Wednesday Series Review
By Luis Sanchez
Luis!
Who would have thought that a spooky series was just what we needed to end the year? Wednesday is a supernatural comedy horror Netflix series based on Wednesday Addams (played by Jenna Ortega) from the widely known spooky Addams Family. In this series, Wednesday Addams is introduced to Nevermore, a school for outcasts, and has to learn to manage connecting with her new schoolmates, control her newly-found psychic abilities, and solve a murder mystery. Typical high school problems, am I right?
The show’s premise is a bit shallow. The plot does not suffer from anything; it works well within the Wednesday world. What I’m referring to is how it is slightly uncreative. Many murder-mystery shows are displaying similar characteristics, and that is because they are all using a similar template. Wednesday is simply Riverdale season 1, but add supernatural elements and the Addams family. However, the show still succeeds. Despite being predictable (I solved the murder case by the third episode), the quirkiness of the show makes it stand its ground. It’s like having two siblings both dress up as ghosts for Halloween, but one simply wears a bedsheet with holes while the other sibling wears all white and even uses makeup to make themselves look pale; Wednesday is the sibling wearing all white while the other shows are like the sibling wearing the bedsheet; both costume ideas are basic for Halloween, but one is more interesting than the other. There is one reason why this show was able to succeed, though.
Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams did a lot of the heavy lifting with this show. She was casted for the role in part to represent Wednesday’s Latina heritage. We cannot forget to credit the writers for such a great character they were able to draw out. Wednesday Addams was a serious, dark, gothic and intelligent girl who rarely blinked. Her stern and direct way of speaking was different from the other characters, which helped her stand out in addition to her black and white attire. Wednesday is a girl who shows no emotion and finds joy in what others would feel pain. Ortega effectively portrayed this character and made her the reason for me to keep watching the show. I simply wanted to know more about Wednesday. The few moments where Wednesday showed emotion caught me off-guard but were quite rewarding. It was also comical to see how Wednesday would despair to what others would celebrate and celebrate to what others would despair.
Overall, Wednesday is what made Wednesday succeed. It only makes sense. Wednesday was a classic CW teen-drama with murder mystery turned supernatural and quirky. Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams carried the show. The show would have succeeded more than what it did if it took more time to explore its supporting characters and dedicate less time to the boring love-triangle that is not even worth mentioning here.
It may seem like I’m saying more negatives than positives, but that is to avoid spoilers. I give Wednesday a 6.3/10, and recommend watching it now during the hype because once the hype is gone, so will be the show.