By Lily Wheadon

  On November 23, Netflix released the first season of Wednesday, a series following the timeless Addams Family character Wednesday Addams.

  The show is currently the number one TV series on Netflix US and has been gaining traction across social media platforms. According to Variety, the show broke the record for the most hours of viewing in a week, a record previously held by Stranger Things 4. 

  Overall, viewers seem pleased with the show’s casting, directing, and writing.

  “I’ve only seen commercials, but I want to watch [Wednesday],” said Literature and Cinema teacher Thomas Trevenen. “It seems like the writers are much better than the ones who did the original movie.”

  Lead actress Jenna Ortega has received extra praise for her portrayal of the show’s title character.  Ortega portrays Wednesday as a deadpan character with a very blank expression, and her dry delivery of lines adds a certain shock value to the dialogue.

  “Ortega’s ability to express Wednesday’s emotions without blinking and barely moving any muscles was impressive,” said junior Kara Lindonen.

  The series follows a teenage Wednesday Addams as she attends a boarding school for supernatural outcasts like werewolves and vampires.  Wednesday spends the series’ eight episodes trying to solve a string of local murders and master the new psychic visions she has been receiving.

  The show has also received praise for its ability to incorporate many different elements that do not always fit well together.

  “The show is a really good mix of a bunch of popular genres,” said junior Jocelyn Dumouchel. “It has horror but it isn’t too scary, there’s romance but there’s still other plotlines, and it has mystery, but the storyline is never dull.”

  Wednesday also explores an interesting mother-daughter dynamic between Wednesday and her mother, Morticia.  In the first episode, Wednesday is appalled by the thought of being similar to her mother, but as the series progresses, she realizes that they are alike in many ways, and the audience gets to watch their seemingly broken bond begin to mend.

  Familial struggles for Wednesday continue when she becomes involved in a reopened murder case from twenty years ago that involved her parents.  The unorthodox and eerie Addams family dynamic is demonstrated as Wednesday sees her father incarcerated and released from prison within a matter of 48 hours, all while she and her mother dig up a grave during the time in between.

  Although most viewers agree that the side characters are not as vibrant as Wednesday, there are still many other memorable personalities on the screen.  Wednesday’s roommate at boarding school, Enid Sinclair, is overly peppy and colorful, and the contrast between her and Wednesday is definitely fun for viewers.  The visual contrast between the way the two choose to decorate their respective sides of the room mirrors their contrasting personalities, which makes the two girls’ friendship all the more amusing.  

  Other elements of visual contrast are shown throughout the show, between the setting’s colorful Vermont foliage contrasting with the constantly stormy sky, and the overall contrast that Wednesday brings about, as many characters remark that she looks like she is “black and white.”

  The setting has caused other stirrings on social media, and some viewers suspect that the set used for the town near Wednesday’s boarding school, Jericho, is the same set used for the fictional town of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls.

 Overall, the show has been receiving many positive reviews and continues to gain traction on Netflix and social media.  Unlike many other Netflix series, Wednesday was not written as a limited series, and with its immediate popularity, fans are hopeful that a season two will be in the near future.