#wednesday commentary

[fluffycakesistainted]

Sheriff Galpin: Stay away from my son. Wednesday: No. 😏 Xavier: You should stop hanging out with Tyler. Wednesday: No. 😒 Sheriff Galpin, Weems: Stop investigating the “monster in the woods”. Wednesday: No. 🤔 Miss Capri: “I strongly recommend that you don't entertain the idea.” Wednesday: No. 😏 Morticia: “please, don't court this monster.” Wednesday: No. 😌 Spirit!Weems: Just leave with Enid and go into hiding. Wednesday: No. 😑 Spirit!Weems: “Don't…do this.” Wednesday: No. 😠 Spirit!Weems: “Leave Tyler and Francoise to the authorities.” Wednesday: No. 😑 Enid: Can you stay put and not risk breaking curfew to go to a graveyard to do whatever the hell to find Tyler and his mother? Wednesday: No. 😠 Tyler: “Kill me.” Wednesday: No. 🥺

[fluffycakesistainted]

So Wednesday heard that Miss Capri’s Hyde boyfriend attacked the woman he loved under his master’s command to kill her, then accidentally killed his master; AND Larissa, using Laurel as precedent, warned her Tyler will turn on her even as his master; AND this was all after he’d already yeeted her out a second-story window and into a coma, AND she herself pointed out “how violently unpredictable a Hyde can be” to Dr. Kinbott when she believed she and Xavier were the master and Hyde, and asked if she’d planned “to have Xavier committed before he could turn on” her… (1x07)

And she was still unwaveringly like, No this is the only option and a good idea that I’m totally going to do. Aside from her admitting to Isadora that it “would be insane” (which, for an Addams, is more a feature than a bug, anyway), the only reasoning I can ascribe to this is that she fully believes Tyler would not kill her, under any circumstance, no matter what’s happened before with previous masters or previous Hyde/non-Hyde romances. She was like, that sounds like a them problem, our connection is unique and stronger than that. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Idk, either she sincerely didn't consider him turning on her or breaking out of her control an actual risk, or she did and that was part of the appeal, lol (again, she's an Addams).

[fluffycakesistainted]

Wednesday doesn't care

The one person Hyde!Tyler was made to attack but didn't kill—Eugene—was the only one of the victims whose death would've upset Wednesday (whether character- or narrative-wise, not a coincidence)

Wednesday after Tyler threatened her and Enid with death: “He may be a deranged psychopath, but his timing is poetic. If I could choose my last day, El Dia de los Muertos would top my wish list.” – She was concerned for Enid, not herself

Wednesday after coming out of the coma Hyde!Tyler threw her into and Enid brought up her injuries: “Pain reminds me that I'm still alive.” – And she never mentioned it again

Wednesday after being dug out of the grave Isaac buried her alive in as Tyler watched: “I enjoyed that.” 

Wednesday “lack of empathy” Addams doesn't gaf about anyone Hyde!Tyler killed, even if she knew them (especially Rowan, who she pointed out multiple times “the monster” saved her from). Death threats don't scare her, and she appreciates the poetry in potentially dying on her favorite holiday. Plus, she ultimately knew that the threats to Enid were only to get her attention (and it worked). Being chucked out a 2-story window was revitalizing, then she walked off the subsequent coma as if nothing happened, and being buried alive is like a spa treatment/wellness activity for an Addams (and remember that time she was just kickin it in a morgue corpse drawer?).

Literally the only thing she was angry at Tyler about/“hates” him for is the deception and betrayal of their relationship. That she “lost control and her emotions got the better of her and…she was fooled.” And we know her relationships to control, emotions, and truth. So she was about as mad at herself as she was at Tyler (if not more so). But even then, in the moment she first realized she’d fallen for “a psychotic, serial-killing monster”, her immediate thought was, Well damn, I guess that tracks.😐 

[fluffycakesistainted]

"I missed."

It would've been easy, and in character, to have Wednesday say something mean and snarky in reply to Tyler asking why she released him instead of killing him—maybe something along the lines of not giving him the satisfaction of/him not deserving an “easy” death, especially since he’d told her to do it. But the absence of any reply of the sort, plus the subtle, subtextual, mutual understanding—between the characters, and between the narrative and the audience—behind the obvious insincerity of downplaying her established expert marksmanship and aim…

And while either reply is a deflection/denial of her actual reasons, there’s a certain vulnerability in the “I missed” that wouldn’t have been in an aggressive, cutting retort. It comes off like the first sign of her being done being angry at him. Still plenty of conflicting and (barely) repressed feelings, but the visceral, seething fury she’d been nursing since the end of s1, not so much. Just…chef’s kiss dialogue choice, all around. Probably Jenna Ortega’s second-most significant contribution to Weyler after playing Wednesday, lol (but seriously tho).

[fluffycakesistainted]

Probably the cutest thing about Wednesday/Tyler as a ship is that they’re so “baby’s first Monster Romance” (well, aside from beauty and the beast, which is most people’s very first monster romance, esp if they grew up with the ‘91 disney version). Monster Romance Junior. Between Wednesday’s lighter and comedic camp-horror tone and the YA setting, they’re a somewhat less intense but still nuanced and thematic entry-way into gothic monster romance for younger viewers who probably haven’t shipped or experienced a dynamic like that before (but thru Weyler are finding they have a taste for it), and without being especially sanitized or vanilla-fied. They’re genuinely effed up to each other! But it’s on a foundation of genuine attraction and connection, so they’re also obsessed with each other. Serving all the lovers-to-enemies(-to-?), love/hate, will-threaten-but-not-actually-follow-thru energy. And as a bonus, Wednesday isn't a typical heroine protagonist, she herself is a macabre freak from two lines of macabre freaks. Part of her whole deal is being compelled and intrigued by monstrousness, so, what a combo. Especially with Hydes being outcasts even among the Outcast population—banned, rare, mysterious, feared, and still a puzzle, so there’s no way she’s letting that go any time soon (if at all).

[fluffycakesistainted]

“Wednesday” is doing something with Hydes + Werewolves

Werewolves and Hydes are the only Outcast types that completely transform into an animal(istic being)...

…and there’s typically some amount of drama around when and how they first transform (especially for late-blooming Weres/Alphas)

The two most important peer characters to Wednesday are a Werewolf (Enid) and a Hyde (Tyler) 

Aside from other Hydes, Werewolves are the only beings that can (without weapons) even begin to physically take on a Hyde—as seen between Enid and Tyler (1x08), and referred to by Isadora Capri about her Hyde boyfriend Alfie’s attack (2x05) 

Tyler's cell in Willow Hill was “originally designed for a schizophrenic Werewolf” (2x02) 

Hydes and Alpha Werewolves are outcasts among Outcasts—ostracized for being deemed too dangerous and uncontrollable for “mainstream” Outcast society (Hydes) or their packs (Alphas)

Francoise’s genuine but also projected fear for Tyler being a Hyde and trying to relieve him of it so he’ll be “normal” (and preserve his life) invertedly mirrors Enid’s mother’s fear of her never transforming into her wolf and trying to send her to a camp to solve the issue so she’ll be “normal” (x) 

When Francoise fell to her death, in Hyde form, she was caught/held in the arms of Nevermore’s Werewolf statue, evoking Pietà imagery (which I found to be especially poignant after s2 seemed to give extra visual emphasis to that statue) 

The show’s main Werewolf/Alpha character (Enid) and its main Hyde character (Tyler) now have a mutual connection to Isadora Capri, due to her knowledge of Alphas and Hydes

Isadora is a Werewolf with a Hyde father…

meaning her mother is a Werewolf and she's the product of a Hyde/Werewolf relationship…

which she later mirrored in her relationship with Alfie

Basically, there are a lot of narrative and thematic ties between Werewolves and Hydes (any I missed?), and I’m curious and intrigued as to where the show is going with all that (if anywhere).

[hislittleraincloud]

Some day, Imma re-watch Wednesday with one of my fans and they'll regret it because I'll be making commentary like this

"Aww, lookit her reassessing her life's choices...she sore 'cuz she got wrecked alllll day by her man at the cabin. Now she has to go all the way to the crypt? Fuck her life LOL AWWW, DOES YOUR VOLVO HURT, BEHBEH? D.J. will kiss it, make it better."

"Look, lookit 'er, she is kinda walkin' funny...all bow-legged 'cuz it's sore 🫠✨"