I have seen enough bad Netflix adaptations and spinoffs to be skeptical about the success of Wednesday. While the casting seemed perfect, I refused to get too excited. I was pleasantly surprised by this spinoff. While it may not be perfect, it is a solid series that you should consider watching.
After a terrible prank, Wednesday is sent to Nevermore, a school for gifted outsiders. The school is full of werewolves, vampires, and people who just don’t fit into the rest of society. Wednesday is resistant at first but slowly comes to tolerate the change. There is something sinister lurking in the woods around Nevermore, and Wednesday loves sinister. Wednesday finds herself in the middle of a mystery full of murder, mayhem, and conspiracy. It is enough to put a smile on her otherwise pale and gloomy face. Can she get to the bottom of things before the year is out?
This is the fourth show in this supernatural school genre I have seen this year. While I noticed that are a lot of parallels, it manages to be a unique enough narrative. The story and lore are tame and easy to follow, the aesthetic is visually appealing, and Wednesday is a fantastic protagonist. Some of the writing and acting aren’t great, but it isn’t bad enough to stop watching.
The mystery in this series is well-developed. It will keep most audiences guessing until the big reveal at the end. I can assure you that there is enough misdirection to muddle your theories as soon as you make them. If you are paying enough attention, there are enough clues to solve the mystery early on. It isn’t overtly obvious unless you know what you are looking for, so I would avoid spoilers. It is refreshing to see a mystery with good attention to detail. There is nothing worse than watching a sloppy mystery where the solution is over-rationalized nonsense at the end.
The characters in this series are fine, although they get sloppy the farther removed they are from Wednesday. The acting is inconsistent between the supporting actors unless they are close to Wednesday. It isn’t bad, but it is noticeable. This might be intentional since outside of Wednesday, most characters are one-dimensional.
Wednesday is a fantastic protagonist. I was afraid they were going to make her a generic brooding goth girl, but there is some surprising depth to Wednesday. I like that Wednesday isn’t perfect. She makes mistakes, loses, and is even wrong sometimes, but she learns from her downfalls. She may not admit when she makes mistakes, but she tries harder, attempts to make amends, and experiences meaningful character growth. The series does a tremendous job of building up her growth and highlighting those important moments. Wednesday will not end in the same place where she started her journey.
My only complaint about this series is that the ending is a bit sloppy. I lost interest because the pacing feels rushed as the series tries to close up all the different plot threads it’s set up throughout the season. It still remained an enjoyable experience and one that I recommend to everyone. This is a different tone than any of the source materials. This is a lot more serious dark and structured more like a teen drama. It has a lot of similar themes, but with a lot less fan service. That said, this is honestly one of the better ones of the genre I have seen. You can stream it now on Netflix.
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I was planning on watching this, I am a big fan of the Addam’s family.
It is different tone than the usual, but it works out pretty well. It is a solid series, I got my parents to watch it and they are obsessed with it even though they have never seen any of the other Addams family movies.
I also will see.👌👌
I watched the first season and was glued. A lot of cheering on my part for Wednesday with this spin-off whereas I didn’t cheer (or jeer) with the other Addam’s shows. I think this will be hit or miss with any oncoming seasons. I’m looking forward to locking myself up for a day or two for the next (crossing my fingures that they don’t decide not to continue it). Thank you for the review! I’m certainly a fan of this Wednesday!
She had such a good journey. I am glad they didn’t just make her a generic quirky goth girl but I had the same feeling at the end. I was hoping it would just be a one off, next season might not be as good.
Ariel and I just got done watching this. It was pretty good! And yet another great review! 🙂
Thank you for reading! My wife and I ended up watching it 4 times over the weekend because we kept trying to get our families to watch it too.
No problem, man! We are thinking about rewatching it, if we get time between all of the Hallmark Christmas movie’s 🤣 by the way, you and your wife should check out Noel’s Diary.
Oof, good luck! It gets harder every year to make it through Halmark. We will check it out! Thanks for the rec.
Ooooo I know lol I have gotten to tbe point where I’ll ruin the movie by saying what will happen before if even starts. Ariel hates it lol
My wife hates it too. If its something she really wants to see, she will watch it without me when I am playing games or something so I don’t bother her.
Same 😂 she is becoming very comfortable with telling me to get out when she is about to watch a new film 😂 I guess my plan worked 😉
My wife also will pause whatever she is watching so I can finish my rants to let me know that I am bothering her. I can’t help it though, it’s who I am! that’s why I started the blog, to channel the energy elsewhere.
I agree with this post right to the dot. The Wednesday series was everything I look for but scarcely find.
Yes it was lots of fun, but I think they should have ended it after one. I don’t have faith in Netflix to get it right a second time.