★ ★ ★ ★

With much hype and anticipation, it’s no easy feat to stick the landing for an overhyped show plastered across everyone’s social media feeds. Even for a pessimist of the show, it impresses with its finger on the modern age while making timeless callbacks to the classics. The mixture of humor and eerie lends itself well to the character and the well-known Addams Family.

While the season took a moment to find its footing, after episode two it had settle firmly into the funny, eerie, teen detective show it claimed to be. Although it wasn’t initially apparent this was the genre it wanted for itself. Many reviews and recommendations of the show made it out to be much creepier and never quite gave away any details of the actual plot of the show. I’ll make it clear here, it’s an introvert outcast finding her way in a school for outcasts by solving a few murders, gaining a loyal following around her, and looking at her own family’s past. While she may have a dark sense of humor, the show itself isn’t really dark, creepy, or scary. No jump scares, and not many trigger warnings come to mind.

The main fallacy in the show is everyone’s obsession with Wednesday. For someone who insists on not wanting or needing friends and being altogether mean to everyone around her, no one seems to take the hint. Some characters go so far as stalking her, giving her surprise gifts she is uninterested in and actively dislikes. Her constant rejection of any romantic advances somehow are unclear to the many parties interested, which becomes honestly uncomfortable at times. Then when she does show some interest, it is wholly unclear if she is doing it out of curiosity or actual self-interest.

Enid’s character is the most pleasant surprise of the show. Her constant communicate and candor in difficult situations is something to inspire viewers. And while the character of Ajax is rather one-dimensional, there is some room for interesting character development in the future.

Overall, Tim Burton delivers in his usual style, although audiences expecting something more creepy and disturbing may be left disappointed. We can surely expect a second season, as this is Netflix and the show has been in the top 10 in multiple countries for a few weeks.