The extremely high rated show on Netflix, Wednesday, is a comedic horror mystery. It is a retelling of The Addams Family based on the beloved, gothic icon, Wednesday Addams, who is enrolled in a school for outcasts by her parents so that she can finally fit in. 

The costumes and sets are well done. The most notable are the costumes and sets during the Rave’n. The student body and staff are all dressed in white with a matching backdrop, and Wednesday shows up (unsurprisingly) in a black dress that was shown prior in the episode she wears it in. It’s full of gorgeous feathers and cinches in at her waist with a belt. The dress goes all the way up to her neck with a collar, and her hair is beautifully done up in milkmaid braids.

Something that is important to compliment is the casting. The actors genuinely look the age that they are playing, which is not usually found in today’s TV for good reason. But these actors do look like they are around high school age. Jenna Ortega does a good enough job with her oddly written lines and meticulous details such as the lack of blinking her eyes. However the delivery of her sarcastic lines and painfully forced monotone voice is somewhat frustrating. Her choreography for the dance she does in the Rave’n was done by herself and she did a great job. 

Wednesday’s counterpart, Enid, played by Emma Myers, does the best she can but overall isn’t the best actress and her character is a bit forgettable because she doesn’t do much for the plot. Her character’s actions could easily be replaced by one of the boys that chases Wednesday throughout the show. 

The side characters do have personality, and the rivalry between Wednesday and Bianca is well put. Truly, the best parts of the show stem from the antagonists. The problems Wednesday faces and battles she participates in are so fun and leave the audience at the edge of their seats.

The writing is quite subpar. Some lines written for Wednesday are predictable and cringeworthy. She is very toned down from the original, and comes off as more annoying than murderous. Some of Enid’s lines are strange and make her sound very immature. However the plot is very interesting and grasps the attention of the audience very early on. But there are random subplots that don’t go anywhere, such as the short period of time when Wednesday’s father went to jail for a crime from 25 years prior to the time in the show, and stays there for all of about 20 minutes while Wednesday figures it out. He was released from jail soon after, and that was the end of it. It felt like a waste of an episode. 

Overall, the show does deserve the high ratings but, like all things, is not perfect and hopefully the writers improve for the next season if renewed, which they probably will with the amount of wonderful feedback they have received from audience members.