Tim Burton’s Wednesday masterfully transformed Charles Addams’ iconic character into a supernatural detective thrust into a world of ancient mysteries and modern teen drama. As the series broke Netflix viewership records with over one billion hours watched in its first weeks, Jenna Ortega’s portrayal of the macabre teenager not only reimagined the character but elevated her beyond the family ensemble into a complex protagonist navigating both literal and metaphorical monsters. The show’s phenomenal success demonstrates how Burton’s Gothic sensibilities perfectly complement the character’s evolution from deadpan sidekick to compelling heroine at the center of Nevermore Academy’s supernatural conspiracy.
Beneath its teen drama facade, Wednesday operates as a multilayered mystery that explores themes of identity, legacy, and outsider status through its unique blend of horror and dark comedy. The series cleverly subverts expectations by placing Wednesday in an environment where she must question everything, including her family’s past and her own psychic abilities. As she investigates the mysterious Hyde attacks terrorizing the town of Jericho, Wednesday discovers connections between the founding of the town, her ancestor Goody Addams, and a centuries-old vendetta that threatens the existence of the outcasts at Nevermore Academy. This introduction to the shadowy world of Wednesday Addams provides essential context for understanding how the series reimagines both the character and the supernatural universe she inhabits.
Welcome To Nevermore Academy
After being expelled from school, Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is shipped off to Nevermore Academy by her parents, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzman). Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie) oversees this boarding school near Jericho that caters to misfits, outcasts, and supernaturally gifted students. When Wednesday arrives, she meets her quirky roommate, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), a werewolf who has yet to experience her first transformation. She also meets Miss Thornhill (Christina Ricci), her science teacher and dorm mother who proudly identifies as Nevermore’s only “normie” (non-supernatural) faculty member.
Before departing, Morticia gives Wednesday an obsidian necklace and a crystal ball to stay in touch. During a campus tour, Enid breaks down the student cliques: the Fangs, Furs, Scales, and Stoners represent vampires, werewolves, sirens, and gorgons, respectively. However, high school drama turns out to be the least of Wednesday’s concerns. She’s plagued by painful psychic visions inherited from her mother—vivid glimpses of past and future events that overtake her without warning and leave her temporarily incapacitated. The situation grows darker when Jericho’s Sheriff Donovan Galpin (Jamie McShane) discovers a hiker’s mangled body in the nearby woods, adding to a string of deaths he connects to the school.
Back at Nevermore, Wednesday butts heads with queen bee Bianca Barclay (Joy Sunday). When a gargoyle statue nearly crushes her, classmate Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White) yanks her to safety. Later, while working on her novel in her dorm, Wednesday catches Thing—a sentient, dismembered hand sneaking around. Upon realizing her parents sent Thing to spy on her, she threatens to lock it in a drawer unless it strikes a deal with her, thus gaining both a loyal sidekick and literal helping hand..
Days before the Harvest Festival, Wednesday ditches her court-mandated therapy with Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Riki Lindhome) for a coffee shop visit. There she meets barista Tyler (Hunter Doohan), Sheriff Galpin’s son, who appears genuinely interested in her while secretly monitoring her activities for Laurel Gates. His father disapproves of their connection and claims Gomez is a murderer. At the festival, Tyler hands Wednesday a copy of her father’s criminal record, ostensibly as a friendly gesture but actually to gain her trust.
Fleeing from bullies, Wednesday collides with classmate Rowan Laslow (Calum Ross) and envisions his imminent death. She tracks him into the woods where a visibly unhinged Rowan attacks her. He insists she will destroy the school, brandishing a tattered page as proof of an ancient prophecy. Suddenly, a massive supernatural beast attacks Rowan with brutal force, spares Wednesday, and vanishes into the woods. Left unharmed and in shock, Wednesday clutches the prophecy page while Rowan lies motionless, apparently dead.
At Nevermore Academy, students gear up for the Poe Cup—a no-holds-barred canoe and foot race honoring Edgar Allan Poe. Wednesday’s world is rocked when Rowan inexplicably shows up alive and unscathed, making everyone doubt her monster attack story; only Tyler believes her. Later, Principal Weems questions Wednesday about her psychic visions and reveals Rowan’s mysterious expulsion. The Rowan impostor heads to Burlington train station but transforms in the bathroom, revealing Principal Weems as a shapeshifter covering up his death.
Uncovering Ancient Secrets
While combing the woods for clues, Wednesday and Tyler find Rowan’s broken glasses, triggering a vision. Wednesday glimpses the book Rowan showed her and a symbol linked to a secret student society, the Nightshades. Initially reluctant to participate in school traditions, Wednesday eventually agrees to join Enid’s team, the Black Cats, for the Poe Cup race. After helping them clinch the victory and humiliate Bianca, Wednesday spots the Nightshade sigil on Edgar Allan Poe’s statue. She cracks a riddle, snaps her fingers twice, and uncovers a hidden passage to the Nightshades’ underground library.
There, Wednesday finds the book from her vision, but before she can examine it, the Nightshades ambush her. Wednesday quickly IDs her masked captors as fellow classmates, including Bianca and Xavier. After a brief interrogation, Xavier suggests Wednesday join the Nightshades, but she turns him down, citing her parents’ legacy. The next morning, the school celebrates Outreach Day with local volunteering and unveils a new statue in Jericho’s town square. Meanwhile, Wednesday eagerly pores over her newfound book for clues. Xavier helps her identify a man in the book as Joseph Crackstone (William Houston), Jericho’s founder.
While Enid visits the antique shop with her crush, Ajax Petropolus (Georgie Farmer), Wednesday volunteers at Pilgrim World, a tourist trap showcasing the town’s colonial history. There, she discovers artifacts from Joseph Crackstone’s family, including a painting of an old Pilgrim Meeting House depicting a young girl from her visions. She also finds The Book of Shadows, but it’s merely a replica. The authentic tome was swiped a month earlier.
Following Tyler’s directions, Wednesday ventures deep into the woods and stumbles upon the ruins of the house from the painting, where another vision overtakes her. She witnesses Joseph Crackstone and other colonists attempting to burn outcasts alive, including her ancestor, Goody Addams. While others perish in flames, Goody escapes. Upon waking, Wednesday encounters the monster before it flees. Examining the mud footprints, she discovers they transform from monster to human prints, revealing the creature can shapeshift. Xavier finds her and warns that her emotionally-charged visions aren’t always reliable.
Capping off Outreach Day with a vengeful flourish, Wednesday and Thing torch the new statue of Joseph Crackstone, infuriating Principal Weems. Later that night, the monster kills a squatter at the old Pilgrim Meeting House. Before dying, the victim snaps a photo of the creature, giving Sheriff Galpin disturbing evidence. As Nevermore buzzes with excitement for the Rave’N dance, Wednesday pushes forward with her investigation by breaking into the coroner’s office.
While sifting through evidence with Enid, Wednesday discovers all victims had body parts surgically removed. Suspicious of Xavier, she follows him to a secluded woodland shed housing his art studio filled with drawings of the deadly monster. Convinced of his connection to the attacks, Wednesday enlists Eugene to help investigate. Together they uncover the monster’s lair and recover a broken claw. Later, she spots Xavier with a bloody rag and persuades Sheriff Galpin to compare DNA from both the claw and rag, the results prove inconclusive.
Dark Truths Emerge
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As Wednesday reluctantly attends the dance with Tyler, Eugene heads into the woods alone and witnesses someone setting fire to the monster’s lair. Romantic tensions simmer between Bianca, Xavier, Tyler, and Wednesday while others enjoy the Rave’N. The Jericho bullies strike back for the destroyed Crackstone statue by hijacking the fire sprinklers to drench dancers with red paint. Amid the chaos, Wednesday has a vision of Eugene in danger and rushes to his aid, while Enid finally resolves her weeks-long misunderstanding with Ajax about his gorgon heritage and their canceled movie date, resulting in their reconciliation and a kiss. By the time Wednesday reaches the forest, the monster has already mauled Eugene, leaving him comatose.
During Parents Weekend, when Morticia, Gomez, and Wednesday’s younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) visit, Wednesday digs into rumors about her father’s murderous past. In family therapy, she confronts Gomez with his criminal file showing he allegedly killed wealthy local Garrett Gates (Lewis Hayes) 30 years ago. This bombshell upsets Morticia, ending the session. Sensing her father’s reluctance to come clean, Wednesday vows to uncover the truth herself.
Wracked with guilt over Eugene’s condition, Wednesday visits him in the hospital, but he remains unresponsive. At Nevermore, Sheriff Galpin barges into lunch to arrest Gomez after a coroner’s suicide note reveals a falsified report in the Gates case. Under Wednesday’s relentless questioning, Morticia confesses she killed Garrett in self-defense after his harassment, with Gomez taking the fall to protect her. Still unconvinced, Wednesday and Morticia exhume Garrett’s corpse at night and discover nightshade poisoning, clearing both parents of direct responsibility.
Armed with their findings, Wednesday and Morticia confront Jericho’s mayor, Noble Walker (Tommie Earl Jenkins), the sheriff at the time. He admits that Garrett’s bigoted father sent him to poison Nevermore students at the Rave’N dance. During the confrontation, the poison vial shattered, and Garrett accidentally poisoned himself. Walker agrees to drop all charges against Gomez in exchange for their silence about the cover-up. As Parents Weekend wraps up, Wednesday’s family relationships mend, and her parents and brother leave Nevermore on good terms.
Despite the temporary truce, Wednesday remains fixated on the school’s mysteries. Scanning an old yearbook, she realizes Principal Weems is a shapeshifter. Connecting the dots, she accuses the principal of covering up Rowan’s death by shapeshifting into his form and convincing the other students he was alive and expelled. Principal Weems owns up to the cover-up, insisting she only did it to protect the school. Before Wednesday can object, a message written in flames on the lawn outside grabs their attention, warning fire will rain down on the school soon.
On Wednesday’s birthday, her friends throw her a surprise party at the old Crackstone crypt, but she’s less than thrilled. However, the event takes an intriguing turn when she spots a tomb marking that matches the fiery message on the lawn from Parents Weekend and has a vision upon touching it. In the vision, Goody Addams directs Wednesday to the old abandoned Gates family mansion, saying it holds the key to stopping the Crackstone legacy. When Wednesday tries to tail Mayor Walker to learn more about the Gates mansion, a car suddenly plows into him, leaving him fighting for his life at the hospital.
Gates Conspiracy Unravels
After the accident, Principal Weems announces a school lockdown but implements it poorly with minimal actual security measures. Never one to play by the rules, Wednesday easily exploits these security gaps and manipulates Tyler and Enid into joining her at the Gates mansion that same night. At the mansion, the trio stumbles upon the car that hit Mayor Walker, the deceased Laurel Gates’s jewelry box, a hidden altar, and the missing body parts from the monster’s victims. The monster crashes their investigation by attacking, clawing Tyler and forcing them to flee. When Sheriff Galpin returns to the mansion, the culprit has wiped away all evidence, deepening his doubt in Wednesday’s story.
Back at Nevermore, Principal Weems, driven by her desire to shield Nevermore from scandal, forgives Wednesday for sneaking out and gives her one last chance before resorting to expulsion. However, Enid isn’t as forgiving, blasting Wednesday for her manipulative behavior and moving out of the dorm for a few days. As Wednesday examines Laurel Gates’s jewelry box, she uncovers a hidden compartment containing photos of herself, suggesting someone has been tracking her every move.
Wednesday senses she’s closing in on the truth while Jericho mourns Mayor Walker. When Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) makes a surprise visit to Nevermore, he identifies the monster as a rare creature called a Hyde. He points her to Nathaniel Faulkner’s diary in the Nightshades’ secret library. The diary explains that Hydes are creatures born of mutation, often awakened and controlled by a master for sinister purposes. To throw her off the scent, Tyler asks her out on a date that night at the Crackstone crypt. The pair enjoy a picnic and nearly kiss but are interrupted by Sheriff Galpin prowling the woods.
To make matters worse, she returns to find her dorm room ransacked, the diary missing and Thing gravely injured. Fortunately, Uncle Fester revives Thing, but the attack only strengthens Wednesday’s resolve to unmask the culprit. Later, Principal Weems admits to knowing about the diary and the existence of Hydes but kept it under wraps to protect the school’s reputation. A new lead emerges: Wednesday learns Mayor Walker was investigating Laurel Gates before his accident. Walker’s digging suggested Laurel Gates faked her death and returned to Jericho to exact revenge on Nevermore.
After realizing that Dr. Kinbott’s arrival in Jericho coincided suspiciously with the beginning of the monster attacks six months ago, Wednesday suspects the psychiatrist might be Laurel in disguise and confronts her. Dr. Kinbott denies everything, and the monster promptly attacks and kills her once Wednesday leaves, indicating Wednesday’s hunch was off target. Convinced Xavier is the Hyde, Wednesday confronts him in his art studio and has Sheriff Galpin haul him in. Though she believes she’s solved the case, lingering doubts remain. When Enid forgives her and moves back into their dorm room, Wednesday decides to confirm her theory by visiting Tyler at the coffee shop. She deliberately kisses him as a test, which triggers her psychic vision revealing his true identity.
Saving Nevermore Academy
Wednesday and the Nightshades capture Tyler and grill him about being the Hyde. When Principal Weems discovers the kidnapping and tips off Sheriff Galpin, Wednesday is hauled to the police station. There, Tyler confirms her suspicions by whispering his confession and promising more chaos. Wednesday is expelled from Nevermore but makes a final stop at the hospital to visit Eugene, who has finally awakened from his coma after three weeks of intensive medical care and Enid’s daily visits to support his recovery. Eugene’s memory of his attack is fuzzy, but he clearly remembers the attacker sporting red boots. Wednesday connects this to Miss Thornhill, who never goes anywhere without her signature red boots.
Piecing this together with her suspicions about Laurel Gates, Wednesday realizes Miss Thornhill is actually Laurel Gates pulling Tyler’s strings as the Hyde. Miss Thornhill admits her true identity, then poisons Principal Weems and drags Wednesday to the Crackstone crypt. After Thing alerts the Nightshades about Wednesday’s kidnapping, they prepare to evacuate the school while Enid rushes to save her friend. In the crypt, Laurel unveils her scheme to resurrect Joseph Crackstone using the Book of Shadows. She uses Wednesday’s blood to unlock Crackstone’s sarcophagus, bringing him back to life.
Rising from his grave, the vengeful spirit stabs Wednesday and leaves her bleeding out on the crypt floor, assuming the wound is fatal and hastening to destroy Nevermore before the blood moon’s power wanes. Goody’s spirit materializes and heals Wednesday with the obsidian necklace Morticia gave her. Wednesday runs into Tyler in the woods, who transforms into his Hyde form and pounces. Enid saves her, the life-threatening danger to her friend finally triggering her long-suppressed werewolf transformation that her parents had tried to force through expensive “lycanthropy retreats” without success.
As Enid battles Tyler, Joseph Crackstone descends on Nevermore, setting the school ablaze—indirectly fulfilling Rowan’s prophecy that Wednesday would bring destruction, as her blood was the catalyst for Crackstone’s resurrection despite her attempts to prevent it. Wednesday faces off with him in the courtyard, wielding a massive sword. Although Crackstone gains the upper hand during their duel, Bianca distracts him, giving Wednesday the opening she needs for a killing blow. Plunging her blade into his heart, Wednesday obliterates Crackstone’s soul, saving Nevermore.
When Miss Thornhill appears and threatens to shoot Wednesday, Eugene swoops in, unleashing his bees to sting her. With Nevermore closing temporarily for repairs, the students bid their farewells. Reflecting on Principal Weems’ ultimate sacrifice, who succumbed to Laurel’s poison while trying to protect her students, Wednesday apologizes to Xavier for suspecting him and says goodbye to her newfound friends. Though she has cracked the mysteries and rescued the school, Wednesday can’t shake the feeling that more secrets lurk beneath Jericho’s surface.
