“I know I’m stubborn, single-minded, and obsessive. But those are all traits of great writers. Yes, and serial killers — what’s your point?” — Wednesday Addams, Netflix, 2022.

The Addams Family has become an American household name since the sixties. Since then, there have been six movies on said family, and they have been a staple of society well known for their theme song featuring the double snap. 

Now Tim Burton and Netflix have taken on a reboot called Wednesday, featuring Jenna Ortega as the sadistic protagonist, daughter of Morticia and Gomez, Wednesday Addams. 

The show follows the journey of the only daughter in the family as she attends Nevermore Academy— a school built for outcasts (beings that all coincidentally have supernatural powers) after an incident that got her expelled from her last school. In order to protect her brother from athlete bullies, she threw piranhas in the school’s swimming pool — while the swim team, said athlete bullies, were still swimming. Wednesday barely eluded an attempted murder charge, which in her opinion would’ve been a very bad thing only because “everyone would know she failed to get the job done.” 

Wednesday is both stoic and at times charming— her sense of humor is very cut and dry but relatable and on the button. She’s a very interesting protagonist to handle the genre of mystery due to her relatively unique persona in comparison to the main characters of certain CW shows, namely Riverdale and Nancy Drew. 

Watching someone, who hid in one of the small, dark, cold slots where dead bodies are preserved at the morgue (and enjoyed it so much she stayed for an extra ten to twenty minutes) and been compared to a corpse for her milky white complexion and “dead eyes,” solve murder mysteries has got to be one of the most amusing and simultaneously interesting things that have ever happened on Netflix’s platform. (Imagine Joe from YOU solving murder mysteries. Wouldn’t that be bizarre?)

Jenna Ortega’s acting chops shines through her portrayal of the character so blatantly — the character is monotone, mostly emotionless like most Wednesdays have been through the decades. However, Jenna’s performance has given Wednesday a three dimensional texture that not a lot of people can reproduce through a character so (literally) colorless.  

Jenna finds a way to still portray passion through certain moments and scenes that need an emotional depth that carries not only the scene itself but largely the show. 

While I can not say too much about the content of the show without spoiling it (for those who haven’t finished, or already intended to watch), Wednesday is worth the watch. If not for the nostalgic factor, for the amazing performance of Jenna Ortega. I leave you with some of my non-spoiler quotes from the show:

“I find social media to be a soul-sucking void of meaningless affirmation.” — Wednesday Addams

“Enid, the mark you have left on me is indelible. Anytime I grow nauseous at the sight of a rainbow, or hear a pop song that makes my ears bleed, I’ll think of you.” — Wednesday Addams to Enid Sinclair

“Birthday, yes. Happy, never.” — Wednesday Addams.

“But you know lobotomies. They’re like tattoos. Can’t get just one.” — Uncle Fester.

“My foe was no psychotic killer. Just a bunch of high school clowns.” — Wednesday Addams.