Season 1, Episode 8: A Murder of Woes
The final episode wraps up the Hyde plot which Wednesday quickly figures out in full off-screen. Tyler’s Palpatine to his Vader is Marilyn Thronhill a.k.a Laurel Gates a.k.a. normal-type botany teacher. Laurel’s revenge plot is to resurrect Crackstone to get revenge on Nevermore for taking his land which he took from Goody Addams’ people and the indigenous population. Thronhill isn’t really motivated by the loss of her family, just a century’s old land dispute.
To achieve her goals, Laurel awakens and grooms Tyler into her minion. As a Hyde, Tyler procures the ingredients for Crackstone’s resurrection. So while Tyler admits to Wednesday that he enjoys the darkness of his actions as a hyde, he’s also a tragic monster as he was groomed and abused by Thronhill adding another layer that doesn’t seem like was the over-all intention of the show’s writers but the implication still exist within the narrative.
Wednesday’s remarks on Laureal’s revenge plot is emblematic of her character shift that this version struggles with. Wednesday Addams is not cool with this revenge plot but ok with revenge sometimes. Is she a toxic hypocrite, yes. She has to be Wednesday Addams and be the heroine of this show which ends up making her a hypocrite.
Also Tyler’s confession to Wednesday, while intense, is under-cut by have a police officer in ear-shot at the desk. Also there so many more questions about Hydes and why everyone thought Xavier was the Hyde in the first place when Hydes are just Hydes with no other “type” attached.
The ending is Wednesday versus Crackstone who wants revenge on all the outcasts of Nevermore for A. Being Outcasts and B. The land. Wednesday’s blood is also the final ingredient as there is a blood-lock on Crackstone’s sarcophagus. Also Crackstone is a hypocrite as he was against the supernatural when he was alive but delights in being a reanimated ghoul with magical powers and a staff.
Now I don’t know about you but a reanimated religious zealot boogyman who wants to kill the direct descendants of one who killed him is very reminiscent of Anastasia, chalk that one up to coincidence and not a direct inspiration. The whole scene felt very campy even for this type of show. At least it was short and those stupid picnic tables burned. Burn you beautiful bench! burn!
This finale is definitely serviceable as it ties all the major threads of the hyde, the murders, the stupid pilgrims, the Gates’ family revenge ambitions, Wednesday’s importance to the prophetic drawing as well a Enid’ latent wolf emerging but only when it was important to the plot. It leaves just enough of a hook for the next season. However let’s not be coy this show is flawed though not without interest or even amusement. While the weird sense of teen-age brand dark humor is hit-or-miss, it works with some people. I prefer the “dark” humor or the 90s films more but humor is ultimately subjective.
While Wednesday is an Addams’ family spin-off, there isn’t enough lore on it’s own to really sustain a single Addams’ family member as the focus of the narrative. So Wednesday is full other references and imagery to flush it out. Mainly these reference and allusions are to Edgar Allan Poe and his works, The Crucible, Harry Potter-esque boarding school groupings, universal monsters etc. Aside from the characters there are only a hand-full of Addams family references from the more notable versions, such as the line about spooky and kooky, Weems’ name, The weathervane, antagonist pilgrims, and the double-snap. The iconic double-snap is frustrating because it a very clear reference to the Addams’ family theme song but it’s used for Poe references.
It’s unclear if this show’s concept was always meant to be for Wednesday Addams or if the creators retrofitted an original concept for Wednesday since existing IPs are a more sound investment for studios. However it worked, this show despite the flaws and unfocused reference scope, is one of Netflix’s top shows even getting a season three ahead of season two. I guess product placement helps too.
While Wednesday herself has a muddled characterization, Jenna Ortega’s performance is a highlight. Enid as a golden retriever werewolf is fun and good foil against Wednesday. And Thing. Thing is the MVP of the show.
Season one of Wednesday definitely feels like hodgepodge of gothic references cobbled together with Addams’ name as an entry point. It’s not unfunny nor it totally without cleverness it just all-over place in its scope that it’s hard to really get a handle on a harmonious blend between the spooky and the kooky.
