The magic of Tim Burton’s new Netflix series, “Wednesday,” lies in its macabre sense of humor, insanely quirky dialogs, and the curt mannerisms of its protagonist, who has quite an unusual taste and is unabashedly herself at all times. Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the series takes us back to the grotesque and dark world of the infamous Adams family and entwines it with some contemporary troupes so that it stays relevant for today’s generations without losing out on its authenticity. The characters created by Charles Addams are so exceptionally unique that no matter how many times you watch them, they never fail to entertain you. The morbid atmosphere and the preposterousness of the narrative always make for an exhilarating ride. One more thing that the series does exceptionally well is the casting of actors. There couldn’t have been a better Morticia Addams than Catherine Zeta-Jones. Seeing her brusque demeanor and her gothic charm took me back in time, and I couldn’t stop myself from humming the introduction theme song of Hanna-Barbera’s animated television series, The Addams Family. Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams, Gwendoline Christie as Principal Larissa Weems, Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair, Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, and others have elevated the narrative with their performances. So, let’s find out what Wednesday was up to and if she could survive at the alma mater of her parents, The Nevermore Academy.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Wednesday’ Season 1: Plot Summary – What Is The Series About?
Gomez and Morticia Addams were tired of admitting their daughter to one school after the other, as she kept on getting expelled from each one of them. Finally, they came to the conclusion that Nevermore Academy was the only place that could handle their notoriously morbid daughter. Nevermore Academy was situated in Jericho County, and The Addams were hopeful that Wednesday would make some friends there, as the school was a home for all the outcasts like her. But even in such a school, Wednesday was able to weird her colleagues out. Principal Larissa Weems was a batchmate of Gomez and Morticia, and back in the day, she also liked Gomez quite a lot. She took Wednesday under her wing and assured her parents that she would take good care of her. But Wednesday was least interested in her “sanitized sales pitch,” as she called it, and went about her business unabashedly. Wednesday referred to Nevermore Academy as an enigma, as weird things happened to her that she wasn’t able to comprehend. There were people who wanted to be her friends, and surprisingly there were boys who showed an inclination toward her. She had barely known anyone when a gargoyle was thrown on her from the terrace, and though she survived the attack (all thanks to her good motor skills), she knew that there was a bigger conspiracy at play, and somehow her fate was connected to that of the college.
What Exactly Was The Hyde Monster? Who Was Controlling It?
Wednesday had all the pieces of the jigsaw in front of her, but somehow, she was not able to put them all in its place. People were getting killed in Jericho, and there were rumors about a beast roaming free in the woods. Wednesday was still trying to escape Nevermore, and Tyler, Sheriff Galpin’s son, was willing to drive her to the station. “Thing”, ironically, the most expressive and sentimental creature, among all those humans, reached Tyler’s place and asked him to video call Wednesday. The harvest festival was around the corner, and attendance for Nevermore students was mandatory. Wednesday wanted to use the occasion as a cover and plan her escape mission. Sheriff Donovan Galpin didn’t like his son indulging with the scion of the notorious Addams family. 32 years ago, Gomez Addams was a suspect in the murder when he was a student at Nevermore Academy. Garrett Gates was murdered, and Principal Larissa Weems, a fellow classmate of Gomez and Morticia’s, had seen him holding a blade and standing from where Garrett had fallen down. Gomez was caught red-handed, but somehow the autopsy report pointed otherwise. It was all an accident, and the issue was something else altogether, but since that day, the sheriff had developed a bias against Gomez and believed that he had tricked them all. The sheriff looked down upon the Addams family for this very reason and considered them unworthy of any affiliation. But Tyler was smitten by the abrasive girl sporting a pigtail and was ready to go against his father if required. At the harvest festival, Wednesday bumped into Rowan Laslow, a fellow classmate, and got a vision. Wednesday had been getting these psychic visions for quite some time now, but she hadn’t told anyone about them. These visions often gave her a glimpse of the past or the future. Wednesday knew that Rowan’s life was in danger. She went after him in the woods and tried to warn him of the danger. Rowan had been disturbed for quite some time now. Rowan, out of nowhere, attacked Wednesday and told her that she was the reason behind the catastrophe that was going to fall upon Nevermore in the near future. Wednesday didn’t understand what he was saying, and it was then he showed her a picture drawn by his mother some 25 years ago. Rowan’s mother had told him that whenever this girl came, it was his duty and destiny to stop her. Rowan’s mother was a powerful seer, and he believed that to save Nevermore, he had to kill Wednesday at all costs. Before he could do that, the feared monster came out of hiding and killed him.
The police authorities had come to Nevermore to investigate the matter, and through Wednesday’s testimony, they learned that Rowan had been killed. But just then, Rowan came into the principal’s office without even a scratch on his body, and Wednesday couldn’t fathom what she was seeing. She looked into the matter and eventually found out that it was not Rowan who had come back, but Principal Weems had taken his form, as she was a shapeshifter, and made everybody believe that he was still alive. She had done that with the permission of the victim’s family so that the matter would be settled and the reputation of Nevermore was saved from any more negative publicity.
The page that Rowan had shown to Wednesday was still in her possession. There was a watermark on it, which she was told belonged to an old students’ society named Nightshades. Marilyn Thorne, a “normie” teacher at Nevermore, told her that the society was disbanded years ago. Wednesday knew that she had to find the book at all costs to solve the mystery. In spite of looking for it everywhere, she wasn’t able to find the book. One day she was sitting in her room when it struck her that she had seen that same watermark somewhere else too. She went to a statue of their most famous alumni, Edgar Allan Poe, that was installed in one of the hallways of Nevermore. The statue was holding a book, and there was a poem written on it, which Wednesday realized was a riddle that had a password hidden in it. She solved the riddle and snapped twice to see that the statue went backward and gave way to a secret passageway. She found the book from which the page had been torn. Wednesday noticed that the other half of the page had a picture of a pilgrim who was standing in a manner as if he was going to enter into combat with Wednesday. Xavier told Wednesday that the picture was of Joseph Crackstone, Jericho’s founding father. Through one of her psychic visions, Wednesday had gotten to know that Joseph, in the 1600s, was running a movement to make Jericho ethnically homogenous by killing all the innocent outcasts. Wednesday wasn’t able to realize how Joseph Crackstone was connected to the monster lurking in the woods. She was suspicious of Xavier Thorpe, as whenever the monster was sighted, Xavier was present in the vicinity. She also found out that Xavier had a secret hideout in the woods, where he used to paint. The subject of his paintings was the bulgy-eyed monster, and his obsession with the creature was evident from the fact that he painted nothing else apart from it.
Wednesday’s doubts were strengthened even more when he told her that though he had never seen the monster, he got visions of it more than often. Uncle Fester had come to Jericho to meet his favorite niece, and through him, Wednesday got to know that the creature was a Hyde. Uncle Fester also told her that though Hydes were ferocious beings, they were not capable of functioning on their own, and there was always a master who was controlling them and pulling the reins.
Wednesday had figured out that Garrett Gates’ family had some role to play in the whole fiasco. She had seen the entrance to the mansion, which was owned by the Gates family, in her psychic visions. When she went there, she saw that the mayor, Noble Walker, was coming out of the place. She hid in his car to learn more about the mysterious mansion. The mayor had told the sheriff that he had some important information that he wanted to share, but before he could do that, he was hit by a car, as somebody didn’t want him to reveal what he knew. That same car and the missing parts of the bodies of the victims were found later by Wednesday in the Gates mansion. But before she could call the police, all the evidence vanished overnight, once again leaving her stranded. Mayor Walker’s son had printed some information from his father’s computer and shared it with Wednesday. The mayor was trying to track down a woman named Laurel Gates, as he had some doubts about her. According to the records, Laurel was the sister of Garrett Gates and had died long back, but apparently, she had bluffed her own death. The Gates mansion was purchased a year ago by a 90-year-old woman, who, after her death, transferred the title of the property to her caregiver, Teresa L. Glau. Wednesday had a keen sense for solving puzzles, and she instantly realized that Teresa L. Glau was an anagram for Laurel Gates. Wednesday knew that Laurel was the master of the Hyde monster, but the problem was that she didn’t know what she looked like. Wednesday realized that Laurel could be between them camouflaging her identity.
Wednesday had her doubts about Dr. Valarie Kinbott, her designated counselor and according to her theory, she was the master of the Hyde Monster. Xavier often visited Dr. Kinbott, and she knew that somehow both were operating together. She framed Xaviers, and the police took him into their custody. Wednesday thought that she had solved the mystery, but in reality, she had been fooled. While sharing an intimate moment with Tyler Galpin, she got a psychic vision, and she realized that she was wrong in thinking that Xavier was the Hyde monster, as it was Tyler who used to transform into the horrifying creature and kill innocent people. When Eugene Ottinger came back to his senses, he told Wednesday that he was attacked by someone wearing red boots. Wednesday realized that Dr. Kinbott, just like Xavier, was also not culpable. It was the innocent-looking, normie teacher, Marilyn Thornhill, who was controlling Hyde, i.e., Tyler. Marilyn Thornhill was Laurel Gate, and her plan to take revenge on the Addams Family was so well executed that nobody came to know about her wicked intentions. She had manipulated Tyler, who was still mourning his mother’s demise. Sheriff Galpin knew that his son was the Hyde Monster, but he had chosen to hide that fact from everybody as he was scared that he would lose him. His selfishness led to the deaths of several innocent residents of Jericho and caused mayhem in the city. Very rarely, someone was able to get the better of Wednesday and this time her ego was bruised even more as her trust had been shattered into pieces.
‘Wednesday’ Season 1: Ending Explained – What Happened Between Goody Adams And Joseph Crackstone? What Was Laurel Gates Trying To Do?
32 years ago, when Gomez and Morticia were in Nevermore, a fateful incident changed their lives. A boy named Garrett Gates was obsessed with Morticia, and it drove him insane when he found that Morticia and Gomez were in a relationship. He saw them sharing an intimate moment, and he lost his temper as a murderous fervor enveloped his rational mind. Morticia had stabbed him with a sword, and to save his wife, Gomez had taken the blame. But Wednesday had found out, by digging up the corpse 32 years later, that the autopsy report didn’t mention stabbing as the cause of death, as Garrett had been poisoned beforehand and was already dying before he was stabbed by Morticia. Wednesday got another vision, and she saw that Ansel Gates, Garrett’s father, had given him the poison in order to kill all the outcasts and prove his worth. That bottle of nightshade poison had broken inside his pocket and had ended up killing him. Laurel had come back as a teacher at Nevermore Academy to fulfill his father’s dream of committing genocide. The Gates family belonged to the same bloodline as Joseph Crackstone. The normies under Joseph Crackstone were about to kill the outcasts when Goody killed Joseph Crackstone. To make sure that Crackstone was never resurrected in the future by the use of dark magic, she cursed his soul too. Goody had sealed Crackstone in a sarcophagus blood lock, and only a direct descendant could open it. Laurel Gates, a.k.a. Marilyn Thornhill, had stolen Goody’s book of shadows and, through that, had come to know of a ritual through which Crackstone could be resurrected. That is why she was asking Hyde to bring the body parts of the victim, as she needed it for the completion of the ritual. Joseph Crackstone was resurrected, and though Wednesday tried to stop him, she was no match for the vengeful spirit. Joseph Crackstone stabbed Wednesday and left for Nevermore to kill all the other outcasts. Just when Wednesday thought that her story was over, Goody Addams came to her rescue. She told Wednesday that the necklace she was wearing was a powerful talisman and it could be used as a conduit for conjuring sports. Goody used it to heal Wednesday, though it meant that the latter couldn’t ever see her ancestor again.
Wednesday realized the power of relationships that day, as if it hadn’t been for her loyal friends who stood by her side in the wake of such adversity, she wouldn’t have been able to kill Joseph Crackstone and his loyal servant, Laurel Gates. Enid transformed into a werewolf for the first time in her life and gravely injured Tyler, a.k.a. The Hyde Monster. Bianca stabbed Joseph Crackstone from behind, which gave Wednesday the opportunity to get the better of him and stab his heart, as Goody had told her to do. Eugene stood by the hive code and came to help his only friend with his bees. The bees attacked Laurel, and Wednesday probably killed her, and by doing so, she took revenge for the years of oppression that the outcasts had to face and for the deaths of the victims, especially Principal Weems, who always had Wednesday’s back.
Will There Be A Season 2 of ‘Wednesday’?
Though the danger was averted, Wednesday realized that it was just a matter of time before another mystery came knocking at her door. Xavier had gifted her a mobile, and Wednesday received a message from an anonymous address while she was still getting used to the technology. The unnamed stalker threatened to kill her, and Wednesday knew that her vacation was going to be quite eventful. Tyler Galpin was still alive, and Wednesday knew that there were still a lot of questions that needed to be answered. Probably in season 2, she would be able to connect the dots further and come to know if she had missed out on any crucial detail that was potentially fateful and jeopardizing in nature.
