[7.7/10] Another really entertaining episode. This is more explicitly doing Bewitched and 1960s sitcoms, and there’s a lot of sheer entertainment to be had from a riff on tropes of odd couples trying to fit into their idyllic neighborhoods.
I also appreciate the recognition of classic sitcom tropes and how they’d evolved in the subsequent decades. That goes beyond just the different decor in Wanda and Vision’s home. We see them walk outside and go seemingly on location, beyond the confines of a single set. We also see many more people of color populating their white picket fence town. It’s small details, but they add up to show change.
The notion of Wanda trying to impress Dottie, the queen bee of the neighborhood (Emma Caufield, aka Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), and Vision to get in good with the neighborhood watch, so as to further their joint initiative to fit in works as a great premise for the episode. There’s a lot of humor to be wrung from off-beat Wanda trying to fit in with the Stepford-esque ladies under Dottie’s purview, and awkward square Vision accidentally fitting in with the guys of the watch.
What’s more, the set piece of the two of them trying to pull off a magic act at the local talent show, where Vision is functionally drunk due to some literal gum in the works, and Wanda has to work to make people think it isn’t magic, is fantastic. There’s a great, frantic energy to the whole routine, and both Olsen and Bettany play it to the hilt.
This was also a great episode for stray lines. The running gag of people chanting “For The Children” in unison brought a lot of yuks. The poor mustached man from the prior episode going “That was my grandmother’s piano” when Wanda turns it into a wooden standee was a solid laugh. And one of the housewives in the audience asking “Is that how mirror’s work?” when Wanda uses them to try to explain Vision’s phasing hat trick had me rolling in the aisles.
But it’s not all laughs. There’s more horror at the edge of the frame that’s done quite well. The presence of an airplane that’s visibly Iron Man’s colors seems to shock Wanda as revealing that something’s wrong here. When Wanda assures Dottie that she doesn’t mean any harm, Dottie says “I don’t believe you,” in genuinely frightened tones, while a strange voice cuts through the radio, causing her to break a glass and bleed fluid that likewise breaks through the black and white color scheme. It’s another superbly done unnerving moment.
There’s also some interesting lines that have double meanings that are quickly glossed over, like their new friend saying “I don’t know why I’m here,” seemingly referring to the garden party, but also suggesting she’s been wrapped into this fantasy world somehow and doesn’t know why. There’s a lot of little bits of dialogue that work like that in this one, and it’s fascinating.
We also see and hear some loud thumping, played for laughs in the “move the beds together” scene (another wink toward classic TV changes), but also witness it used for legitimate scares. There’s some frightening imagery when the man emerges from the sewers in a beekeeper outfit and more “Who’s doing this to you, Wanda?” calls are heard, especially when Wanda uses the power to rewind the tape. The advent of a pregnancy is an interesting development, and the arrival of color with their kiss is some great effects worth.
I’m nursing a theory that this is all part of Wanda coping with the loss of Vision, feeling sick or afflicted and unwittingly creating this fantasy world out of some kind of grief, wrapping more and more people into it. Whatever the answer, color me appropriately intrigued by the mystery, charmed by the pastiche, and appropriately disturbed at the hints of something deeply wrong with all of this.
"Life is full of change. Some big, some small. I learned a long time ago, you can fight it or you can try to make the best of it. And that's all a lot easier if you've got people who love you helping you face whatever life throws at you.”
It was a beautiful finale. Nothing truly groundbreaking but I thought they did a great job wrapping the show. So many sweet moments – the Dunphy siblings, Phil and Jay, Claire and Mitch’s misadventure, Jay learning Spanish, and the ending shot - leaving that porch light on, symbolism of how Claire and Phil know their kids will return at some point.
I liked it for the most part but I think the ending seemed rushed and it’s a little unrealistic that so many family members are leaving at once. I’m glad they didn’t go with Jay passing away and I really loved the parallels between the first and last scenes of the show - Phil and Claire going over their calendar, Jay and Gloria at the football match, and Mitch and Cam on a flight. I expected Cam to top the first baby reveal. The Lion King one will forever go down in history.
A hugely missed opportunity not to address the documentary element. We'll never know why these people have been interviewed for 11 years.
Wednesday is entertaining casual watching, but not something I'm likely to re-watch. Maybe my hopes were too high with all the big names involved. I was expecting an Addams Family show with a lot of Tim Burton influence but we got a CW teenage drama with Addams Family characters and barely any Burton influence. Jenna Ortega is carrying that show because it is mediocre. It would have been better as a movie. It's very much a Netflix generic show, nothing spectacular. There are definitely good parts to it, but cannot be compared to the classics.
As I said, Jenna Ortega is note perfect as Wednesday. She captured the essence of what the character was all about. However, I found her a bit too "the new girl who's not like the other girls in those YA movies/shows", which annoyed me a lot. A school full of 'outcasts' and everyone but Wednesday acts like your regular high schooler she looks down at. And it feels like the writing started to slip on the second half because Wednesday just going around accusing people made her seem kind of dumb.
Catherine Zeta Jones and Luis Guzman have zero chemistry, and I'm sorry but Luis Guzmán just does not have charm as Gomez. The family, minus Wednesday, is miscast to be fair. Pugsley was there as decoration. Morticia is uninteresting. Genuinely shocking how little effort was put in for the supporting characters vs Wednesday, I have to imagine it was the script and direction. The male characters are especially bland, I got so tired of the back and forth with Xavier and Tyler. It felt like almost all the relationships between characters were told to us and not shown to us. Everything had to happen for the plot but it effected character's development.
A lot of the dialogue lands so flat, "Why do u look so pale?", "Wednesday always looks half dead" - like I get what they're trying to do but it's so on the nose, it doesn't seem organic.
All in all, Wednesday was OK for light watching but I wouldn't set up your expectations too high, it definitely gets better as the show goes on which is a good sign but it doesn't feel so much like an 'Addams' show, and it lacks the screwball charm of the originals. The Addams family as an ensemble unapologetically juxtaposed against normal society seems to work better than yet another gothy, supernatural high school drama. I just feel the need to say that for those who may have been looking for something darker in tone.