“Wednesday'' is a supernatural show on Netflix with a mix of all kinds of genres like semi-light horror and comedy, all with a tint of gothic aesthetics. It first premiered on November 23, 2022.
“Wednesday '' mainly takes place in Jericho, Vermont and the places surrounding it, despite being filmed in Bucharest Romania. The show follows the stoic and slightly sadist girl, Wednesday Adams, during her school life in Nevermore Academy, which isn’t exactly the definition of a normal high school, not to mention a mysterious murderer resides in the town nearby. Nevertheless, Wednesday isn’t quite normal herself, finding herself being plagued by violent visions of the future, which more often than not depict someone dying.
The show opens with Wednesday narrating while in a normal school, before finding her brother Pugsley trapped in a locker. Upon learning who locked him in there she tracks down the bullies, who are swimming in the school’s pool, and ruthlessly drops a few bags of piranhas into the pool before they could get out. This obviously results in the school expelling her, which opens up the opportunity for Wednesday’s parents, Gomez and Morticia Adams, to force her to attend Nevermore Academy, an academy filled with all kinds of supernatural races such as sirens, werewolves, and vampires. As soon as she gets to Nevermore the thrilling story of “Wednesday” begins.
The show kicks off in the first episode where we are briefly introduced to a random hiker in the woods before he is killed by an unknown monster, which is the main premise of the show. The audience and Wednesday later get face to face with the monster who attempts to kill Wednesday to no avail. Intrigued by this creature Wednesday embarks on a month-long quest to deduce the true identity of the monster, which includes multiple plot twists, red herrings, and misleading scenes.
While “Wednesday” excels at a lot of things, the work put into the storytelling and lore is incredible, not to mention its originality. There are multiple small details and breadcrumbs scattered throughout all the episodes that could have clued in careful viewers to who the monster truly is, even if there are a few red herrings to confuse the viewers. In an interesting way, Wednesday’s visions seem almost like she becomes a viewer in the way that she gets to see what typically only the audience would be able to see.
Creators of “Wednesday” did an excellent job with the characters. The planning and work put into the characters expertly shine through the darkness. They don’t just feel like a character on a screen, but a fully fledged human being. Characters in “Wednesday” truly feel fleshed-out and stray away from the cliche character types. Instead of staying stagnant or prone to almost no change, the characters in “Wednesday” change each and every episode, developing relationships, breaking them, and rebuilding them. The characters don’t act like characters, they act like normal people that you could see at any school. While there are lively and kind characters, unlike most shows they don’t always act happy and often show other emotions like guilt, sadness, and their own weaknesses. Even the gothic Wednesday changes a lot more in the end than she reveals. You can clearly see it in her reactions and actions to the other characters.
If there is one thing that stands out in “Wednesday” it would be the actors. The actors did an amazing job of portraying the emotions of various characters, and truly made their voices fit the character’s design and personality perfectly. Even the side characters or ones with not a lot of lines or screen time feel alive through the actors' reactions and movements.
Sound design is another excellent quality in “Wednesday” and it seems like there was a lot of work put into it. During more intense or horror-oriented scenes, the noises are just quiet enough to make someone feel expectant of a jumpscare, but not when, where, or how it happens. During more warm and happy school scenes, there is an ambiance of quiet chatter, which immerses the audience into the scene. Sounds are extremely important in almost every form of entertainment or media, and the creators of “Wednesday” clearly knew this, and executed it near perfectly.
“Wednesday” truly has a refreshing atmosphere about it, straying away from slice-of-life shows on Netflix and stretching out to more dark and gloomy aesthetics. Since Netflix has mainly bright and wholesome content, every time a darker show appears it immediately gets on people’s radar, because it feels new and refreshing compared to others.
The gothic aesthetic may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the dark atmosphere and colors really allow the characters and their personalities to show their colors. Since everything has little variety of colors, anything that is important intentionally has color, from Wednesday’s first friend to the somewhat innocent town near Nevermore, which greatly increases the sense of importance in those things and makes them more noticeable.
“Wednesday” stands out due to its perfectly written scenes of horror, comedy, and mystery, not to mention its excellent storytelling, characters, actors, and aesthetics. This show surprises its viewers with its exceptional balance between frivolous humor and harsh seriousness. “Wednesday” is a great callback to the original Adams Family shows and source material, while also taking a new spin on mystery high school themes, all the while leaving fans waiting for more.
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