Woe What a Night

Ep 4 proves that Wednesday isn't afraid to go big - and occasionally, gloriously ridiculous - when the moment calls for it. My teenage daughter loved every twist; I was just impressed at how confidently the show leans into its own brand of gothic absurdity.

Jenna Ortega continues to deliver insults like precision weapons, while Emma Myers' Enid remains the human equivalent of a confetti cannon. Gwendoline Christie once again commands the room as Principal Weems, and Joy Sunday's Bianca gets more layers, moving beyond the "mean girl" mould into something sharper and more interesting.

This one also gives us one of the season's most talked-about set pieces... a brilliantly offbeat, slightly unhinged showcase of Wednesday's individuality that will either make you grin or wonder if you've lost your grip on reality. Burton's fingerprints are all over it: exaggerated, stylised, and just the right amount of creepy.

It still straddles that line between teen drama and macabre mystery, but it's doing it with such flair - and such unapologetic weirdness - that you can't help but enjoy the ride. Another 8/10 from our cross-generational review panel.

Even if it's still a drama about teenagers, the fact that the viewer is aware of Wednesday's hatred for the subgenre makes it a lot more fascinating. We've got the standard "asking a man out to a dance" moment as well as a scenario in which she gets a makeover, which means that we've covered all the bases for this mashup of genres. The character appeared to be rather constant, with the exception of some unpredictable behaviour that occurred on Wednesday.

The shooting of the dance as well as the choreography were both done quite well. The music is effective in contributing to the melancholy mood that has been created here. Because the scene is so characteristically associated with Tim Burton, I feel that everyone should see it more than once. On the other hand, it looked as though the two of them had suddenly acquired a love for one another, which gave the love triangle an artificial and pointless quality. Why were Wednesday so agitated now when it seemed that they had never shown any interest in the subject to begin with? I can understand how a romantic interest may be beneficial to the plot, but Wednesday never gave any indication that she cared about them beyond their function as a plot element. To her, "leading" the men on was never as much of a worry as her humiliation and her dread of hurting Enid. She was more concerned about Enid.

This is the rich kid high school dance episode. Really driving home the have-nots the Outcasts are. Drama abound with pointless webbing caught up in the corners of "if they would just have one conversation this plot would be resolved." I don't care about the relationships of any of these characters and I have a hard time believing the protagonist does either. At least Wednesday being caught off guard and not being clever enough to figure a way out of it addresses the elephant in the room: This is not Wednesday Addams, and I'm not sure who this show is for. The middle school edgy kid dialogue is becoming grating, did one of the not-like-other-girls outcast actually say a "I grew up with brothers" line, and sprinklers don't work that way.

I have a theory that the writers wanted to create a generic teen drama show, but got landed with a Wednesday Addams series, so just inserted her in place of their original protagonist. That's really the only way I could explain someone thinking involving Wednesday Addams in a teen love triangle storyline would be a great idea, or half a dozen other naff plot lines that Wednesday's dragged into.

Even Wednesday's surly, sarcastic disposition, and Ortega's great characterisation isn't saving this show from mediocrity. The uniqueness of the character is being drowned out by all this... bland normality. That's about the worst thing that can happen to an Addams Family show.

And of course we still haven't gone an episode without the writers inserting their political baggage into the dialogue. This episode we got 'climate crisis', 'female objectification', and 'you can't say that, *it's offensive*' - how they spoil us!

Three points for Ortega's performance, the dance choreography, and Thing. Everything else is far too normie.

Why can't shows like this or the recent Foundation series be developed by people who love the source material and will treat them with the respect they deserve?

I suppose if everyone complains but then gives it a 9/10 we're getting what we deserve.

Wednesday continues her investigations and goes to the Rave'N dance.

This is another solid episode with great visuals and a strong central performance.

The mystery plot moves only slightly in this episode with a few bits of information revealed that makes you curious about various characters and ends on another moment where you want to see what happens next.

A fair bit of screen time is dedicated to character moments, particularly the romances and potential romances of various individuals. I think you have to like them or at least take an interest in these dynamics to fully appreciate these scenes. As beautiful as some sequences are to look at and as excellent as actors such as Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers play the parts, I don't think the writers have done enough to make everything work. Personally, I think screen couplings work best when the characters have gone through something meaningful together beforehand and so far in the story it's not the case. It feels to me like they are attracted to each other just because the writers say the are. (Though, I might just have forgotten what it was like to be a teenager)

This episode has some of the best cinematography, lighting, art design and choreography in the show so far.

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