Netflix series Wednesday is a good watch any day of the week

New Netflix series Wednesday made its debut last week, and has been number one on their Top 10 TV Shows list since it went live.

Fans seem to be responding positively to the Addams Family-inspired series, with most of the praise being heaped on the petite shoulders of Jenna Ortega, who plays the title character. Although there have been some disparaging remarks about the casting of Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams, purists have pointed out that he more closely resembles the original animated character than Raul Julia did.

I have made it about halfway through the eight-episode first season of Wednesday (though no announcement has been made as of now, I fully expect Netflix to renew it for at least one more season), and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

It definitely has some strong Harry Potter vibes running throughout, especially with the cliques, traditions and even the school uniforms of Nevermore Academy. We have the werewolf group, the sirens, the vampires, the Gorgons – all of them very similar to the groups at Hogwart’s.

Wednesday is well-stocked with very good actors playing distinctive characters. We have Emma Myers as Wednesday’s perky roommate Enid Sinclair, who is the polar opposite of the dark and dour Wednesday. Joy Sunday plays Bianca Barclay, the stereotypical popular girl. But there is a twist to Bianca, who is a Siren with the power of persuasion (and very striking silver eyes). Hunter Doohan is Tyler, the townie who seems taken with Wednesday, and Percy Hynes White plays Xavier, a fellow student at Nevermore who is shrouded in mystery, and also very taken with young Ms. Addams.

Gwendolyn Christie is strong and interesting as Larissa Weems, the Nevermore head mistress, and we even get Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill, a “normie” teacher at the academy. Addams Family fans know that Ricci played Wednesday in the 1991 film and its sequel Addams Family Values.

But really, this series is all about the title character, and Jenna Ortega gives it her all. The pale skin, the black hair, the deadly serious eyes and the unsmiling face…she owns the role, and I can’t imagine anyone else doing a better job. Even her line delivery is perfect! She is fluent in deadpan. And I can’t even talk about that dance; it has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

Ortega has starred in a number of horror roles over the past few years, and excelled in all of them, leading me to believe she is definitely one of our newer Scream Queens. In addition to her role in X, she appeared in the newest Scream sequel and in Netflix’s The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and in all of these films, she actually stole the show every time she was onscreen.

Netflix did a good job with this series, and I sincerely hope they don’t make the very bad decision to cancel it, as they have so many other promising series.

What did you think of the new Netflix series Wednesday? Love it or hate it, we want to know how you felt, so drop your thoughts in the comments section.