Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams with hands
Photo:
Netflix
The horror comedy Wednesday has reportedly already broken the viewership record of Stranger Things on Netflix. Professional critics found Tim Burton's series (starring Cristina Ricci, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jenna, Luis Guzmán and Jenna Ortega) rather moderate, so we asked another expert. Wilma, 12, has already seen all the episodes. Spoiler alert!
SPIEGEL:
How did you find out about »Wednesday«?
Wilma:
I was just on Netflix with dad.
We didn't know what to watch anymore.
That was after football.
My dad then said that might be a good thing.
SPIEGEL:
Did you see all eight episodes in one go?
Wilma:
No, we only watched the first episode together, Papa left the second episode.
MIRROR:
Why?
Wilma:
He found it boring with this high school thing.
SPIEGEL:
You don't?
Wilma:
Not at all!
I also like to watch American high school series, such as »GO!
Be yourself,” but that's kind of Spanish.
»Insatiable«, »Boo, Bitch« or »Greenhouse Academy«.
Then there's "Mako," but that's about mermaids.
There are also series that are 16+, so I rarely watch them.
SPIEGEL:
What does "rarely" mean?
Wilma:
Well, I watch them in their entirety.
They are at most 16 years and older because of the sex scenes, but I already know all that.
SPIEGEL:
And is "Wednesday" like high school?
Wilma:
Yes, especially with this girlfriend, she's the gossip girl, and then the two of them have stress.
SPIEGEL:
What is it all about?
Wilma:
It's about a girl, Wednesday, who comes from such a creepy killer family...
SPIEGEL:
That's the Addams family.
Wilma:
Yes, there is also a film about it, I saw it too.
But I didn't think it was as good as »Wednesday«.
So the girl is in a normal school at the beginning.
They dressed all the girls and boys in something colorful so that Wednesday really stands out with her black clothes.
At our school, all the girls only wear black, bare midriffs.
She is then expelled from school, right at the beginning...
MIRROR:
Why?
Wilma:
Because some guys tortured their brother.
She then takes revenge with piranhas in the swimming pool, and then the bully is left with only one testicle.
Her parents used to go to the new school too.
This is a boarding school for misfits.
There are vampires, werewolves, merpeople, and telekinesis people, but not that many.
Wednesday's girlfriend and roommate is also a werewolf, but she could only extend her claws.
That's the coolest gift ever.
In the end she turns into a real werewolf and fights the monster.
SPIEGEL:
Wait, which monster?
Wilma:
Well, it's implied that something is "roaming" in the woods.
MIRROR:
And what is that?
Wilma:
Just forgot the name
(briefly googled it on my smartphone)
… the monster is called Hyde.
It has wild, bulging eyes and a werewolf shape like Harry Potter in the third part.
The eyes are also made spooky.
First you can't see anything at all through a gap, then suddenly there's loud music ... and then you see the eye!
MIRROR:
What did you think of the music?
more on the subject
Tim Burton's "Addams Family" series: Catherine Zeta-Jones plays the creepy character Morticia Addams
Wilma:
Terrifying.
But really good.
Graveyard music, sort of.
With cello, because the heroine also plays the cello.
Like me.
SPIEGEL:
The composer's name is Danny Elfman, who also wrote the theme music for The Simpsons and The Nightmare Before Christmas;
a classic from the director, Tim Burton, who...
Wilma:
Boring.
SPIEGEL:
Okay, and what is the monster doing?
Besides looking around?
Wilma:
It mauls people.
But you have to understand that.
This monster has a leader, so to speak, one who controls it and tells it what to do.
And this leader needs different parts of the body, sometimes the head, sometimes the feet, sometimes the liver.
I wouldn't recommend this for the faint of heart.
You can see a lot of blood.
SPIEGEL:
When did you watch that?
Wilma:
I think one evening when my parents were away.
The living room door was closed, a light was on.
That was creepy.
After that I watched Malcolm in the Middle because it's funny.
This is actually my favorite series.
SPIEGEL:
Isn't »Wednesday« also a comedy?
Wilma:
Totally.
Her manner of speaking, for example, is very distinguished, and she is accompanied by an amputated hand that is called "little hand."
SPIEGEL:
And love stories?
Wilma:
There's also here.
Two boys have a crush on Wednesday and hate each other.
She then chooses one because she thinks the other is the monster.
So for the boy who always turns into the monster.
MIRROR:
And then?
Wilma:
I'm not supposed to give spoilers!
MIRROR:
Yes!
Wilma:
OK.
And then she realizes that the first boy she's kissed in her life is the monster.
So Hyde.
It's the regular dude from the coffee shop in town, Tyler.
For me that was a surprise.
I thought it was the teacher with the carnivorous plants or the psychiatrist.
But she is killed because she finds out Tyler's secret that he is the monster.
SPIEGEL:
Why is there a psychiatrist there?
Wilma:
Wednesday is with the psychiatrist because she almost killed people once, likes killing people in general, and also likes to cause trouble at school.
I thought the girl was cool, she's totally different from Harry Potter.
Wednesday never laughed or cried.
SPIEGEL:
Sounds bleak.
Wilma:
It was very exciting, more exciting than twelve.
There were things.
Fog, silence, or when Wednesday is somewhere alone.
Then the music.
But I found »Stranger Things« much worse.
Well, I couldn't sleep because of that monster for once.
Actually, I wasn't afraid of Hyde, just his eyes.
SPIEGEL:
Why do your parents allow you to watch something like that?
Wilma:
I begged them, that's how I always do it.
And if they don't allow it, then I watch it anyway.
Easy!
SPIEGEL:
And would you also watch a second season if...
Wilma:
Yes.