Netflix released “Wednesday,” the latest adaptation of the Addams Family, which follows the coming-of-age story of Wednesday Addams. The show is created by Alfred Gough and Miles Milar, with Tim Burton serving as Executive Producer, and Jenna Ortega as the title character. What was provided by these talented people was a show that will be talked about for a considerable amount of time.

“Wednesday” takes the more family friendly approach that the classics had, and gave it a more grim and violent twist. The show starts with Wednesday dumping a bunch of piranhas into a pool filled with water polo boys, who bullied her little brother Pugsley. She is then expelled and forced to go to ‘Nevermore Academy’, a school that is full of outcasts who have unique abilities. The unique ability that Wednesday is flashes of bad pasts or futures (which is how she found out what happened to her brother), but she does not yet know how she conjures the visions or to control them.

Throughout the show Wednesday meets many different new characters, such as her bright and polar opposite roommate Enid, who is a werewolf that has yet to fully become one, and an enemy in Bianca, a Siren who matches the same intelligence as Wednesday and engages in different types of activity battles throughout the show. 

There are many great things to say about “Wednesday.” The cinematography is spectacular, with many different shots throughout the show that really catches the viewer’s eyes. There are also a couple of great set designs in the show, such as ‘Nevermore Academy’ itself, and the room that Enid and Wednesday share, where they split their room 50/50, with Enid having bright, vibrant colors in her half, and Wednesday having nothing but grim, black colors on hers.

The biggest highlight of the show is the excellent performance given by Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams. She gives so many great deadpan lines and performs the soulless facial expression of Wednesday Addams’ to a tee, that her fellow co-star Christina Ricci, who originally played Wednesday Addams in the ‘90s films, can’t help but be impressed by. There isn’t anyone else that could have played the titular character better than Ortega.

Another highlight is the score played throughout the show, anchored by the great Danny Elfman. There are many moments in which Wednesday is playing different classic rock songs on her cello. “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones and “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica fit the tone of the show so well. 

A couple of faults in the show are certain dragging points in the middle of the season. The show starts off red hot in the first couple of episodes, so to have a point where the show slows down can leave one patiently waiting for the show to ramp up the adrenaline again, which it successfully does in the final two episodes. Another criticism has to go to the CGI effect to the main monster of the show, which in certain shots look a little silly when compared to some of the other great shots provided by the show. It could be an ode to the wonky effects from the old classics, but it could leave a bitter taste to some viewers who expect a better look.

Overall, Netflix has yet another show that will have many viewers raving about for a while. ‘Wednesday’ has it all; great performances, score, story, and cinematography that deserves all the praise that it can get. There is no denying that there will be a second season of the show in the works soon enough, and Jenna Ortega is going to be a major star for years to come thanks to her woeful performance as Wednesday Addams.