Edgar Allan Poe, Pilgrims, Witchcraft, 1950s Monster-craze, Black Metal, musical and visual references to The Addams' legacy,.. I don't know if it's just that I am in the correct mindset to be watching this show, still clinging to the Halloween mood I always get even one month it has passed and I'm trying to delay the overwhelming early Christmas they try to smother me with (in spite of how I love Christmas also); but this show knows exactly how to harness that 1990s' goth Tim Burtonesque aesthetic and vibe of morbid and grotesque German Expressionism melded with a common-yet-well-executed "teen arrives to a new quirky school" narrative backdropped in a normal American town.
Friendship, quirky characters with strong and varied traits that make them not only all be different but also fit in and work with one another quite well; the common folk who fear the school and yet it makes it plausible for both to coexist. The perfect blend of cartoony over-the-top tropes and good mystery drama with great dialogue and characterisation. And the performance and writing of Wednesday Addams, who is obviously the highlight of the show as she is tenacious, strong and feisty but also caring, empathetic and flawed that don't diminish her strength and determination but enhances her persona by having more layers than a cynical joke-machine with no heart. A perfect strong female character to praise and fear. All her fighting skills, wisdom and other skillset she may have don't make her a Mary Sue at all, they provide her with the tools she needs to take on the dangers of this world as she also remains flawed when it comes to expressing her feelings and working with others. Couldn't have asked for a better characterisation myself, one to be used as a great example of how to write them.
The No-rules race and picturesque dress up, prophecies and visions, school secrets, student secret societies, Hidden traps, suspicious murders all across town... The Harry Potter influence is palpable yet most welcomed as it doesn't come across tired or copycatted. It is delightful to see the many influences of the show in an aesthetic and narrative way from Tim Burton, like Batman 1989, Beetlejuice, Sleepy Hollow and more from him; Harry Potter's friendship and magical-world-building-vs-a-normal-world influences, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina's teen-mystery-oriented plots featuring quirky characters that aid her or antagonize her amidst the social cliques that exist in the school... With tropes inspired by detective shows, high school dramas and even cartoons, the show has every ounce of entertainment as it has a production value believed to have been almost lost in Netflix. It's very easy for a franchise like the one this show may very well begin (I mean, other than the Addams Family one it's already backdropped in) given its popularity, subject and legacy; to fall into the mainstream, quantity-over-quality-level of production that some famous IPs have become nowadays.
So lets see where this show leads to and I really really hope they maintain the same care in the filmmaking, framing, editing, characterisation and narrative that this show has because I believe it is truly special and unique. And each story thread that opens up or reveals itself adds only more value to the world building of this wonderful world. I always enjoyed the Addams Family world but I've never seen a more grounded and layered yet still comedic version as this one. Keep it up!
