Wednesday Netflix (Spoilers allowed)
Ryujin
Legend
I was afraid that they would screw it up but the tone seems to hit just right for me. Wednesday is an outcast, even in a school full of outcasts. Episode 4 had some great moments. The song choice of "Goo goo Muck" by The Cramps isn't something I would have expected to even be on their radar, but there it is. Perfect choice. And this lady has some serious dance skills. The number of completely different styles she shows, in just a couple of minutes?! Either she's a hell of a quick study, given the incredibly abbreviated shooting schedule that they had, or she's had a bunch of different training. Loving it.
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
I’m on episode 5 (Parents Weekend) and was going to post a discussion when I was done so good to see this here already. I agree the soundtrack has been very good so far and while I was worried about Ortega being too pretty* the way she has been able to maintain a deadpan expression even while dancing has been impressive.
This isnt the Wednesday Addams I would envision and I much prefer Melissa Hunters Adult Wednesday take on the character. But I still like this story for what it is, including the overt inclusion of Vampires, Werewolfs, Psychics, Ghost, Pilgrims and other monsters. The Velma/Scoobydoo reference was amusing to me and I’m seeing this show in that light, in the CW Riverdale teen mystery genre of character adaptions.
Which does make me too old for a High School show. Nonetheless having a whole school of outcasts does seem to detract from the uniqueness of the Wednesday as a Weird-magnet, and the exploration of Wednesdays potential romantic relationships has not been appealing to me at all. I do like Enids character though, playing up the cliches can be subversive (I hope).
(Also I’m not sure if the german fudge scene at Pilgrim world was suppose to a nod to Christina Riccis Pocahontas scene but it came off a bit flat and contrived.)
oh and Gwendoline Christie has been great, her character is quite stunning
* Jenny Ortega has been great, the casting for the show has been well done. But I do appreciate that the past Wednesday actresses have been a bit more pale, round-faced and quirky in their appearance, whereas Ortega is classic pretty.
This isnt the Wednesday Addams I would envision and I much prefer Melissa Hunters Adult Wednesday take on the character. But I still like this story for what it is, including the overt inclusion of Vampires, Werewolfs, Psychics, Ghost, Pilgrims and other monsters. The Velma/Scoobydoo reference was amusing to me and I’m seeing this show in that light, in the CW Riverdale teen mystery genre of character adaptions.
Which does make me too old for a High School show. Nonetheless having a whole school of outcasts does seem to detract from the uniqueness of the Wednesday as a Weird-magnet, and the exploration of Wednesdays potential romantic relationships has not been appealing to me at all. I do like Enids character though, playing up the cliches can be subversive (I hope).
(Also I’m not sure if the german fudge scene at Pilgrim world was suppose to a nod to Christina Riccis Pocahontas scene but it came off a bit flat and contrived.)
oh and Gwendoline Christie has been great, her character is quite stunning
* Jenny Ortega has been great, the casting for the show has been well done. But I do appreciate that the past Wednesday actresses have been a bit more pale, round-faced and quirky in their appearance, whereas Ortega is classic pretty.
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Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Ah it seems that she helped choose the song and choreographed her own dance routine - drawing inspiration from Lene Lovich, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Fosse
Jenna Ortega Studied ’80s Goth-Club Dancing to Prepare for Wednesday
She even choreographed her own dance.
www.vulture.com
Benjamin Olson
Hero
Well I finished the whole damned season the day it dropped, so I guess I liked it. Certainly my favorite Tim Burton product in a long time. It's basically just a pastiche of Harry Potter, Twilight, and probably a dozen other YA supernatural franchises I don't follow, but instead of the boring everyteen, audience insert character invariably at the center of such things, this one instead centers on Wednesday Addams, an over-the-top, completely gonzo and hilarious character.
Addams Family is a franchise built on an ensemble of pretty flat characters defined by a few gags each, so it's actually a pretty bold move to base a whole series (mostly) on just one of them pulled away from the ensemble. Even with Wednesday having been made a break-out star character by Ricci's iconic 90s performance, there's not really a lot of there there, and I wouldn't want to have had to write it. The series solves the problem by turning her from a flat one-note character to a rounded character whose psychology makes her act flat and one-note, which is the only real solution that can both properly honor the character while making her a character you can have a series based around. It mostly works, but does make the visit by Uncle Fester a bit of a tonal clash (or maybe it's just the performance, it's not the first Fred Armisen cameo that I have found funny but tonally dissonant with the overall production).
Anyway I enjoyed it, despite having a low tolerance for teen angst-driven narratives and very limited interest in YA monster fantasy. Hopefully some prospective YA novelist out there will be inspired to have an actually interesting protagonist in their monster high school drama as well.
Addams Family is a franchise built on an ensemble of pretty flat characters defined by a few gags each, so it's actually a pretty bold move to base a whole series (mostly) on just one of them pulled away from the ensemble. Even with Wednesday having been made a break-out star character by Ricci's iconic 90s performance, there's not really a lot of there there, and I wouldn't want to have had to write it. The series solves the problem by turning her from a flat one-note character to a rounded character whose psychology makes her act flat and one-note, which is the only real solution that can both properly honor the character while making her a character you can have a series based around. It mostly works, but does make the visit by Uncle Fester a bit of a tonal clash (or maybe it's just the performance, it's not the first Fred Armisen cameo that I have found funny but tonally dissonant with the overall production).
Anyway I enjoyed it, despite having a low tolerance for teen angst-driven narratives and very limited interest in YA monster fantasy. Hopefully some prospective YA novelist out there will be inspired to have an actually interesting protagonist in their monster high school drama as well.
Aeson
I learned nerd for this.
Anyone notice the Millar and Gough Realty sign? 
When the boy lost his glasses. I said out loud "Jenkies my glasses"
I feel bad for poor Enid. Horrible mother and a stupid boyfriend. I mean come on, how does a gorgon petrify himself? Shouldn't he have immunity to his own ability? She's a fun character and cute as a button. The lycanthrope conversion camp was a deep cut. A lot of the jokes would go over the heads of many a youngster. I still have two more episodes to go. I hope she wolfs out by the end. She's due. And her sleeping with the trophy cracked me up.
Gwendolyn Christie is fantastic. GoT and Star Wars is all I've seen her in. Nice to see her in a role that didn't require armor. I want to see her next to Lurch. I think she's taller. He may be the shortest Lurch I've seen.
Can someone explain how Goody Addams is an immigrant from Mexico in 17th century Vermont?
When the boy lost his glasses. I said out loud "Jenkies my glasses"
I feel bad for poor Enid. Horrible mother and a stupid boyfriend. I mean come on, how does a gorgon petrify himself? Shouldn't he have immunity to his own ability? She's a fun character and cute as a button. The lycanthrope conversion camp was a deep cut. A lot of the jokes would go over the heads of many a youngster. I still have two more episodes to go. I hope she wolfs out by the end. She's due. And her sleeping with the trophy cracked me up.
Gwendolyn Christie is fantastic. GoT and Star Wars is all I've seen her in. Nice to see her in a role that didn't require armor. I want to see her next to Lurch. I think she's taller. He may be the shortest Lurch I've seen.
Can someone explain how Goody Addams is an immigrant from Mexico in 17th century Vermont?
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Massachusetts Bay Colony had trade relations with Mexico. Since Addams is an English name I’m assuming that a Massachusetts trader went and married a Mexican girl before moving to settle in Vermont
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Benjamin Olson
Hero
This show (sort of) committed hard to the Latino heritage of the Addamses, but doesn't want to forsake their traditional portrayal and lore as WASPy Old Money types of the Northeastern US. It all started with an arbitrary decision by Charles Addams when the 60s show was being made that "Gomez" was a funny name (despite traditionally being a surname, not a first name), got a huge boost from Raul Julia's turn as the patriarch, and now is more-or-less obligatory for reasons of representation. Unfortunately it is not really particularly integrated into the Addams Family lore, and they don't try very hard to integrate it. Hence the throwaway "immigrant from Mexico" line with no explanation.
Personally I've mostly just come to accept narratively non-sensical representation as having now become a core Hollywood conceit, no different than almost every story having a happy ending or the plain girl actually being played by a professional model. I was more bothered by Goody Addams' first name being "Goody", which was not a colonial era name but rather the informal form of "Goodwife". It bothered me because I can not deduce whether it is a knowing wink to the "Gomez as first name" semi-blunder, or if the writers just remembered all the women being called "Goody" when they read the Crucible in High School and didn't bother to do any research. I'm fine with it either way, I'm just curious whether it was an in-joke or an error.
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