TV Review: ‘Wednesday’ Season 1, Episode 5
by Frank Martin
For the most part, the rest of the Addams Family has had very little screen time in Wednesday — and this makes sense. As the show is primarily focused on Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), having the other members of the family prominent in the first few episodes would have been a distraction. Wednesday needed to stand on her own. Now that she has been established as the show’s protagonist, the rest of the Addams Family can be introduced and featured in an episode. After all, the Addams Family works best when they are showcased as a unit, and the fifth episode did a good job highlighting their interpersonal relationships as well as their history.
This episode saw Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Gomez (Luis Guzmán), and Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) meet up with Wednesday at school during a visiting day. In dramatic fashion, Gomez is arrested for a murder he was accused of committing back when he was a student. Not believing her father had the capacity to kill someone in cold blood, Wednesday begins an investigation of her own. Working with her mother, they eventually learn that the murder was a cover up for a devious and sinister act the victim was about to commit at the school. Their combined efforts free Gomez from jail.
The monster plotline of the series largely took a back seat in this episode. Instead, it focused on some much-needed character building as Wednesday had to come to terms with a lot of issues she’s been having with her family. She spent time with her brother, her father, and even worked together with her mother to mend some of their problems. This also segued nicely into Wednesday learning about her visions. This is, no doubt, Wednesday’s show and her place in the town as well as the school takes center stage. But it’s also important to remember that the Addams Family as a whole is an important institution. Taking a break from the show’s teenage drama and murder mystery to focus on this iconic family was a nice and refreshing change of pace.
Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
