Wednesday

Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour: In-Depth Look at Netflix’s “Wednesday”

Introduction

In the August 5, 2025, episode of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, host Glen Weldon engages in a thoughtful conversation with writer Ella Cerrone about the highly anticipated Netflix series “Wednesday”. This detailed summary captures their comprehensive discussion, highlighting key points, critiques, and insights into the show’s adaptation of the beloved Wednesday Addams character.

Overview of “Wednesday” Series

Glen Weldon initiates the conversation by outlining the premise of “Wednesday”, a popular Netflix series that has catapulted Jenna Ortega into stardom. The show reimagines Wednesday Addams, traditionally portrayed as the morose daughter in the iconic Addams Family, and places her in the Gothic and supernatural setting of Nevermore Academy. Here, Wednesday navigates her turbulent life amidst outcasts like werewolves and sirens, delving into investigations of grisly murders while managing psychic visions, rivalries, and complex relationships.

Ella’s Initial Skepticism and Growing Appreciation ([04:03] - [05:21])

Ella Cerrone shares her long-standing affection for the Addams Family, revealing her early introduction to the franchise through campy, iconic movies that resonated with her as a “very quiet little girl” identifying with Wednesday's serious demeanor. Initially skeptical about “Wednesday” due to its departure into supernatural elements—a stark contrast to her understanding of the Addams Family as “weird goths living their life in a very suburban place”—Ella admits, “I was a little skeptical going in” ([05:21]). However, as the series progressed, she found herself captivated by the comprehensive world-building, allowing her nostalgia and love for the original to evolve into appreciation for the new interpretation.

Jenna Ortega’s Performance: A Standout Element ([05:21] - [09:28])

Glen Weldon praises Jenna Ortega’s central performance, emphasizing the challenge of embodying Wednesday Addams while carrying the show's narrative weight. He notes, “I do not envy that task. As an actor, I think Ortega nails it” ([05:21]). Ortega’s portrayal balances a flat affect with moments of depth, allowing subtle emotional expressions that enhance her character’s complexity. A highlight mentioned is a fantastic dance scene that showcases her ability to convey layers without disrupting the character’s core essence.

Direction and Production Critique ([09:28] - [10:58])

The conversation shifts to the show's direction under Tim Burton, whom Ella admires for his work in films like “Batman Returns”. Glen expresses disappointment, stating, “the show looks really flat” ([09:28]). He critiques the series' visual and narrative execution, arguing that despite Burton’s reputation, the show fails to distinguish itself from other Netflix offerings in terms of camera work, color palette, and overall aesthetic. Ella concurs, comparing the show’s feel to that of “Sabrina”, and lamenting that it doesn’t fully embrace the unique Burton-esque flair she anticipated.

Cultural Representation and Continuity ([11:11] - [13:26])

A significant aspect discussed is the show’s acknowledgement of the Addams Family’s Latino heritage. Glen brings up the inclusion of Latino actors like Luis Guzman (Gomez) and Jenna Ortega (Wednesday), as well as Fred Armisen’s Uncle Fester. Ella reflects on Raul Julia’s portrayal of Gomez, highlighting how his performance imbued the character with Latino identity, a continuity that the series honors without making it a central plot point. She appreciates the subtle references to their heritage, such as mentions of “de Muertos” and the song “La Llorona”, which add depth and authenticity to the characters’ backgrounds.

Character Dynamics and Storylines ([13:26] - [15:47])

Glen and Ella explore the altered family dynamics in the series, particularly the strained relationship between Wednesday and her mother, Morticia, portrayed by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Glen ponders the narrative choice to instill “friction and resentment” between them, questioning its purpose beyond typical teen angst. Ella argues that this split effectively isolates Wednesday, differentiating the show from the original films where the Addams Family remained unified against external pressures. This isolation underscores Wednesday’s individual journey and personal growth.

The discussion also touches on the supporting characters at Nevermore Academy. Ella critiques the shallow development of some classmates, noting that they sometimes feel “flat” and underutilized, which hampers the potential for richer storylines, including the anticipated love triangles. Nevertheless, she expresses genuine enthusiasm for the “normie romance” subplot, finding it endearing and relatable: “I was really rooting for that one” ([15:47]).

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode concludes, Glen seeks any additional thoughts from Ella, who reiterates her overall appreciation tempered with specific critiques. She acknowledges the show’s strengths in performances and cultural representation while yearning for deeper character development and more distinctive direction. Glen and Ella wrap up the conversation by encouraging listeners to share their own thoughts on “Wednesday”, emphasizing the show’s impact within the pop culture landscape.

Notable Quotes

• Ella Cerrone ([04:03]): “I have been obsessed with the Addams Family and with Wednesday specifically since as long as I can remember.”

• Glen Weldon ([05:21]): “As an actor, I think Ortega nails it. I think she does this flat affect, yet she's also able to show us just with her eyes when something or someone actually reaches her.”

• Ella Cerrone ([08:48]): “They are inexplicably wealthy. That's never explained. I did kind of miss the pearls and the cardigans that are central, I think, to the other movies.”

• Glen Weldon ([09:28]): “This setting is my deal breaker. This setting, man, it is the year 2022 and we're still doing ya school for magic. We're still doing not warts. I get that it's a genre I do, but why gotta feel so generic?”

• Ella Cerrone ([13:26]): “There are references to their heritage in the show. There's a quip about the de Muertos. There's a moment where she's listening to La Llorona, which is an iconic Zapotec song.”

Final Remarks

Glen Weldon and Ella Cerrone provide a nuanced critique of “Wednesday”, balancing appreciation for its lead performance and cultural inclusivity with constructive feedback on its narrative and stylistic choices. Their insightful discussion offers listeners a comprehensive understanding of the show's strengths and areas for improvement, making it a valuable resource for fans and critics alike.

Transcript

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[Glen Weldon]

Wednesday is one of the most popular Netflix shows of all time, and it helped make Jenna Ortega a star. It takes the breakout Addams family character Wednesday Addams and breaks her out of her home environment. Gomez and Morticia pack her off to their alma mater, the gloomy, gothy Nevermore Academy School for outcasts like her. Soon she's drawn into the investigation of a series of grisly murders and beset by psychic visions, mean girls and one seriously bubbly roommate. The series is about to return for a second season, so we thought it was the perfect time to revisit our conversation about the show. I'm Glen Weldon and today in this encore episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, we're talking about Wetness Day.

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[Glen Weldon]

Joining me today is writer Ella Sarong, author of the book Viva Lola Espinosa.

[Ella Cerrone]

Hello Ella, Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

[Glen Weldon]

It's great to have you because I need to talk about this show. Wednesday stars Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Adams, the only daughter in a beloved family of freaks created by cartoonist Charles Adams in 1938. But this take on the character grows most directly from the death obsessed, hilariously deadpan version played by Christina Ricci in a couple of Adams family films. Iconic, I would say Addams Family films in the early 90s. Richie shows up in Wednesday, as do Wednesday's parents, Gomez and Morticia, played here by Louis Guzman and Catherine Zeta Jones. But the series focuses on Wednesday's turbulent life at Nevermore Academy, a school for magical creatures like werewolves and sirens. Wednesday's chirpy roommate Enid is played by Emma Sinclair, her chief rival Bianca by Joy Sunday. And Hunter Doohan and Percy Hines White play a couple of potential love interests. There's a monster in the woods outside the school, dismembering folk. There's a secret society. There's a mystery involving Wednesday's parents. There's dances and boat races. And did we mention the school's principal is played by Gwendolyn Christie? Because that happens, too. Wednesday was created by Alfred Goff and Miles Millar, the team behind Smallville. Tim Burton is an executive producer. He also directed four episodes of its eight episode season. Wednesday, as I say, is streaming on Netflix. And Ella, like most Americans, you are a fan of the Wednesday Addams character. What did you think of this take?

[Ella Cerrone]

Oh, gosh. So I do need to back up and say that I have been in love with the Addams Family, I think, since a babysitter showed me the vhs. Those movies are campy. They're iconic, especially if you're a really quiet little girl and, you know, people get, they're like, you're not so cute. You're very quiet, you're very serious, you're very Wednesday. And I latched onto that at a very young age. And so I've been obsessed with, with the Addams Family and with Wednesday specifically since as long as I can remember. So when they first announced this show and the premise, I was actually a little skeptical because like you said, there's a lot going on that really dives into the supernatural. And my understanding of the Addams Family has always been that they're just weird. These are just some weird goths living their life in a very suburban place. And that satire is what makes them so great. So I was a little skeptical going in. But as the show and the episodes picked up and the world building, which was so great and really comprehensive, kind of laid itself out, they hooked me in. And I was like, okay, I get what's happening here. This is an update. My protection over this IP and my love and nostalgia, I can suspend that for right now to understand and appreciate what they're doing here.

[Glen Weldon]

I agree that there's some stuff to like here, but I think when it comes to Jenna Ortega's central performance, there's a lot to love. Just imagine this whole thing is on her shoulders and I think she nails it. Because as much as I also love the Addams Family films and like any self respecting middle aged gay man, I am off book on Addams Family values, chapter and verse. The Wednesday character, there is a flavoring agent. You know, she's not the main course, so she can afford the monotone affect because especially in those amazing summer camp scenes, she's such a stark contrast to everyone around her. Plus, and I think this turns out to be a huge factor for me, everything that comes out of her mouth is written by Paul Rudnick, right? So it's very funny here. She's the focus over eight hour long episodes and the environment around her is pretty much just as goth as she is. So she can't just do what she does in the movies. She's gotta show us layers and she has to do that without violating, you know, the central organizing principle of this character. I do not envy that task. As an actor, I think Ortega nails it. I think she does this flat effect, yet she's also able to show us just with her eyes when something or someone actually reaches her. Plus there's a dance scene that she has that's just fantastic. But I gotta say, it's that central performance that kept me going because everything around her I found just pretty flat and familiar. And if we weren't doing it for the show, I think I would've bailed on this pretty early. This setting is my deal breaker. This setting, man, it is the year 2022 and we're still doing ya school for magic. We're still doing not warts. I get that it's a genre I do, but why gotta feel so generic? I mean, the dialogue here for the most part is, and I say this with love, WB superhero show level. And that's okay. Some actors can nail that if they have the right delivery. If you toss off a B minus joke or reference, it can work. But if you lean into it as so many of them are doing here, you call too much attention to it, it just feels sweaty. The stakes are pretty low as they are often in Y School for Magic stuff because You've got to keep this kid in the school long past when they would have gotten expelled or even arrested. So there's a lot of scenes of one more infraction from you. And you know those scenes. Or you have Wednesday working with local law enforcement in the way that local law enforcement tends not to work with amateur teen sleuths. The show calls it out to its credit, but it still does it. So I was finding a lot around the central character just too flat.

[Ella Cerrone]

Yeah, I totally see what you're saying there. I was just like, we've been here before at this small town that's being besieged by murders. We've seen this a trillion times, and on some level, like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But one of the beauties of the original movies is that these are just these weirdos amid a bunch of preps. And so I was like, how are they going to contrast that? If to your point, everybody is as goth as she is, she is still slightly more goth than everybody else because she gets some sort of special license to have a black and gray uniform while everyone else is wearing purple. I will say, by the way, the outfits were phenomenal in a way that wasn't actually, like, costumey. Except she did wear Prada monoliths. And I was like, I'm sorry, what's going on? She's wearing Pradas.

[Glen Weldon]

It's a wealthy family.

[Ella Cerrone]

They are. They are inexplicably wealthy. That's never explained. I did kind of miss the pearls and the cardigans that are central, I think, to the other movies, because there is that contrast. And Wednesday in the other movies is more of, like, a straight man character. She has the deadpan lines, but it's everybody else being ridiculous around her. And so I think Jenna did a really good job of giving just enough emotion when she needed to and then pulling it back immediately. But there is always going to be that nostalgia of, like, okay, this is also reinforcing why I love the original so much as I do.

[Glen Weldon]

Well, let's talk about that. Cause I think what you're talking about there is the direction as much as anything else, and the direction of those early episodes. When I saw that Tim Burton director credit, I was like, let's do this. Because, of course, it seems inevitable. It seems overdue. Like, this is a property made for Tim Burton. Right? I mean, it's amazing to me that he hasn't done this before. But then again, what is Edward Scissorhands but an Addams Family movie, basically? And yet what you get is just something that looks like everything else on Netflix. Same camera aspect, same ratio, same color palette. I don't necessarily think of Burton as an actor's director, but he does pull that amazing Ortega performance out of her. I think that's mostly her, but a little bit of him. But the show looks really flat. And look, I understand the difference between film and television. They're different media. They have vastly different resources. Even if you're talking Netflix money, it's still film has a lot more money. And I'm not trying to conflate production design and directing here. I understand they're two different things, but, man, if you. You told me that a couple of Addams Family films directed by Barry Sonnenfeld would look and feel a hell of a lot more like Tim Burton than an Addams Family show that's actually directed by Tim Burton, I wouldn't have believed you.

[Ella Cerrone]

Right. So my favorite Batman movie is Batman Returns, and that's Tim Burton. It's Christmas Batman in my house. So tis the season. But that feels like an Addams Family set as well. Like, that feels right in the canon. And so this did feel a lot more like cw. It felt a lot. I was reminded a lot of Sabrina.

[Glen Weldon]

Sure.

[Ella Cerrone]

It just felt very much in that same vein of like, oh, this is what they're trying to do. This is the hole that they're trying to fill. It felt like more like from the world of Tim Burton than opposed to, like a Tim Burton. Tim Burton thing as I know it.

[Glen Weldon]

Sure. As the trailers say, from the mind of Tim Burton. But let me ask you about something. So this series does acknowledge that the Addams Family came to America from Mexico. You got Guzman playing. You got Ortega playing Wednesday. You got a little later in the season, Fred Armisen showing up as Uncle Fester. How does that land on you?

[Ella Cerrone]

Well, so my favorite tradition of the Addams Family is actually that Raul Julia, who played Gomez Adams in the movies, made the character Latino. If I can nerd out for five seconds, the father in the comic book, as made by Charles Adams, never had a name. Eventually the TV shows came along, and they were like, okay, we have to give him a name. And they landed on Gomez, and he was Castilian Spanish, which is very different from being Latino. That's actually just being Hispanic. But then by the time that Raul Julia came around and used his accent and used his mannerisms and really just gave a Shakespearean performance to the role, and since then, they've leaned into it. Oscar Isaac voiced Gomez in the animated movies. And it really does make the characters feel, like, canonically Latino. And there are references to their heritage in the show. There's a quip about the de Muertos. There's a moment where she's listening to La Llorona, which is an iconic Zapotec song. I knew it.

[Glen Weldon]

Hello, thing.

[Ella Cerrone]

Did you really think my highly trained olfactory sense wouldn't pick up on the faint whiff of neroli and bergamot in your favorite hand lotion? But at the same time, they're very much treating it like it is what it is. There is no plot line of, hey, the Addamses are Latino. And so I personally liked it. And to see that continuity also with Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester, it also added that level of normalization, I would want to say. Whereas when I was a little kid and I saw Raul Julia and I was like, oh, here's a weirdo Latino, kind of like my dad, this Gomez is far more muted, but it definitely still had that moment of like, okay, this is Latino daddy daughter time. Let me get into my feelings and text my father.

[Glen Weldon]

Well, let's talk about the mom, too, because I think one thing this version also adds to the canon is it creates a real sense of friction and resentment between Wednesday and her mom. And I was wondering what that's doing there besides just adding kind of ya teen angst. But what it's effectively doing is it's isolating her as a character even more, because, of course, in the films, you know, when she's home, she's home. The Addams Family sticks together. It's the Addams Family versus the world. And here, by introducing that split, did that work for you?

[Ella Cerrone]

I thought it was a necessary split, I would almost wanna say, because, again, this show is very different from the movies in that the movies are really the Gomez and Morticia show, and this is the Wednesday show. So creating that divide drives Wednesday away from home a little bit more. And Catherine Zeta Jones, who, I must note, is not Latina.

[Glen Weldon]

Yep.

[Ella Cerrone]

She plays a Morticia that is far less sardonic than Anjelica Huston's, and it's filled with a lot more remorse and a little bit of regret, I would want to say. I don't have a teenage daughter, but I would imagine my mother at that point and felt a lot of the feelings and the griefs and sorrows that she felt. I do think that they were very smart in not trying to create everything note for note from the original.

[Glen Weldon]

I think it's tough to kind of wipe those movies out of your memory as you're watching this. Was there anything else you wanted to hit? Anything specific we didn't get to?

[Ella Cerrone]

I do have to say the classmates dynamic felt a little thin sometimes. Some of the characters felt really flat. One of her classmates, who is the brooding artist in the sea of outcasts, like, how much more can you be an outcast? He felt very uneven and I wish they could have done more with him. And that really would have sold the potential love triangle a little bit more. I gotta be honest, though, I was really rooting for the normie romance. I thought that was really cute. And I was like, okay, I get it now. I understand what it looks like when anybody who isn't as goth as me dates me and I'm like, I'm so sorry, this is weird. I'm the little goth black rain cloud here. I am. And I was really rooting for that one. They got me that plot twist I did not see coming. I will say that.

[Glen Weldon]

Yeah, I agree. Well, we want to know what you think about Wednesday. Find [e-mail] PCHH and that brings us to the end of our show. Ella Cerrone, thanks for being here.

[Ella Cerrone]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Glen Weldon]

Of course. And of course, thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. If you got a second and you're so inclined, please sign up for our [e-mail] pop culturenewsletter. This episode was produced by Rommel Wood and edited by Jessica Reedy. And hello, Come in. Provides our theme music, which you are glowering menacingly to right now. I'm Glenn Weldon and we'll see you all tomorrow.

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