"Dead people are notoriously bad at returning calls." "You and I both know that there's a monster out there." "The truth is there are monsters everywhere." Those are statements from Wednesday Addams, the daughter in The Addams Family. A few days ago, I blogged a post about "The Addams Family's WEDNESDAY" after I watched the first episode of a groovy new series on Netflix directed by Tim Burton. It's WEDNESDAY and focuses on the daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams as she becomes a new student at Nevermore Academy. She was expelled from Nancy Reagan High School after she sought revenge on the mean jocks who stuffed her brother, Pugsley, into a locker. What did Wednesday do to them? Well, let's just say their parents wanted Wednesday charged with attempted murder with fish.
At Nevermore, she meets other outcasts. Her overly perky blonde roommate is an aspiring werewolf. But Wednesday is perplexed by visions that she's having -- and she saw a murder in the woods. A murder committed by a monster. In the academy, she hears that her father was accused of murder years ago. Wednesday, very smart and deliciously spooky, sets out to investigate all this.
I watched Chapter 2 and 3 over the weekend and liked the series even more. First of all, actress Jenna Ortega really floats it with her fabulous deadpan expression and wonderful way with a darkly comic verbal comeback. In those 2nd and 3rd episodes, we see that Wednesday is like a goth Nancy Drew. Her investigation continues. Helping her is the slightly inept Thing that Gomez left with her when he and Morticia dropped her off at Nevermore.
Her visions are now longer and more intense. There's something strange about the academy's principal, Miss Weems. Wednesday discovers that her mother had visions when she attended Nevermore. Wednesday wants to investigate more about the murder she witnessed in the woods, the monster, and the guy the monster killed.
But she's blocked by the sheriff. So far, my favorite episode is Chapter 3. Wednesday has to contend with a conservative group at Pilgrim World in town. For a hot minute, she works at Ye Olde Fudgery so she can pump folks for information. And what's the deal with the town mayor who was the previous sheriff? Situations get creepier and Wednesday's visions grow even more unsettling. I had as much fun watching these episodes as I had watching the series THE X-FILES and GRIMM.
This production is slick -- well done, well acted, briskly paced and very funny. It's like a deluxe bag of Halloween candy.
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