Netflix' new approach at the traditional Addams Family story has been highly contested since its release earlier this year. Some people love it, some people REALLY hate it. I choose to sit fickle on the picket fence between the two. Does the series compare to the original Addams Family films that we all know and love so much? Well, no. But having said that, I still really enjoyed this adaptation and would genuinely recommend giving it a go. It's different, it's the same but not the same, but it really is a great watch if you like that kind of thing.
The series reminds me a little of the Netflix remake of the Sabrina stories in its style and storylines, and I think the two sit quite well side-by-side in a growing collection of badass young women fronting spooky Halloween reminiscent television shows. Played by Jenna Ortega, Wednesday here is truly fantastic - she sticks to the original image of being strange, dark, unforgiving. But she is also not a cut and paste of her predescessors. Ortega reclaims the role in a performance that more than stands up to Christina Ricci, and manages to respectively make it her own.
The show appears to see its limitations in comparison to film, and instead of shying away from their differences it jumps headfirst into them in a delightfully creepy rehashing of a high school drama series.
While in previous iterations, we see snippets of Wednesday Addams as part of a feature length film, this version has to work tenfold to tell the story of a character who is believable across a multi-episode journey. Some think this is where the show fails, but honestly I think this is a huge strength. The show appears to see its limitations in comparison to film, and instead of shying away from their differences it jumps headfirst into them in a delightfully creepy rehashing of a high school drama series.
A beautiful merging of popularised horror tropes in a way that demonstrates Wednesday's robustness and wholehearted darkness.
The storylines that Wednesday faces in this pseudo-high-school drama include all of the classics - the group rivalries, the local fairground, the prom - and even manage to pay homage to some of the movie greats like Carrie (1976). In fact, that prom scene is to me one of the greatest moments of the whole show. Ortega successfully mirrors the quirky dancing from the original movie in her limelight here; and proceeds to be covered in blood in ode to one of the best scenes in movie history. Instead of being horrified at this turn of events, Wednesday does only Wednesday would and comments on the cowardice of not using real human blood. It's just perfect. A beautiful merging of popularised horror tropes in a way that demonstrates Wednesday's robustness and wholehearted darkness.
The show is teeming with fantastic storylines that teeter between rehashing old favourites and reimagining them into a beautifully stylised wonderful world of the creepy and neverendingly cool Wednesday. Personally, I'm here for this generation of Addams.
Okay, so we have established that this new era of Wednesday Addams deserves her place at the banquet table. What else is there to know about this show? Having already mentioned the l1ink to traditional high school dramas, Wednesday manages to also incorporate traditionally 'creepy' storylines into these tales. Of course, there's romance - but its intertwined with a mysterious monster who must be stopped before he kills everybody. There's heartwrenching friendship fallouts - but instead of the opposites-attract friendship being the cooky friend and the cool friend, it's the colourful and sullenly monochrome. The show is teeming with fantastic storylines that teeter between rehashing old favourites and reimagining them into a beautifully stylised wonderful world of the creepy and neverendingly cool Wednesday. Personally, I'm here for this generation of Addams.
Until next time,
Alice x
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