'Wednesday' Season 1 Review - Jenna Ortega Kills It In Campy Burton Series
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in Wednesday. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022
From the whimsical mind of Tim Burton (Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) comes Wednesday, an original series following the iconic character made famous by Christina Ricci in 1991’s The Addams Family. In the series, however, the titular character is played by emerging scream queen Jenna Ortega (Scream (2022), X). The rest of the Addams family is made up of Gomez (Luis Guzmán), Morticia (Catherina Zeta-Jones), Pugsley Addams (Isaac Ordonez), the whimsical Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen), and Thing. The series follows Wednesday as she navigates her time at Nevermore Academy while finding herself amid the mystery that plagued her parents’ time at school 25 years prior.
Thing in Wednesday. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2022
While the series takes the same Netflix high school formula seen in projects like Do Revenge, it allows itself to be driven by its story and not dragged out to be a high school show with the elements of macabre that we’re used to seeing from the Addams Family, but is an Addams Family show that happens to take place at a high school.
The series utilizes its location well, allowing itself to create an interesting supporting cast and narrative that not only plays off of typical high school events but elevates them as a point of character development for its leads. One of the more prominent examples of this is seen in Wednesday’s roommate, Enid (Emma Myers), who serves as an antithesis to our leading character, not only in personality but in her character arc as well.
(L-R) Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams and Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair in Wednesday. Cr. Vlad Cioplea/Netflix © 2022
The series makes a clear distinction between itself and other shows of similar genres (i.e., Riverdale) by knowing when certain tones are appropriate and how to correctly incorporate its supporting cast and guest characters. Speaking of which, the Addams Family are seen throughout, and although at times they’re used as a plot point at times, it doesn’t feel forced or used as fan service. Morticia is crucial to Wednesday’s development, for the show’s narrative, and as a person, while Uncle Fester leans more toward the fan service side but is still important to the narrative.
There are solid performances throughout every episode, and to no one’s surprise, Jenna Ortega elevates the show from nostalgic streaming content to an inevitable cult classic. Ortega nails the deadpan comedy written for the role and allows the character to fit into the more comedic tone of the series, as opposed to the horrific gorefest that her character would prefer. Her passion and commitment to the role radiate off the screen, especially during the dance sequence she choreographed herself.
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in Wednesday. Cr. Courtesy Of Netflix © 2022
That’s not to say that the rest of the cast doesn’t perform well, with Fred Armisen’s Uncle Fester being a comedic highlight and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Morticia being the perfect embarrassing yet loving mother.
You can’t talk about Wednesday without mentioning the incredible score composed by Danny Elfman (Spider-Man, The Nightmare Before Christmas). Elfman’s score is creative, creepy, and charming and perfectly matches the show’s tone. On top of all this, the show brings the cinematic shots you’d expect from Burton. This, coupled with Netflix’s insane production value, brings the best results for a series of this kind.
(L-R) Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams in Wednesday. Cr. Vlad Cioplea/Netflix © 2022
Wednesday finds its faults in its sometimes cheesy dialogue and characters that you’d expect to find in a series aimed toward audiences younger than this. Although it sometimes felt like the show was dragging and falling victim to its negatives, its creative plot — which even outsmarted me — makes up the rest of the work.
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
