Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for the Netflix series, Wednesday.
Netflix’s Wednesday, created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the characters from Charles Addams, takes the audience along for a new story with the titular heroine and her eccentric family. When Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is expelled from her high school — after nearly murdering some boys who were tormenting her younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) — she is forced by her parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) to attend their alma mater, the place they fell in love: Nevermore Academy. Wednesday protests, but it is of no use as no other school will take her in.
However, once she arrives, Wednesday finds that Nevermore may be much more than she gave it credit for, especially as she is sucked into the mystery of the ongoing murders around the school and neighboring town Jericho. But, it’s the people she meets at Nevermore that really change her life. Obviously, the biggest surprise of the first season is Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan), whom Wednesday had been growing close with romantically, being the Hyde responsible for the deaths that have occurred… with some help from his “master” and Nevermore teacher Marilyn Thornhill a.k.a. Laurel Gates (Christina Ricci). Wednesday also has a growing relationship with Xavier (Percy Hynes White), the other love interest in her so-called love triangle, and a frenemy-ship with Nevermore Queen Bee Bianca (Joy Sunday). But, it’s her roommate and eventual best friend Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) that makes the biggest impact on Wednesday.
The Drastic Differences Between Them Help the Relationship Shine on ‘Wednesday’
When we first meet Enid, it seems there is absolutely no chance that Enid and Wednesday could ever develop a friendship given their respective outlooks on life (and decorating). Everyone knows Wednesday is a no-holds-barred realist, while Enid is the personification of the sun. She is cheerful, optimistic, and full of pep, while Wednesday is a walking storm cloud. She’s gloomy, pessimistic, and cannot spare the energy to talk to another person unless they are being a complete imbecile, and she can shame them for it.
Their room, with the line drawn down the center, shows that they are night and day, and it causes the two to clash on many occasions as the investigation into the Hyde heats up. Though, throughout the season, their differences repeatedly show that Enid is the perfect partner in crime for Wednesday. As their beautiful friendship grows, their immensely different personalities no longer become a conflict between them, but begin to compliment one another. They balance one another, as Wednesday gives Enid a much-needed reality check and grounds her, while Enid brings a little happiness and hope into Wednesday’s life. Together, they have a much better view of the world around them as they’re forced to meet in the middle and see a clearer picture. They learn from each other, begin to count on one another for what they bring to the table, and true feelings of trust and comfort arise to form a real friendship. (Wednesday’s first friendship, too, or so it seems.)
They express their feelings differently, but both prove they would do anything to stay true to who they are. When Enid’s family threatens to send her to werewolf camp because she hasn’t turned yet, she stands her ground and demands respect and acceptance regardless of whether she ever fully transforms — something which Wednesday certainly gave her a little strength to do. Meanwhile, Wednesday is constantly dealing with pressures from the outside world to stop being herself and adapt to societal expectations, but Enid doesn’t really do that. Sure, they fight over their differences at times throughout the season, but she doesn’t want to change Wednesday. Enid tries to bring Wednesday out of her shell, calls her out when she’s wrong and needs to gain some perspective (like putting her friends’ lives at risk), but accepts the parts of Wednesday that nobody else truly does. Additionally, they would also risk everything for those they care about, as both do in the first season.
Enid Has Attributes That Wednesday Does Not, and Vice Versa
As a werewolf, Enid offers immense physical strength to the partnership that Wednesday does not have. Sure, Wednesday has extremely skillful fighting abilities that give her an advantage in a sword fight, but she has no supernatural backing that gives her the ability to go toe-to-toe with the Hyde as Enid does in the Wednesday season finale. Enid saves Wednesday’s life, putting her own at risk in the process, and allows for Wednesday to continue on and save the entire school/world from the resurrected Joseph Crackstone (William Houston). As Wednesday’s psychic/witch powers come in to accompany her extreme intelligence and aptitude for handling stressful situations, Enid’s physical power and protection should prove vital in the two working together to save Nevermore from the next threat it faces.
All in all, the first season of Wednesday proves, without a doubt, that Enid is the perfect partner in crime to Wednesday and should be right by her side in all future adventures. Nearly every aspect of both characters either compliments or balances out the other. They have unique and valuable skill sets to make them the ultimate crime-fighting team. Enid understands Wednesday in a way that even the Addams family cannot, and allows her to shine on her own without being in her parents’ shadow. Wednesday does the same for Enid, who has multiple brothers that her parents constantly compare her to, especially in terms of what being a true werewolf means. They are allowed to just exist with each other and find their own places in the world with no expectations other than common courtesy and apologies should Wednesday put Enid’s life at risk. Plus, the most impactful moment of the season is the hug they share after the final battles, proving that placing the entire show on the shoulders of these two young women is the right way to go should it be renewed for another season.
Every episode of Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
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