Wednesday

What’s it about?

Wednesday Addams is sent to an ‘alternative’ boarding school with supernatural classmates and dark secrets to uncover.

Starring

Jenna Ortega, Christina Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, Gwendoline Christie, Emma Myers

An Introduction to Wednesday

Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is the embodiment of teenage disdain, and within seconds of meeting her, you realise this is a girl who has no time for anyone’s nonsense — least of all the tedious and vapid social structure of high school. After releasing a school of piranhas into a swimming pool in an act of revenge against her brother’s bullies, Wednesday is swiftly shipped off to Nevermore Academy, a creepy, sprawling institution for the supernatural elite.

But Wednesday’s not exactly thrilled to be there. It’s not the school she loathes; it’s the sheer ordinariness of life that grates on her — classmates, forced icebreakers, and hollow chit-chat. Instead, Wednesday has much bigger fish to fry: a dark mystery involving her family’s legacy that she’s determined to unravel.

Of course, Wednesday is no amateur detective — her gift for solving puzzles is as sharp as her wit. So while she plays it cool with her new schoolmates — an assorted cast of peculiar teens, each with their own set of supernatural quirks — she quietly surveys her surroundings, uncovering clues that suggest there’s something much darker at play in the town of Jericho.

Wednesday’s cold, calculating nature makes her the perfect investigator, though she does little to make herself liked in the process. No-one’s looking to invite her to prom and she’s fine with that. As far as Wednesday’s concerned, all she needs is the satisfaction of a case well solved — and maybe a bit of vengeance on the side.

Summary

Christina Ricci’s iconic portrayal of Wednesday Addams in the films ‘The Addams Family’ (1991) and ‘Addams Family Values’ (1993) is a tough act to follow – Jenna Ortega picks up the gauntlet and adds her own enjoyable spin on our favourite Addams offspring, keeping true to Wednesday’s deadpan demeanour with extra gravitas and biting comments. Ortega stood up for her character during production, advising when she felt certain behaviours or dialogue were inappropriate to Wednesday’s integrity and values.

Wednesday the series, crafted by Tim Burton, is set in the gloomy, supernatural world of Nevermore Academy, where Wednesday Addams is sent after a rather dramatic piranha incident at her old school. Here, among outcasts and misfits who are more peculiar than anything, Wednesday attempts to navigate the labyrinthine politics of teenage angst, supernatural abilities, and family secrets.

At the heart of the show is Wednesday’s personal journey — her mission to solve a mysterious series of events that have haunted the town of Jericho for decades, a mystery entwined with her own family’s dark past. Along the way, she uses her intellect and sarcasm to dismantle everything in her path — whether it’s the grating norms of high school, the expectations of her eccentric family, or the increasingly sinister forces around her.

The tone is sharply comedic, but with a welcome undercurrent of gothic eeriness (see also Penny Dreadful), as Wednesday’s razor-sharp mind clashes with the bizarre, often dangerous, world she inhabits. The series is as much about her identity — her refusal to conform, her disinterest in the social fabric of high school life — as it is about solving the mystery. Through her interactions with oddball classmates and perplexing teachers, Wednesday reveals her remarkable, no-nonsense approach to life, love, and solving very strange murders.

Check out the Season 1 Trailer here: