Netflix Hit Horror Series Pushes Scares To The Very Edge
From the opening scene on Wednesday on Netflix, you can’t help but wonder if you’re watching a comedy or a horror series. As it turns out, it’s both. All eight episodes of this black comedy manage to work in laughs, side grins, disgust, and fear. And they still manage to make you feel deeply emotional and empathetic for this mysterious young girl, Wednesday.
Family-Friendly Scares In Wednesday
My kids are avid fans of scary films and shows, but they’re still relatively young, so I’m always on the lookout for milder thrills and chills — more Tim Burton less Rob Zombie. Already huge followers of all things Addams Family, we were delighted to hear a new series was coming out in the fall of 2022, Wednesday, on Netflix. I can say without a doubt that this series is worthy of the rave reviews it has gotten, and my kids are right here to back me up.
The Boarding School Setup
Wednesday has always deserved her own show, and Netflix has done her justice. With Jenna Ortega, the newest scream queen on the scene, as the titular character, we get to dive inside the mind of this magical psychopath with a heart. The first episode opens up with Wednesday in school watching her brother, Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez), get bullied.
When she taps into her psychic ability, she identifies the bullies… and places piranhas in the pool where they are swimming. Yes, this series is dark.
Fortunately, for the bullies, anyway, no one is actually killed, so instead of going to prison, Wednesday is merely ejected from the school. At their wits’ end, her parents, Morticia (Catherine Zeta Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzman), send Wednesday off to a boarding school, which just so happens to be their alma mater. The school, Nevermore Academy, is an institution for magically gifted “monsters” like Wednesday, giving Netflix its very own Monster High.
The Classic Odd Couple Scenario
When she arrives, Wednesday is standoffish with the other kids; she doesn’t make friends easily thanks to her dry personality and her complete indifference to fitting in. She finds herself rooming with her complete opposite, a sweet, blonde girl in all pink, Enid (Emma Myers). Enid tries desperately to make friends with Wednesday, but Wednesday shrugs her off and heads out to explore.
While wandering the school, she butts heads with a bully named Bianca (Joy Sunday) for picking on a smaller, nerdier kid named Rowan (Calum Ross). When a gargoyle falls from above and almost flattens Wednesday, this Netflix series gets even more interesting.
It Isn’t Easy Growing Up Anywhere
She’s saved by Xavier (Percy Hynes White), a young hottie and ex-boyfriend to Bianca, but Wednesday seems indifferent to his charms and heroism. Instead, she takes refuge in a local cafe and meets a much less slick boy, Tyler (Hunter Doohan), who’s working as the barista. Now the board game is set for the rest of Wednesday on Netflix, and there are plenty of twists and turns that take us on a roller coaster ride of mystery and terror.
Streaming Wednesday On Netflix
GFR SCORE
A beast begins attacking people from town and from the school, Wednesday’s psychic visions take her on what feels like a treasure hunt, and the school staff and local psychiatrist keep trying to rein the young girl in each time she attempts to solve the murders on her own. Jenna Ortega plays Wednesday as smart, sharp, witty, and with an excellent deadpan personality.
You cannot help but love her even as she makes mistake after bad choice after awful error. Wednesday on Netflix has you sure you’ve got it figured out and solved the crime only to be back at square one time and again. And when it finally does come to an end, you just want the next season to come out already!
