Wife and I watched Wednesday on Netflix last week.
It's Netflix's spin on an Addams family show, helmed by Tim Burton. We talked about it a little here when the trailer came out:
https://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=62711.msg1368447#msg1368447Overall, I was entertained. It's not the most amazing television experience to come along in forever, but I enjoyed it. I will say, it's a teen drama. It has many of the plot highlights of something like The Vampire Diaries, Riverdale, or Chronicles of Shanarra. They definitely went with that genre. That said, the writing is pretty good. The Wednesday schtick never gets too overdone. They didn't write her as a Mary Sue that everything just comes together for. Wednesday definately has setbacks and has to overcome challenges.
I think Jenna Ortega carries this cast. more than anything else she manages to embody Wednesday while still facing challenges, growing as a character, and winning, while not getting old, annoying, or boring to watch. Gwendoline Christie also does a good job as a charector with contradictions. Her acting is pretty solid. Thing's portrayal is also well done and pretty funny.
If you like the character, but aren't stuck on the 90's Christina Ricci movies as absolute cannon, this series is a fun watch, but realize that it's not a deep character study. It's a teen drama whodunit. Within that framework, it's a fun several hours of TV, with a really cool performance by a young(er) actress. It's looking like there will be a season two as well.
From our previous thread: Luis Guzman's Gomez is honestly a little creepy and offputting, at least to me. From the internet, I am have learned that it's much closer to the original 1930's comics than either the TV show from the 60's or the 90's movies. Having read several of those comics now, I can see what Guzman and Burton were going for but, again, if John Astin is your ride or die cannon, it'll be jarring. Catherine Zeta Jones hit Morticia out of the park, I thought. She was dark, but still cared deeply about her family, and.....that's quite a dress.
Anyway, if you watch it for what it is, a slightly different take and story on characters that are almost 100 years old, it's fun, and better than a lot of TV out there. If you go in expecting a beat by beat continuation of the 60's show, you will be disappointed and, I feel, miss out on some fun.
