TV Review: ‘Wednesday’ Season 1, Episode 2
by Frank Martin
When adapting something like The Addams Family, there’s a lot of leeway regarding the universe in which these characters live. For the duo of Addams Family movies from the 1990s, this meant toning down the supernatural elements and uplifting the comedy of Charles Addams‘ comic strips. That didn’t mean the supernatural wasn’t present; it just wasn’t as main of focus as it could have been. Netflix’s Wednesday goes in the opposite direction. It embraces the supernatural elements, going so far as to create a Harry Potter-like setting of sorts for monsters and other supernatural beings.
The second episode, meanwhile, shows that the series will be attacking multiple plot lines all at the same time. Wednesday’s (Jenna Ortega) testimony that a boy (Calum Ross) was killed in front of her is called into question when he is alive at the school the next day. She has Thing (Victor Dorobantu) follow him, which reveals that the boy is some sort of shapeshifter and is most likely responsible for the murder himself. Also, Wednesday is drawn into a school competition in order to knock the school’s queen bee (Joy Sunday) off her pedestal. Other characters are also rounded out as Wednesday is forced to join the beekeeping club and interacts more with the school’s artist (Percy Hynes White).
While various supernatural creatures were introduced last episode, it still wasn’t quite clear just how much of a part supernatural elements would play in the series. This episode put all of those questions to bed as it had no qualms having Wednesday take part in a Harry Potter-esque competition. The show is basically about a school of monsters while having the iconic Wednesday Addams try to navigate her own murder mystery with her signature wit and style. The show is taking all these various elements and putting them in a blender. So far, it has succeeded in balancing this impressive tightrope act, however, it will be interesting to see if the quality holds up as the mystery unravels.
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.