Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe

After watching this episode, I had no doubt that Wednesday would be a good series. They set up everyone's character perfectly and even got us started on mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and truly can not wait to watch the rest of this original Netflix series!

It's very fast paced and gothic. The way it's set up is all about Wednesday moving to Nevermore after she is expelled from her other schools. It's apparently a school for outcasts and her parents say she'll fit in. She doesn't, but she makes friends with some other members and is beginning to like it there. It's a real cliffhanger.

Wednesday Addams is sent to the Nevermore Academy.

This is an enjoyable opening episode with decent humour and character moments.

The plot sets the scene, introduces characters and kicks off a central mystery pretty well inside one hour.

I am a fan of the Christina Ricci version of the title character and I'm happy to say that Jenna Ortega plays it in the same deadpan spirit. How much a single Addams character can carry an entire show will be interesting to see, but the writers definitely chose the right one.

The humour is typically Addams Family, by satirising social norms with Wednesday's reactions and one-liners towards various people. Plus it has all the macabre jokes that involve pain, suffering and death in some shape or form. How much of this will stay fresh for an entire series remains to be seen. I particularly like the opening sequence and a memorable line from Wednesday relating to social media.

Visually it's excellent, with strong cinematography and superb art design, that feels typically Burton, especially the scenes where various shades of colour contrasting with Wednesday gothic appearance.

There are some moments that feel a bit forced to try and add a degree of coolness to the character such as the martial arts. The related jock-bully type antagonists appearing again near the end to increase the stakes, after already proving inept as threats, feels contrived and a bit pointless to me.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

Wednesday Addams is expelled from her school after nearly killing a classmate. This is her eighth expulsion in five years. At wits end, her parents, Morticia and Gomez, send her to Nevermore Academy, Morticia's old school. A school for outcasts, Wednesday should fit in but it appears that even among outcasts she's an outcast.

A fun start to the series. Quite original, especially if you don't know much about the Addams Family, and very well filmed. I was not surprised to discover that the episode is directed by Tim Burton - it has that cinematography and feel to it.

A nice nod to the Addams Family movies of the 90s by having Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday in those movies, in the supporting cast in this series.

So, a great start. My only worry is that it all seems so shiny and new and that the writers rely too much on this novelty, rather than writing good scripts.

Jenna Ortega a baddie ngl. It is a W episode and touches a lot on how she views the world and what her values are. It is expected that her values may change later on in the show like they do in a lot of movies and shows and this episode just touched on her and how she sees the world. The character introductions are very good and flowed smoothly and they had some good action scenes to touch on the problems she will have to face later in the show. The jokes some of the characters make are a little corny and cheesy but it's nothing you can't get through. It's a fire show and this episode is a very good pilot to introducing everything.

Let go of your old preconceptions of Wednesday Addams and enjoy the ride. Jenna Ortega has made this teenager a completely unique character.

The set design, the costuming, and the casting make a great tribute to the original comics. If you look at the original comics, Gomez was not particularly handsome. In fact a lot of the humor was based on the fact that this unattractive, short, fat man was able to not only catch, but keep a gorgeous woman enthralled. Luis Guzman, a singularly amazing actor, is perfectly cast.

I am enjoying the mystery aspects of the plot and the macabre undertones are just delicious!