Warning: spoilers ahead

Describing Tim Burton’s latest creation Wednesday as excellent or well done would be the understatement of the century. I regard Wednesday to be close to perfection. The storyline has character progression, twists and turns, and creative tropes, tightly woven into eight episodes. 

In the first scene of Wednesday, the viewers are hit with Wednesday Addams’s abnormal tendencies. Her dark clothes and demeanor, combined with her terrifying actions such as putting piranhas in her school pool, allow the viewers a glimpse into her loveably dark personality.

Wednesday’s misbehavior, AKA the piranhas in the pool incident, causes severe injury to a student. Her parents end up sending her to Nevermore Academy, their alma mater, a school located in Jericho, for outcasts: werewolves, vampires, etc. In addition, she was assigned court-ordered therapy. 

This was a great way to start the television series. It felt as if her actions acted as a prelude to future events in the show such as monster attacks or even the catty nature between Wednesday and her classmates. 

The first student introduced to Wednesday is Enid, her roommate, and a budding werewolf. Enid’s room decoration and demeanor are cheerful and light-hearted: think unicorns, sunshine, and rainbows. Her attitude contrasts with Wednesday’s overall disposition, which can be described as apathetic. Wednesday meets other classmates such as Xavier; an artist, Bianca; a siren, and Ajax; a Gorgan like Medusa, during her first day at Nevermore. 

Initially, Wednesday is determined to escape Nevermore, knowing that she will never be able to crawl out of her mother’s shadows. Her first attempt to escape is during a therapy session where she climbs out the window and flees to the town coffee shop. There, she meets Tyler: the barista, son of the town sheriff, and eventual love interest.

Later that week, she is attacked by a telekinetic student and shown a prophecy, a photo, of her and the town founder, Joseph Crackstone, battling. In the photo, the surrounding area of Nevermore is up in flames. On top of all this chaos, a monster is loose in Jericho, attacking several town members. 

The show has the classic trope of a love triangle where two boys like one girl. This is typical of many television shows and movies. Wednesday, however, brings a layer that differentiates that trope. Wednesday is uncomfortable with emotions and displays of affection at times. This allows for many funny one-liners such as “you’ll get over it,” after Tyler expresses his feelings toward her.

Rather than exploring relationships with her love interests, Xavier and Tyler, she uses them for her personal gain, for example, hunting the monster. She is oblivious and uninterested, the majority of the time, in her love interests. That dynamic is very rare in a television show and is a breath of fresh air when compared to other love triangle relationships on the screen. 

Wednesday’s character grows a lot throughout the show. The viewers see her growing because of her relationship, for example with Enid and Tyler. Later in the season, Wednesday expresses more positive emotions like caring, kindness, and empathy. That development was a direct result of her peers. The script did a great job of showing Wednesday’s development through her actions, whether it be asking her friends for help or joining in on silly extracurricular activities.

I am going to jump to the end of the series. Wow, just wow. That is a fitting word for the ending of this action-packed show. First of all, I want to applaud whoever had the idea to create fake-outs during the reveal of the monster. Wednesday accuses maybe two or three people of being the monster before, at last, realizing the monster’s true identity. And, the reveal was written in such a spectacular way. The writer allows the viewers to know who the monster is before the monster knew they were discovered. Then, the writers carefully unfolded the monster’s storyline. Even after that big reveal, there are still shocking turns like the mystery of Maryline Thornhill, and the compact fight scene between the students of Nevermore and Joseph Crackstone.

I would rate this show easily a 4.5/5. Although the show isn’t perfect, it comes very close. Witnessing the larger-than-life characters in the Addams family world as well as the creative storylines and shocking twists and turns within this show makes Wednesday a must-see show.