The biggest reason I was hesitant to watch Wednesday was because of what it was advertised as. It's pretty hard to do a respectable job with a young adult property let alone produce a good one. There's been so many attempts, anything geared towards teenagers is almost forced to parody itself just to dodge people overtly giggling and smirking at it. Wednesday doesn't avoid all the pitfalls but I was pleasantly surprised that it navigated its way around as many of them as they did. The central mystery was interesting enough that I didn't know outright guess it halfway through and although I'm not the biggest Tim Burton fan (I like some of his work, other projects... not so much) his experienced hand and Gothic sensibilities are perfect for this budding franchise. Despite the occasional misstep, I was impressed at how the show kept up the pace and didn't become too rote after each adventure with Wednesday. The creative team may not have created the new Citizen Kane but there was effort put into the story here and I appreciated that.

Instead of the whole Addams Family being at the forefront, we focus on the titular Wednesday as the protagonist and there's a lot of work put into understanding her mindset at this point in her life. She's a sullen and angry teenager but she's also got a razor sharp wit and a passion for seeking out the truth in her surroundings. I do think they sanded off a couple of the sharper edges from previous versions of the character (the jokes she tells are similar but she's less edgy in her interactions with others), but it was a necessary sacrifice as she needs to at least be semi-approachable by her classmates and other members of the Nevermore community. As much as her rebellious streak could have been annoying or cliche, the writers frame it as her wanting to step out of Morticia and Gomez's shadows and forge her own identity. She's still suitably prickly, but much like the Grinch, her heart grows a couple of sizes by the end of the initial season. Some of the supporting characters are given some nice mini-arcs like learning to stand up for yourself (Eugene), learning to accept yourself for who you are and live your best life (Enid) and even to let go of bias and preconceived notions and moving forward with an open mind (Sheriff Galpin and Principal Weems). Is it all stuff we've seen before? Perhaps, but it gives the background players some material to chew on while Wednesday skulks around Jericho.

I wasn't thrilled with much of the casting, I grew up watching Raul Gulia, Anjelica Huston and Christina Ricci as the Addams Family but once again, Wednesday left me taken aback. I was swayed by Jenna Ortega's fascinating work as Wednesday. I wasn't familiar with her before this but if she's not a star already, this should catapult her to the next level. She gets Wednesday's biting humour and she even brings some physicality to her performance. She's excellent at being stone-faced and motionless while she's interrogating suspects or making biting criticisms of her peers. Gwendoline Christie does a gratifying job of playing against type as Principal Weems, she's a figurehead who's all smiles in front of the cameras but an imposing figure behind the scenes. Gwendoline does a solid job of portraying her duplicitous nature. Christina Ricci (famous for previously playing Wednesday Adams) is a nice bit of casting as Marilyn Thornhill. She's very sweet and convincing as a sympathetic ear to Wednesday and it was fun to see her again in this property. Luis Guzman and Catherine Zeta Jones grew on me as Gomez and Morticia. Zeta-Jones was the standout of the 2 but they both got the strange beat that Gomez and Morticia dance to together as they fawn over each other in every single moment. I'd also like to credit Emma Myers, Hunter Doohan and Joy Sunday respectively for their work as Enid, Tyler and Bianca. All 3 of them had some standout moments and were good in their supporting roles.

While Wednesday is certainly intriguing and is raised above the normal fair by its excellent lead performance, the material itself is cribbed from a lot of other YA properties. It's faithful to the Addams Family spirit but the teenage private eye angle, the school for outcasts, the separate social clubs/houses are all either borrowed from previous series like Riverdale or successful movie properties like Harry Potter. Any effort in the genre is going to have similarities but even when explaining parts of the show to my family, their comments were "okay, so just like __________?" The only retort I could offer is that while it does "borrow" many bits and pieces, Wednesday does it well enough that you can almost forget/forgive them for it. But I have watched my fair share of YA material and these thoughts were still present in my mind as I binge watched every episode.

I got a lot more out of Wednesday than I expected to and I'm happy to applaud it for that. I'm not in the target audience but due to the efforts of Ortega and the cast, the great Gothic atmosphere, an adequate central mystery and some chuckle worthy jokes, I was happy I took the time despite my reservations. Wednesday may not be wholly original but it's still an upper tier entry in a genre that's best days are long since past. I'd be happy to watch a 2nd season for sure. Wednesday is plenty creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky enough to justify your time on Netflix.