Wednesday - General Discussion

[Morrigan2575]

On 11/26/2022 at 6:58 PM, PurpleTentacle said:

Also the normie teacher is the little sister of the dead guy, isn't she?

Yeah, I figured that out fairly early on. Although they did a very good job, IMO of laying the ground work for the 2 red herrings.

I enjoyed the series,  it was a teen supernatural drama, shades of CW/WB (Buffy, Vampire Diaries). These show runners (Miller and Gough) created Smallville so I'm not surprised that this is more Buffy than Stranger Things.  

I enjoyed the cast and characters,  I honestly don't think there was a character I hated or didn't work. 

[Spartan Girl]

Never ever trust the love interest. Seems even Wednesday had to learn that the hard way.

This was fun. Jenna was perfect as Wednesday though like most of you I wasn’t really feeling Luis and Catherine as Gomez and Morticia, not Fred as Fester—though I loved that his appearance got an actual smile out of Wednesday! And not a creepy kind like in Addams Family Values lol.

I was thrilled Christina Ricci’s character wasn’t just a cameo in-joke. She’s still got it.

Boo that we lost Gwendolyn Christie so soon.

I’ve read a lot of criticisms that all the Black characters were either villains or jerks, and while they aren’t wrong, Bianca turned out to be more of a frenemy, so she’s got room to grow.

It did at times feel like Tim Burton was doing his own version of Harry Potter. Still, if there’s a season 2, I’ll watch.

Edited December 1, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[magdalene]

I enjoyed that very much. It's doing well in the ratings on Netflix.  So I am hopeful for a season 2. My favorite was "Thing". Yes, I found a hand without a body charming.

[MAK]

4 hours ago, magdalene said:

My favorite was "Thing".

Yes! I used to watch the original show, and Lurch and Thing were my favorite!

I wonder if they'll have Cousin It in S2? Were they in the movies?

[MrPissyPuppy]

Thing in NYC:  

https://youtu.be/B479Wc72Bsc

[Chicago Redshirt]

16 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I’ve read a lot of criticisms that all the Black characters were either villains or jerks, and while they aren’t wrong, Bianca turned out to be more of a frenemy, so she’s got room to grow.

I'd say they were somewhat wrong.

Bianca started off as standoffish, but basically besides Wednesday she was the only character who had both depth and agency. They gave her a sympathetic backstory and showed that she tried to use restraint in her abilities. Compared to, say, Draco in the HP universe or the Careers in the Hunger Games and she's no villain or jerk. Indeed, IIRC, it was almost always the case that Wednesday picked the fights that the two of them had, and Bianca didn't do anything untoward/unethical toward Wednesday.

Mayor's son obviously did jerky things, but it seemed to me like he had true remorse for the dance prank and it also seemed to me like he was actually catching feelings for Enid. 

The mayor was mostly just there. He wasn't interesting enough to be a jerk or a villain. If anything, he was a lackey to the school. They didn't even develop him enough to be a viable red herring and secretly be working for a way to get rid of the outcasts.

One area where I think the show fell down was that it just copy-pasted the young-adult tropes of boy-girl love triangles. There was BeeBoy's moms, but other than that, was there a single non-hetero relationship? Wouldn't it have been nice if in a school for outcasts some of the tension were solved by having Enid date both Ajax and Mayor's Son, or EmoBoy date Bianca and Wednesday? 

[Spartan Girl]

I’m actually disappointed Tyler turned out to be the Hyde, because I really did like the relationship he and Wednesday had. I don’t like Xavier all that much: he reeks of Angry Nice Guy syndrome, even though he sort of apologized for that in the finale.

[Sakura12]

Tim Burton should definitely be criticized for other things. But in this show the real villians were 2 white people, well 3 if we count Crackstone. Bianca and Lucas started out as bullies, they ended up being good. Bianca got more of backstory and character growth then most of the other characters. 

Netflix would be dumb to not give this show a season 2. (Since it beat Stranger Things season 4 with most hours watched) Bianca and Wednesday look to be at least friendly with each other. They need to win that Fencing championship.

It's good that Christina Ricci played homicidal manaic that looks like everyone else, so Jenna Ortega could bring her version of Wednesday to life. 

[Anela]

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I’m actually disappointed Tyler turned out to be the Hyde, because I really did like the relationship he and Wednesday had. I don’t like Xavier all that much: he reeks of Angry Nice Guy syndrome, even though he sort of apologized for that in the finale.

I thought they both seemed like Angry Nice Guys. I was disappointed they didn't give her a better love interest. 

[festivus]

I enjoyed it, it depended on the person playing Wednesday to be able to carry the show and the actress certainly pulled it off. I liked the supporting cast at the school but I did not care for Gomez and Morticia. Whenever they were on I just wanted the show to get back to Wednesday. Weirdly though, I loved Fester and wanted more. 

The best thing was Wednesday dancing. I just was not expecting that and it was brilliant.

[giovannif7]

2 hours ago, festivus said:

I enjoyed it, it depended on the person playing Wednesday to be able to carry the show and the actress certainly pulled it off. I liked the supporting cast at the school but I did not care for Gomez and Morticia. Whenever they were on I just wanted the show to get back to Wednesday. Weirdly though, I loved Fester and wanted more. 

The best thing was Wednesday dancing. I just was not expecting that and it was brilliant.

Wednesday has a long history of busting out her dance moves, especially when trying to help Lurch...

[SVNBob]

20 minutes ago, giovannif7 said:

Wednesday has a long history of busting out her dance moves, especially when trying to help Lurch...

And Jenna incorporated the dance from that first clip ("The Droop") into the GooGooMuck dance.  It was brief, but it was there.

I say Jenna did it, because it was reported that she choreographed that dance herself.  She did research into the goth and other counter culture dance scenes and cobbled together that performance.  And it's not just the fans that love it.

[Spartan Girl]

7 hours ago, Anela said:

I thought they both seemed like Angry Nice Guys. I was disappointed they didn't give her a better love interest. 

Well, she doesn’t exactly need a love interest…

[festivus]

7 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

Wednesday has a long history of busting out her dance moves, especially when trying to help Lurch...

I guess I should have been more clear. I was not expecting the way she was going to dance...

9 hours ago, Anela said:

I thought they both seemed like Angry Nice Guys. I was disappointed they didn't give her a better love interest. 

I get what they were going for, wanting the audience to wonder which one was the monster, but if they really wanted to keep it kooky Wednesday would have been interested in Eugene and not those man babies. 

[madpsych78]

On 11/28/2022 at 1:43 AM, SVNBob said:

Sorry, but no.  Morticia is a statuesque beauty.  (Hence the 5' 10" Anjelica Huston in the role, and Catherine Zeta-Jones at 5' 7" and heels (compared to Guzman's 5' 5".)  Even the 5' 6" Carolyn Jones is taller than the average American woman's height of 5' 4".)  Ricci, while indeed a talented actress and beautiful lady, is quite petite at 5' 1".  For Christina to be Morticia, you'd have to cast someone like Peter Dinklage as Gomez.  (Which is a cool concept, but doesn't feel quite right.) 

Plus, Jenna Ortega is also 5' 1".  With Ricci as Morticia, she and Wednesday would be looking each other in the eyes.  And that doesn't fit with one of the show's themes of Wednesday trying to get out of the large shadow cast by Morticia.  (Seriously, imagine the scene from the first episode where Morticia gives Wednesday the amulet before leaving her at Nevermore but with Ricci in place of Zeta-Jones.  That doesn't work near as well with them on the same plane.  Morticia needs to be "towering" over Wednesday for the scene to play out with the right feeling.)

However, Ricci could play Lily Munster with no problem.  And her small stature would make whomever was cast as Herman look that much more of a giant.

No way Ricci could play Morticia. That being said, I do wonder if Gwendoline Christie could have played Morticia. Although at 6'3" perhaps she may have been TOO tall lol.

[Whimsy]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:49 PM, rwlevin said:

Did Pilgrim Land (or world or whatever it was) remind anybody else of Old Sturbridge Village or was that just me?

For people not originally from New England, Old Sturbridge Village is a town in Massachusetts that recreates New England life in the 1700s. I have many memories of going there on school trips and eating rock candy.

I thought Plimoth Plantation, but I do love Old Sturbridge Village!  Took my kids there tons of times!
 

I really enjoyed this. I loved the tone & the costumes. Tim. Futon is hit or miss for me.  Usually miss, tbh, but I loved his Tim Burtoness here.  I thought Jenna was fantastic as Wednesday. I loved seeing Gwendolyn Christie looking fabulous with the platinum hair and red lipstick. I’d only seen her in GoT.
 

I also pinged onto Tyler being the Hyde early on and also Christina Ricci being Laurel pretty early, but I still enjoyed it. I did find Xavier really bland, so if there’s a season 2 I hope they either dump him or make him more interesting. I also didn’t really feel Catherine Zeta Jones as Morticia or Luis Guzman as Gomez. So, same about season 2 for them. 

[Anela]

14 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Well, she doesn’t exactly need a love interest…

I actually thought this, too, but they had to include a love triangle, which I always hate.

[Blue Plastic]

I actually liked this more than expected. Binged it all in one day. Really enjoyed Wednesday’s friendships with werewolf girl and bee boy and how the other students like Bianca who might have seemed more adversarial at first turned out to be good people, too.

I thought maybe the sheriff was mostly okay, just gruff, but basically he was going to let Xavier be convicted for crimes he knew his son was actually committing. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

If/when there is a S2, I could see them going for a whole "No Exit" thing and had Wednesday become desperately into Bianca, while Bianca remains desperately into Xavier, and Xavier remains desperately into Wednesday.

Of course, my personal preference would be them just making Bianca a straight-up match for Wednesday.

I would also accept a romance between her and Bee Boy.

22 hours ago, Anela said:

I actually thought this, too, but they had to include a love triangle, which I always hate.

Since this came from the creators of Smallville (which had probably a half-dozen love triangles during its run, easily) and since it was stealing shamelessly from Harry Potter and other YA franchises (many of which try to ask if you're Team Edward or Team Jacob, Team Gale or Team Peeta etc), it was pretty much a given that there would have to be multiple love triangles and at least one involving Wednesday.

[Mabinogia]

I have been going back and forth on watching this. I am a huge fan of Addams Family the TV show and while I liked the movies and thought Christina Ricci was brilliantly deadpan as Wednesday, it was already veering away from what made the Addams' truly click for me, and this show seemed like it was going to veer even further, which it did. 

I would have preferred it if it hadn't tried so hard to be the Addams Family. Jenna and the rest of the cast were great. But, while the Addams' all looked like their comic strip counterparts, nothing about them, other than the downpour of anvil like references felt like the Addams Family. It felt more like a psychopath goes to magic school and learns to care about others. 

I loved the set and the costumes. Though, given they are all magical beings, and the school is basically the Addams house with a big old extension, full of creepiness and hidden passages etcetera, it was hilariously stupid that Wednesday would be the only goth kid there. 

This was basically a very high budget fanfic. It wasn't the worst way to spend a Sunday but I won't be back for a second season if they get one, which they probably will as it seems to be doing really well, unless Netflix gets another shiny new toy that does better.

[Mvnl]

On 11/29/2022 at 7:49 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

If you take the story as literally true, yes, it's self-defense. If you take it as a case where Gomez was admitting what he had to (that he was involved in the death) but lying about exactly what happened, then you could very well see it as murder. I am sure a lot of actual killers give statements where they admit that they killed the person but claim it was self-defense.

An issue with this show is that casting Christina Ricci and Gwendolyn Christie almost certainly meant one of them was going to be the season's Big Bad, and it was clear (to me, anyway) early on that it wasn't going to be Christie.

My suspicions went all over the place but I did notice pretty soon that, unless she was indeed bad,  Christina's character seemed completely pointless and like a cute cameo that never seemed to end. She just got way too much screentime without actually adding anything at all (besides: 'look this school has 1 teacher!')

[Quark]

I thought this was good.

Wednesday was an absolute hoot and the actress did a great job. She reminded me of a female version of Sheldon Cooper.

The second the plant teacher showed up, I just knew she was a bad dude.

The heights of certain characters on this show made me laugh.

[paulvdb]

‘Wednesday’ Becomes Netflix’s Third Most-Popular English-Language TV Series Of All Time With 752.52M Hours Viewed
 

Quote

Since it premiered on November 16, Wednesday has amassed 752.52M hours viewed.

For reference, both Stranger Things 4 and Dahmer surpassed 1B hours viewed within 60 days of release. At this rate, Wednesday appears to be on track to hit a similar milestone. Squid Game remains Netflix’s most popular series of all time.

This week, Wednesday held onto the No. 1 spot on Netflix’s English TV charts with another 411.29M hours viewed, beating the record it set just last week for the most viewership of any English-language TV series over a single week.

[Chaos Theory]

I think Wednesday is going to be what I like to call “a nitpickers delight.”   You are going to like it or hate it depending on what version of The Addams Family you consider the one true version.   If you liked the 1964 series then you will likely loathe  the Netflix series as this is a far cry from what made the series fun which was Morticia and Gomez being so in love and unintentionally and good naturally scaring the pants off of anyone who darkened their doorstep.  It wasnt until the 90s that the movies came out and Wednesday and her deadpan humor became a focal point of what made the story so fun.  But it was still the family unit itself and other peoples reaction to them that was a source of humor.    Wednesday going to camp and turning the place upside down or being forced to watch Disney as a Torture technique was one of the funnier bits of humor in “Addams Family Values ”
 

Wednesday the Netflix series is its own animal and built into its own universe.  A universe where yes Wednesday Addams is a psychic and her roommate is a werewolf.  But there are still aspects that remain.  What would happen if some idiot jock bullied her brother?   I do buy the fact that she would react over the top in the manner she did.  You can’t expect a girl who waterboards her brother herself to turn the other cheek.   But it also is a good way to set up a teenage angst story where Wednesday believes she can never live up to a mother who excelled and fell in love at a young age and who is vastly different but also very similar to her.  
 

I thought Wednesday and Enid were a fun pair and honestly had more chemistry than they did with any of the guys they were paired with but I understand the show will never go there.  That is what fanfic is for and it has been awhile since I have been inspired enough to write so…yay.   I did like Tyler for what he was.   The psychiatrist lady was fun and I am sorry she is gone but I am also sorry the principal is as well.   I thought the school setting was well done and yes you can compare it to Harry Potter but we are all going to compare supernatural shows set in schools to Harry Potter for awhile and that is a shame because I think Wednesday stands on its own and was a fun show that shouldn’t be compared too much to what came before.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[Racj82]

On 11/24/2022 at 10:11 PM, starri said:

I'm up to episode 4 and enjoying it, although I agree that there's not much here that seems like the Addams Family, although Jenny Ortega is great.

For the love of God, if you're going to have Christina Ricci in your cast, SHE should be Morticia.

I love RiccI but she doesn't have the look or stature of Morticia at all. Morticia should look taller than Gomez.

[Spartan Girl]

So Jenna apparently had COVID when they shot the dance scene. She’s getting dragged for this, but really, the producers were the ones that should have known better. They could have just waited until she tested negative to film that scene. This was completely irresponsible.

I just hope no one else got sick or worse because of this.

[Cattoy]

I can't decide what I think of this. There were parts I absolutely love, but it's not really the Addams family beyond some names and callbacks. And I loved the original comics, the 60s show and the movies, so I'm open to different interpretations. I'm not sure more of the family would have helped the story, though, as it really was focused on Wednesday. That turned out to be a good thing - as opposed to the very good Thing in the show! - as she was incredible in the role. Most of the "kids" in the movie did a great job, and they had some surprisingly well-written development.

Did they ever give an explanation of why Wednesday and Pugsley were going to public school in the first place? Both parents loved the school, there was nothing to indicate the family wasn't loaded in this version and both of their kids would fit in much better at Nevermore. If it was mentioned, I missed it.

And did we ever get an answer about who Rowan's mother was? They made a big deal about her being the one to predict Wednesday having a role in the destruction of the school, but wouldn't a psychic student know their predictions aren't reliable? Even if she didn't learn that until later in life, she still told her son to kill a classmate.

As much as I love Gwendolyn Christie, her part her seemed a waste. She didn't serve any real role in the story other than the obvious red herring.

Zeta-Jones was limited by the writing, but she never felt like Morticia. Guzman was just miscast. Gomez wasn't a simpering idiot.

That said, overall it was a great series and I'll watch a second season if it gets one.

[paulvdb]

4 hours ago, Cattoy said:

Did they ever give an explanation of why Wednesday and Pugsley were going to public school in the first place? Both parents loved the school, there was nothing to indicate the family wasn't loaded in this version and both of their kids would fit in much better at Nevermore. If it was mentioned, I missed it.

I don't think it was mentioned, but I assumed that Gomez and Morticia wanted their kids to live at home so they sent them to a nearby public school. I can't think of another reason why they wouldn't have sent them to Nevermore.

[leighdear]

Every time I saw Enid was on the screen, I saw Willow, and looked for Buffy.  Loved both actresses & characters.  And G. Christie as Weems was terrific. 

Fun little show, definitely entertaining as long as you aren't looking for too much to make sense or become invested in.  It's Tim Burton, so of course it's going to be campy and OTT. 

My problem with Christina Ricci is that I think her plastic surgery has changed her face so much, she doesn't look like the Wednesday SHE played and has grown up.  The shininess of her skin and altered cheekbones make it impossible to see the child she once was.  Anybody could have played that teacher. 

However, I'm definitely in for season 2.   And I think the new head mistress should be Sarah Michelle Geller.  *LOL*

[shipmate]

So was Tyler ever into her or was it all just a ruse? I was really rooting for them, I should’ve known better!

[rlc]

My 12 year old daughter and I finished this tonight. Really enjoyed it, and hope there’s a second season.

Feedback from my 12 year old- she wanted more of the Enid and Eugene friendships (and was cheering for both of them being important in the finale), did not like that the people of color were the ‘bad guys’ but glad that changed and was happy to see Wednesday and Bianca in a good place, but most of all, she was really annoyed that they needed to have love interests/kissy-stuff. She said they should focus on the spooky stuff and friendships.

[neptunewaves]

I was half-right and I hated it. I figured out Ricci was behind the killings the moment they mentioned a drowned sister, but it didn't ever occur to me they would go the Scream route and have someone else as the actual monster (even going so far as to pull a Billy with the self-inflicted injury). I like non hyde Tyler. The romance was unnecesary, sure, but he still had great chemistry with Jenna (second only to Enid's actress, but I knew they were going to brush that off along with all the storytelling beats that would have naturally lead to a romantic relationship if Enid was a guy, so), and I just enjoyed watching this laidback barista being unfazed by all the insanity surrounding Wednesday, and even, dare I say it, enjoying her quirks? He seemed genuinely amused/fascinated. Showing her Legally Blonde was inspired, like, he gets her. He was also so ride or die from the get go (never expecting something in exchange like a certain someone), and I guess we can blame all that on Laurel's control, but then why would he agree to help Wednesday escape? Laurel needed her at Nevermore, and didn't have all the pieces needed for the ritual yet, so... what was the reasoning there? Make it make sense, show!

For a moment there (before the reveal) I thought they were hinting at the hyde being like a traditional werewolf, unable to control the beast inside. I thought that was what the chains were for. And then they mentioned a master, and I thought hey, maybe the human doesn't even remember what he does when fully morphed and controlled? Could he also be a victim? So many possibilities to give Tyler a jail free card, and they went with the absolute worst, my fucking stars. 

Jenna was terrific and carried the entire series on her back. It wouldn't have worked at all without her as the lead. I truly disliked Zeta-Jones as Morticia (I kept thinking Eva Green would have killed the part), and Gomez grew on me but he was so awkward in the first episodes, good god. Thing and Enid were the MVPs of the season, just how epic was the showdown with hyde Tyler? I was also pleasantly surprised by Bianca's character development. The less said about Xavier, the better. Dude was so passive agressive, then unnervingly jealous, and violent. The love triangle was literally on his head, Wednesday was never once shown being anything but annoyed by him?

Overall, I rather enjoyed it but if people go in expecting Burton they are going to be disappointed. His sensibilities are there, but so are the annoying bits the Smallville dudes are famous for, unfortunately.

[LadyChaos]

On 11/24/2022 at 9:48 AM, Keywestclubkid said:

a brand-new cell phone that no one knew about gets a text from a stalker .. I mean how who else had the number but Vincent? im a bit confused 

My guess is that tptb will go the route of the stalker saw Xavier giving Wednesday the phone, and it didn't take them long to track down the number of the phone that Xavier bought her...I mean, realistically a good hacker could probably figure that out pretty quick because they already know who bought the phone and since I doubt its a burner...

While I liked the show over all, I think I would've liked it better if they weren't trying to capitalize on the Addams franchise and just called it a different family.....or maybe going the route of her being Wednesday's daughter at Nevermore so its more like the next generation of Addams...

My biggest gripes, is that Thornhill being the villain felt wayyyy to obvious..so much so that I watched thinking 'nahh...can't be her, its obvious.' And as soon as we knew it was a hyde, I was 50/50 it being Tyler or Enid. I also think that Xavier forgave Wednesday too easily, but I suppose she did take an arrow for him.

I think Goodey's warning of Raven's are supposed to be alone and isolated should be taken with a grain of salt as Goodey also went mad before she died so...I hope Wednesday comes to the realization later that having friends and dare I say a love interest, doesn't make her weak and probably it was the isolation that drove Goodey mad, not being a raven...

Overall, I enjoyed it, and will watch a s2.....it does feel as if Netflix was looking for a replacement show of Sabrina...and it does feel very Sabrina'y...so much so that I half expect it to come out that Wednesday is really the daughter of the devil in s2.....but as long as they do right by the show, not the nightmare that Sabrina turned into, I'll continue watching.

[LadyChaos]

12 hours ago, neptunewaves said:

I was half-right and I hated it. I figured out Ricci was behind the killings the moment they mentioned a drowned sister, but it didn't ever occur to me they would go the Scream route and have someone else as the actual monster (even going so far as to pull a Billy with the self-inflicted injury). I like non hyde Tyler. The romance was unnecesary, sure, but he still had great chemistry with Jenna (second only to Enid's actress, but I knew they were going to brush that off along with all the storytelling beats that would have naturally lead to a romantic relationship if Enid was a guy, so), and I just enjoyed watching this laidback barista being unfazed by all the insanity surrounding Wednesday, and even, dare I say it, enjoying her quirks? He seemed genuinely amused/fascinated. Showing her Legally Blonde was inspired, like, he gets her. He was also so ride or die from the get go (never expecting something in exchange like a certain someone), and I guess we can blame all that on Laurel's control, but then why would he agree to help Wednesday escape? Laurel needed her at Nevermore, and didn't have all the pieces needed for the ritual yet, so... what was the reasoning there? Make it make sense, show!

For a moment there (before the reveal) I thought they were hinting at the hyde being like a traditional werewolf, unable to control the beast inside. I thought that was what the chains were for. And then they mentioned a master, and I thought hey, maybe the human doesn't even remember what he does when fully morphed and controlled? Could he also be a victim? So many possibilities to give Tyler a jail free card, and they went with the absolute worst, my fucking stars. 

I think, given the way he acted in the jail....it was clear that Tyler, once realizing what he was, actually enjoyed it and that he only listens to Thornhill because she lets him do what he enjoys(I think they did say hydes eventually can no longer be controlled and do turn on their masters).....I think he was only pretending to help her escape, He clearly followed her into the woods, and for all we know his real plan was for something to go wrong at the train station.

I think with Xavier, there is a difference between expecting something from her and trying to make a connection and not hiding his hope....I think he clearly remembered her very fondly when she saved his life when they were children, and wants to be in her life now....and we find out that Xavier had a legitimate reason to think Tyler was a bad a person....yeah, Tyler said he changed.....but really he just graduated from nasty pranks to cannibalism....Tyler also voiced wanting more from Wednesday several times and took her rebuff like a sad puppy who kept coming back to be kicked....except with him it was an act. At least Xavier had legitimate reason to be really angry, she did give him hope that she felt more for him when she asked him to the dance. 

[Mabinogia]

5 hours ago, LadyChaos said:

or maybe going the route of her being Wednesday's daughter at Nevermore so its more like the next generation of Addams...

Oh, I like that idea. And given how very little the rest of the Addams' matter to the story, it would have worked. They could still have had Thing because, does a disembodied hand age?, and even Fester could have still been around. Gomez and Morticia felt more like product placement than anything. Their stupid backstory could easily have been Wednesday and her husband with little Thursday (or whatever they ended up naming the kid) being the kid heading off to boarding school. 

[LadyChaos]

21 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Oh, I like that idea. And given how very little the rest of the Addams' matter to the story, it would have worked. They could still have had Thing because, does a disembodied hand age?, and even Fester could have still been around. Gomez and Morticia felt more like product placement than anything. Their stupid backstory could easily have been Wednesday and her husband with little Thursday (or whatever they ended up naming the kid) being the kid heading off to boarding school. 

Exactly. I think that would've been a great way to go 

[neptunewaves]

13 hours ago, LadyChaos said:

I think, given the way he acted in the jail....it was clear that Tyler, once realizing what he was, actually enjoyed it and that he only listens to Thornhill because she lets him do what he enjoys(I think they did say hydes eventually can no longer be controlled and do turn on their masters).....I think he was only pretending to help her escape, He clearly followed her into the woods, and for all we know his real plan was for something to go wrong at the train station.

I think with Xavier, there is a difference between expecting something from her and trying to make a connection and not hiding his hope....I think he clearly remembered her very fondly when she saved his life when they were children, and wants to be in her life now....and we find out that Xavier had a legitimate reason to think Tyler was a bad a person....yeah, Tyler said he changed.....but really he just graduated from nasty pranks to cannibalism....Tyler also voiced wanting more from Wednesday several times and took her rebuff like a sad puppy who kept coming back to be kicked....except with him it was an act. At least Xavier had legitimate reason to be really angry, she did give him hope that she felt more for him when she asked him to the dance. 

Oh yes, I am not arguing that. The convo with Wednesday at the jail left no room for doubting he's gone full sociopathic. What I am saying it's everything in the show up to that point hint at the situation being a little more ambiguous than that, and I thought it would have been more interesting to deal with a tragic figure than yet another sociopath going berserk for shit and giggles. The timeline is a little fuzzy on purpose, so we don't know if Tyler started cleaning his act before Laurel got a hold of him; he could have very well been already seeing the doctor and working at the cafe before Laurel woke the hyde. And despite what he says, the flashback shows Laurel had to restrain and keep injecting him for a while before he finally broke.

I don't buy that Tyler was only pretending to help Wednesday get to the train station because what exactly could he have done? Laurel needed her alive. That's why she either sent him to stop Rowan or Tyler acted out of his volition. 

And then we have the "mixed signals" scene. I found it a bit odd at the time because Tyler had never been pushy and barely batted an eye at Wednesday changing her mind mid-sentence before but, looking back, maybe that was when Laurel started urging him to get closer to Wednesday. Even Wednesday herself looked taken aback. Enid pushed her out of her comfort zone more than Tyler ever did. And yet Wednesday reacts slightly differently to the sudden but inevitable declarations of interest. She's blunt but far from antagonistic with Tyler and the exact opposite with Xavier. Because this isn't the first nor last time Xavier acts entitled to Wednesday's attention. Whereas Tyler's pushiness seems to come out of the blue, this is a pattern for Xavier.

I'm just massively disappointed they chose to write Tyler off like that. I don't even care if he got together and stayed with Wednesday (let them be friends!), I think he was a fun, interesting character to have around. A chill "normie" just hanging out with the weirdos and putting up with all kinds of crazy shit from a place of genuine amusement/fascination.

[Anela]

I think that Tyler did like her, but it was the "nice guy" thing. If she wasn't going to date him, he wasn't going to be her friend, and also wouldn't protect her, the way he did in the first episode. 

When I said "a certain person's death" on the first page, I couldn't remember her name, and I also didn't want to spoil it, if someone clicked on the thread, and hadn't watched it yet. I was disappointed that she was killed, thanks to their doing the thing of, "show your proof to the villain, instead of trapping them first." 

[Hanahope]

Jenna Ortega really did well in the role, she was so good in letting her emotions show through her eyes and the tiniest bit of smile.  I was very disappointed to lose Principal Weems.  having so many adults die (or get taken out in other ways) makes it too much of a show focused almost exclusively on the kids with new "guest stars" for the adult roles each season.  

the mystery was good, but there were too few options for the villains and it became clear who was the master when the timeline was mentioned all over the place.  what would she have done if Wednesday hadn't gone to the school?  how else could she re-animate Crackstone?

[LadyChaos]

9 hours ago, neptunewaves said:

Oh yes, I am not arguing that. The convo with Wednesday at the jail left no room for doubting he's gone full sociopathic. What I am saying it's everything in the show up to that point hint at the situation being a little more ambiguous than that, and I thought it would have been more interesting to deal with a tragic figure than yet another sociopath going berserk for shit and giggles. The timeline is a little fuzzy on purpose, so we don't know if Tyler started cleaning his act before Laurel got a hold of him; he could have very well been already seeing the doctor and working at the cafe before Laurel woke the hyde. And despite what he says, the flashback shows Laurel had to restrain and keep injecting him for a while before he finally broke.

I don't buy that Tyler was only pretending to help Wednesday get to the train station because what exactly could he have done? Laurel needed her alive. That's why she either sent him to stop Rowan or Tyler acted out of his volition. 

And then we have the "mixed signals" scene. I found it a bit odd at the time because Tyler had never been pushy and barely batted an eye at Wednesday changing her mind mid-sentence before but, looking back, maybe that was when Laurel started urging him to get closer to Wednesday. Even Wednesday herself looked taken aback. Enid pushed her out of her comfort zone more than Tyler ever did. And yet Wednesday reacts slightly differently to the sudden but inevitable declarations of interest. She's blunt but far from antagonistic with Tyler and the exact opposite with Xavier. Because this isn't the first nor last time Xavier acts entitled to Wednesday's attention. Whereas Tyler's pushiness seems to come out of the blue, this is a pattern for Xavier.

I'm just massively disappointed they chose to write Tyler off like that. I don't even care if he got together and stayed with Wednesday (let them be friends!), I think he was a fun, interesting character to have around. A chill "normie" just hanging out with the weirdos and putting up with all kinds of crazy shit from a place of genuine amusement/fascination.

Well....Thornhill had been there about 18 months, she told Wednesday, and went to the coffee shop everyday....We know that roughly a year passed after he 'pranked' Xavier, which he said prompted his change of heart....which I'm inclined to believe initially provoked him to seek the therapist. And by all intent and purposes there appeared to only be about 4-5 deaths related to taking parts, not including the the ones not labeled as 'bear attacks'.....since its only 4-5 deaths I'm feeling its happened over a short time because 4-5 animal related attacks over a year would probably not be looked at too closely. So I'm guessing that the attacks probably started a few months before the events in the show.

I also disagree that the show just 'wrote him off' as just another sociopath...I'm glad it turned out that he knew was he was doing and enjoyed it and proving Wednesday wrong. I felt if they made it so he was sorry, and didn't know what he was doing..that would've been the obvious copout for this kind of show. As a whole, there have been a lot of people complaining about how we seem to be in this trend of where the 'villain' is justified, or relatable, or gets a redemption arc because deep down their really a good person who just did a bad thing for the right reasons or was coerced....I enjoyed finally getting a villain again that was okay to just not like and think was a bad person.

And I don't view Xavier's actions as feeling entitled on Wednesday's time....but more that he angry that she likes the person who he knows is not a good person, and tormented him. He also only seems to have a problem with her hanging out with Tyler, but no problem with her hanging out with anyone else. And honestly, if anything he is far more antagonistic towards her then she is to him, as he is quick to point out her flawed logic or point out her hypocrisy when she gets on her high horse....and she kind of needs that, and if anything its why she is distant with him because she don't like that he challenges her intellectually instead of bowing down and taking her verbal assault.

[Sakura12]

On 12/12/2022 at 4:32 PM, Mabinogia said:

Oh, I like that idea. And given how very little the rest of the Addams' matter to the story, it would have worked. They could still have had Thing because, does a disembodied hand age?, and even Fester could have still been around. Gomez and Morticia felt more like product placement than anything. Their stupid backstory could easily have been Wednesday and her husband with little Thursday (or whatever they ended up naming the kid) being the kid heading off to boarding school. 

She obviously would've named her daughter Dahlia after her favorite unsolved murder.

The show is called Wednesday not the Addams family, so the rest of the family would be guest players. Jenna felt like teenage Wednesday to me. 

Christina Ricci wasn't originally supposed to be on the show, they asked her after the other actress dropped out. So I'm not sure if she played the original character or they changed it for her. They had to know she'd be the obvious villian. 

[Kid]

On 8/17/2022 at 1:03 PM, paulvdb said:

I think it's going take me some time to get used to Luiz Guzman as Gomez. He looks very different than Raul Julia.

I like him better than Raul Julia.

[AntFTW]

41 minutes ago, Kid said:

I like him better than Raul Julia.

I LOVVVEEEDDDD Raul Julia's Gomez. It was comedic genius.

I may be a little biased because it was the greatness of the 90s Addams Family movies with Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia that got me into the entire Addams Family world and I soaked up every piece of Addams Family content I could find after watching them.

[call me ishmael]

I thought this was pretty fabulous honestly.  The casting was great with the exception of Morticia and Gomez.  And i thought the characters were great with the exception of Morticia and Gomez.  And i think that was the most interesting Thing i have ever seen.

Jenna Ortega was terrific as everyone says.  I’d watch her in almost anything.  But i also thought Wednesday was well written.  She really didn’t understand the rules of the game but was so sharp that she was able to cut herself through.  Sure it was a bit tropey but what the hell.

And I didn’t really get Harry Potter vibes.  This was a darker version of high school is Hell from Buffy.  But in fact Wednesday wasn’t a chosen one—she was instead manipulated even before she got there and triumphed only because of her frenemies and because she didn’t care who got in her way.  And a good deal of it was funny.

the other thing is that I didn’t mind Fred Armison in a role.  That’s a first.

[Mr. R0b0t]

I've never found Armison appealing and his Fester is odd.  Guzman has the acting chops and the look, but for some reason they have him playing Gomez strangely to me.  CZJ just isn't doing it for me at all, but thankfully she's not being asked to do much.  Aside from that, what a delightful show and I look forward to seeing how they could expand from here.

[Kid]

On 12/19/2022 at 4:06 PM, call me ishmael said:

And i think that was the most interesting Thing i have ever seen.

I totally agree!!!!

[LadyChaos]

How is it Xavier is considered the wet blanket and Tyler was so great with Wednesday and didn't expect anything? I'm asking because I'm seeing this a lot on a lot of discussion threads...

Xavier is open an honest about his thoughts and feelings yeah....I mean the audacity of a guy being open and honest....but he also calls Wednesday on her crap all the time...

He saves her...and she makes a remark about him trying to be the big strong man saving the weak woman who hopes the woman will be gratefully indebted to him...and he goes 'OMG! Your soooo right...I couldn't possibly have done it just because it was the right thing to do...of course not. I also couldn't have done it because you saved my life once...no...It must be because I thought you were a weak female...'  ..... or when Wednesday called him an 'Elitist snob' and he turned it back on her with 'Well...since our families are both wealthy and run in the same circles....If I'm an elitist snob, what does that make you?' 

Meanwhile, Tyler is over here 'I'm getting mixed signals from you. Do you like me? Want to date me? No...let me ask again in another episode. Let me take you on this super romantic date? You took me to this old run down house, where I nearly died(not really) but I'm the only one that lets that roll off my back and still wants to kiss you when your friends rightfully called you on your crap and then bailed. (I mean of course we know why at the end....but....still.)

[nodorothyparker]

Finally finished this. This show is a strange animal in that I thought it did some things very well. It's clearly a star turn for Jenna Ortega, who basically carried the whole thing on her back and totally has the deadpan thing down. But as a long-time Addams Family aficionado who loved Christina Ricci in her turn at the title role, I didn't like it as much as I wanted to like it. So much of it felt like a very casual knowledge of the Addams Family brand of humor and Harry Potter run through a Tim Burton does Hot Topic blender.  I wouldn't have been surprised at all to learn that Catherine Zeta Jones had never heard of Morticia Addams at all when she took the part and got no more instruction than "she wears a tight black dress and makes pouty faces at Gomez."

The story itself was every weirdo boarding school plot with Harry Potter monsters thrown in and once you realized Gwendolyn Christie's character was being played straight it felt pretty obvious that the only other major star in the credits wearing a comically bad wig and glasses combo was the likely culprit. Didn't care about the sort of kind of not really triangle the show was definitely hinting at but was a little sorry to see Tyler was not only the hyde but that he was fully aware of what he was doing. The actor had good chemistry with Ortega and played well off of all the weirdness around him. It's also less interesting to me to see a psycho go full psycho because a villain's gotta villain than if he had been a more gothic tragic figure unaware he even had that in him. The less said about the resurrected Scooby Doo angry Pilgrim father villain the better. It's actually kind of disappointing to realize Christina Ricci's entire plot built up to that.

[LadyChaos]

17 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

Finally finished this. This show is a strange animal in that I thought it did some things very well. It's clearly a star turn for Jenna Ortega, who basically carried the whole thing on her back and totally has the deadpan thing down. But as a long-time Addams Family aficionado who loved Christina Ricci in her turn at the title role, I didn't like it as much as I wanted to like it. So much of it felt like a very casual knowledge of the Addams Family brand of humor and Harry Potter run through a Tim Burton does Hot Topic blender.  I wouldn't have been surprised at all to learn that Catherine Zeta Jones had never heard of Morticia Addams at all when she took the part and got no more instruction than "she wears a tight black dress and makes pouty faces at Gomez."

The story itself was every weirdo boarding school plot with Harry Potter monsters thrown in and once you realized Gwendolyn Christie's character was being played straight it felt pretty obvious that the only other major star in the credits wearing a comically bad wig and glasses combo was the likely culprit. Didn't care about the sort of kind of not really triangle the show was definitely hinting at but was a little sorry to see Tyler was not only the hyde but that he was fully aware of what he was doing. The actor had good chemistry with Ortega and played well off of all the weirdness around him. It's also less interesting to me to see a psycho go full psycho because a villain's gotta villain than if he had been a more gothic tragic figure unaware he even had that in him. The less said about the resurrected Scooby Doo angry Pilgrim father villain the better. It's actually kind of disappointing to realize Christina Ricci's entire plot built up to that.

Someone I don't remember who, called Nevermore Illvermorny and honestly...It feels like a HP and Sabrina had a baby.

[nodorothyparker]

I guess the answer depends on what you're looking for. This series for me was fine for something to burn through holiday week whenever everybody's lazing around in their pajamas enjoying the time off, but as the latest entry in the Addams Family universe I was kind of underwhelmed. It managed at times to feel both like a retread of lesser worn material and like the writers didn't even always have a handle on how to write this family with any faithfulness to Charles Addams' particular brand of humor. Both parents felt pretty out of character during the whole Gomez murdered another kid during their schooldays, oops, wait, no he didn't storyline.