Delia But, IX F
On November 23, a new series was released on Netflix. "Wednesday” has sparked interest all over the internet and it seems to have surpassed the last season of “Stranger Things” in terms of viewings.
“Wednesday” is an American coming-of-age supernatural horror tv show that is based on the famous character of “The Addams Family”, a series created by Charles Addams. Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, Tim Burton has also directed four out of eight episodes and he also serves as an executive producer.
Before we go into the details of the series, let’s focus a little on the main character, Wednesday Addams. The character is the only daughter of The Addams Family, fictional characters created by Charles Addams. She appears in a wide range of media adaptations since 1964; the character has been portrayed by several actresses including Lisa Loring, Christina Ricci, and Jenna Ortega, and voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz. The character is obsessed with death and has a gothic style and personality. Her most notable features are her long, dark, braided pigtails and her pale skin.
Let's get into the details of the series that has as protagonist Jenna Ortega.
The distribution also includes: Percy Hynes White as Xavier, Hunter Doohan as Tyler, Emma Myers as Enid, Georgie Farmer as Ajax, Luis Guzman as Gomez (Wednesday’s father), Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia (Wednesday’s mother) and Gwendoline Christie as Principal Weems.
The story begins with school-related plotlines. Wednesday gets expelled from her 8th school after getting revenge on her brother’s bullies by putting piranhas in the school’s swimming pool. After the sweet revenge, she arrives at Nevermore, a place full of freaks, mermaids, werewolves, outcasts, gorgons, and other strange people, but also the place where her parents met and fell in love. Principal Weems takes her to Ophelia Hall to meet her new roomie, the place where she and Wednesday’s mother were roommates a while ago. She meets Enid, the roommate, who is a werewolf, and she gives her a tour of the school. Walking outside, Wednesday is almost hit by a gargoyle, but Xavier saves her. Xavier has the ability to make Art Animation and Precognitive Dreaming and he seems to like Wednesday. They met when they were 10 years old at his godmother’s funeral where they were playing hide and seek, when he hid inside the coffin and was about to get cremated, but Wednesday pressed the red button and stopped the cremation, saving his life.
Wednesday goes to Dr. Kinbott with Principal Weems, the psychologist who works with Nevermore School. Wednesday, with the help of Thing, escapes and tries to flee from Jericho. She goes to Weathervane Cafe, where she meets Tyler, a normie, whom she will see frequently.
Wednesday begins to solve a case of a killer monster who murdered s lot of people. In solving the monster case, she learns that her father is guilty of murdering a normie, Garrett, who was madly in love with her mother Morticia.
But, she also learns the truth from her father, it is that Garrett wanted to kill Gomez to be with Morticia and she stabbed him, but none of them was guilty as Garrett came to kill all the outcasts according to his father's orders. Garrett died after the poison bottle broke.
After learning the truth, Wednesday discovers that Garrett’s family has died.
After a while, the betrayal begins. Wednesday thinks Xavier is the monster and sends him to prison. Although Xavier claims he is not the monster and feels betrayed by Wednesday. Wednesday discovers that her unique normie teacher, Mrs Thornhill, is undercover and she will bring Joseph Crackstone back to life to get rid of all the outcasts. She manipulates Tyler to become Hyde, the killer monster. This way, Tyler betrays Wednesday and being controlled by the monster he wants to kill her. After a while, he attacks Wednesday and is attacked by Enid, who turns into a werewolf for the first time. I suggest you watch the series if you want to know what happens at the very end, since I don’t want to spoil it for you.
The series has various references to mythology, like sirens, vampires, gorgons and werewolves. Sirens are creatures that can steal hearts and can make people lose their minds by singing their songs, and they are found in various folklore songs, poems and ballads. Vampires are creatures that can suck blood and are afraid and sensitive to the sun - they are found in many European folktales. Gorgons are found in Greek mythology and they turn people into rocks with their head snakes. Werewolves are people that can turn into a wolf and are very strong, they are found in many folktales too.
I really enjoyed watching this series, I liked the actors’ performances, the gothic style of Burton, and the references to mythology and I really loved the fact that the series was filmed in Romania and used in many locations in our country. But my favourite fun fact is that Victor Dorobantu (Romanian magician, actor and hand actor) plays Thing, the hand.
“Wednesday” is really good and worth watching, as it is the second-most-viewed series in Netflix history. I wholeheartedly recommend you watch it, especially now, over the holidays, huddled in your favourite blanket with a cup of hot cocoa in your hands!