ghosts and resurrection and diving deep into puritan history and sketchy witchcraft stuff and some weirdness revolving around one of Wednesday's ancestors who may or may not have actually caused the inciting incident that created the underlying mystery in the first place. There are betrayals and character reveals and a big showdown at the end that mostly worked, and you have a solid first season of television.
Bits:
Each of the Addams family has a major cameo beyond the first and last episode, Fester and Morticia being the stand outs.
Thing has a major role and acts Wednesday's sidekick throughout the season. For an anthropomorphic hand, it adds a surprising amount of emotion and character to the entire series, plus the special effects work is phenomenal.
Some of the big CGI monsters are not quite as effective, but are at least interesting in design. I especially liked a subplot involving bees that ended up being consequential.
The series is chock full of great actors in the adult roles: Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Luis Guzmán as Gomez, Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill and Gwendoline Christie as Principal Weems.
Season two will be released in two parts, the first of which drops August 6th, which is on a Wednesday, of course.
Yes, there are references to both the original theme music and the iconic finger snaps.
Quotes:
Enid: "It's a small school. There wasn't much online about you. You should really get on Insta, Snapchat, and TikTok."
Wednesday: "I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation."
Wednesday: "The only person who gets to torture my brother is me."
Principal Weems: "Did your mother tell you we were roommates back in the day?"
Wednesday: "And you graduated with your sanity intact? Impressive."
Enid: "Rumors have been swirling around that you killed a kid at your old school, and that your parents pulled strings to get you off."
Wednesday: "Actually, it was two kids, but who's counting?"
Tyler: "Do you make a habit of scaring the hell out of people?"
Wednesday: "It's more of a hobby."
Morticia: "I'm told girls your age say hurtful things, and I shouldn't take it to heart."
Wednesday: "Fortunately, you don't have one."
Morticia: "Finally, a kind word for your mother."
Enid: "Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale."
Gomez: "Wednesday always looks half-dead."
Wednesday: "I'm not used to people engaging with me. Most see me coming and cross the street."
Tyler: "You're not scary. You're just kinda... kooky."
Wednesday: "I prefer spooky."
Jenna Ortega's career launched due to her turn as Wednesday, and the follow up has been a long time coming. This first season laid a solid foundation, but was flawed in both focus and narrative.
3 out of 4 Finger Snaps
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.
I didn't realize that season 2 was out tomorrow! I might have to binge this tonight. I really don't remember much of what happened, but I devoured it when it was first released. Wednesday and Enid's friendship was certainly a highlight, though. "Grumpy and Sunshine" are always a fun pairing.
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