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- Actor Shipping:
- Co-stars Jenna Ortega (the titular Wednesday Addams) and Emma Myers (Enid Sinclair) have been shipped by a large part of the fanbase on sites like Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram. This is also fueled by the two constantly posting flirty comments towards each other on each other's Instagram posts and their close real-life friendship. Any time they interact, those who ship them or their characters always lose their minds on social media.
- Jenna Ortega (Wednesday) and Percy Hynes White (Xavier) have been shipped together in the fandom, due to their close real-life friendship.
- Adorkable: Eugene is a friendly nerd who's really passionate about his bees.
- Alternative Character Interpretation: Tyler Galpin's reveal as the Hyde has led to multiple alternate interpretations from the fandom:
- When Tyler gloats to Wednesday about how Evil Feels Good after being discovered to be the Hyde, was Tyler genuinely enjoying his newfound villainy or was he being forced to say that, as we know, his master can force him to do anything?
- There's ultimately the underlying question as to how much control Thornhill/Laurel truly has over Tyler since she basically manipulated his emotions about his mother while torturing him into bringing out his own Hyde nature and by doing so, did basically gaslight and groom him into it—and thus whether or not Tyler actually willingly does serve her or is indoctrinated into the illusion that he does is not a possibility that can be easily dismissed (with even Wednesday saying that he's basically Thornhill/Laurel's "slave"). Given however that Tyler used to also bully the Nevermore students some time earlier and how enthralled he also eventually became in killing when he became the Hyde, it would however open things up to Tyler having more than enough self-control to be perfectly happy with how things are and getting a vicious and sadistic pleasure out of feeding on and killing his victims whenever the occasion calls for it. Since a Hyde is expected to follow its master's wishes without question though—and it's not defined as to how much free will said Hyde has or whether or not they as a result just totally have their master's feelings and ideas projected onto them in turn, once freed of Thornhill/Laurel's influence, however Tyler conducts himself as the Hyde from that point on could really truly go either way.
- And You Thought It Would Fail: There wasn't a ton of faith in the series before its premiere from multiple camps — Tim Burton fans who believed the director had fallen out of favor after his latest works (particularly his work on the live-action remake of Dumbo), long-time fans of the Addams Family that didn't love the idea of a remake focused only on Wednesday at the expense of the rest of the family, and general audiences having an adverse reaction to the Darker and Edgier young adult remake that the series was shaping up to be, as it perhaps reminded them of poorly received titles like Fate: The Winx Saga and Riverdale. When launched, though, many critics considered Wednesday to be what these kind of remakes should've tried to be, having a fun yet dark story as well as an engaging mystery at the core. While many older Addams Family fans still felt alienated by the teen focus, the show was still an overall massive hit, inspiring many online trends to its name and becoming one of the most watched English-language series in Netflix history. It also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series.
- Anvilicious: Enid's plotline about not being able to transform is a very unsubtle analogy to someone struggling to come out of the closet, especially with her mother literally suggesting a "conversion" camp. As good as it is that Enid refuses, how obvious the intent behind it can be jarring.
- Ass Pull: Wednesday's talisman is revealed to be able to connect to spirits, allowing Goody to revive her from a fatal stab wound at the cost of it only working once and cutting off Wednesday from speaking to Goody again, despite this never being brought up anywhere beyond Morticia saying the material was used by Aztec priests to conjure visions, and only serving as an excuse for Wednesday to not die from what would have easily killed her.
- Award Snub:
- Despite the praise she's gotten for her performance, Emma Myers was left out of the Golden Globe and Emmy nominations after the show's release.
- She got two more snubs from the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards are well: no nomination for Breakthrough Performance and instead of her and Jenna Ortega getting nominated for Best Duo, the nomination was for the latter and Thing instead. Christina Ricci was also expected to get a Best Villain nomination, but was not included. As for snubs pertaining to categories the show did get nominated for, most notable are that Ortega surprisingly didn't get Best Hero or Best Musical Moment—for the now famous "Goo Goo Muck" dance—and the show itself didn't get Best Show either—with the wins respectfully going to Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us (2023), Sofia Carson for "Come Back Home" from Purple Hearts and again to The Last of Us (2023).
- Base-Breaking Character:
- Xavier is probably the most divisive character in the series. Those who like him support Xavier's crush on Wednesday or are interested in his power to conjure anything he draws and like to see there is more to him beneath his role as Nevermore's Mad Artist, while those who hate him see him as a Satellite Character arguing that his only contribuition to the plot is fuelling the widely disliked love triangle between him, Tyler and Wednesday. Some people go further and say that Xavier is The Scrappy due his Accidental Nightmare Fuel behavior towards Wednesday and his Unintentionally Unsympathetic nature.
- Tyler is quite controversial in the fandom, especially after being revealed as a hyde. There is a group that absolutely hate him, arguing that he lacks an interesting character and the chemistry with Wednesday to make the Twist Villain reveal have the impact that it needs. However, another group feel that he is a great villain and that Hunter Doohan gives a great performance throughout.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The end of the third episode shows Dr. Kinbott having an interest in taxidermy, with a cupboard full of animals wearing accessories and posed in funny ways. The scene is very brief, is never mentioned again and receives no payoff in the rest of the series.
- Catharsis Factor: Wednesday with Bianca's help—stabbing Crackstone and sending the insufferably evil bigot straight back to his well-deserved place in Hell.
- Common Knowledge: The casting of the short and stout Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams raised some eyebrows due to the character having been previously portrayed by the more slender, taller and more conventionally attractive actors John Astin and Raúl Juliá. The thing is, Guzman is actually the most accurate live-action depiction of Gomez as he looks in the original comic strip version of the character. This is largely thanks to Audience-Coloring Adaptation, as most are more familiar with the tall and slender Gomez seen in previous adaptations as opposed to the stouter version seen in the comics.
- Complete Monster: Joseph Crackstone—the founder of Jericho—is a vile, puritan Witch Hunter and the darkest of all the franchise's villains. Seeking the extermination of any and all outcasts, Crackstone constantly held trials and persecuted numerous innocents—especially when he has many of them chained up in a church and then has it set on fire. Centuries after his demise at the hands of Wednesday's ancestor Goody Addams, Crackstone is resurrected by his descendant Marilyn Thornhill/Laurel Gates to destroy Nevermore Academy and all the outcasts that inhabit it. First leaving Wednesday for dead after stabbing her, Crackstone then unleashes fiery, demonic powers with the intention of incinerating all the outcasts and to continue that plague on the rest of the world as well.
- Crosses the Line Twice: When Dr. Kinbott brings up Wednesday putting packs of piranhas into Pugsley's bullies' pool while they were practicing, Wednesday mentions that the swimmer that didn't get out of the pool on time lost a testicle. While getting assaulted and then losing a part of a sexual organ from it would be horrible, Wednesday saying she "did the world a favor. People like Dalton shouldn't procreate," makes it hilarious.
- Creepy Cute: Miss Thornhill once she's revealed as the mastermind. She speaks in a dissonant tone to her evil actions and kills people with poison, but is also played by the very cute Christina Ricci.
- Cry for the Devil: The Hyde Monster aka Tyler is a terrifying creature and perhaps even scarier, it openly admits to Wednesday about enjoying the terrible things he’s done. While the character should rightly be hated, at the same time, some pity is to it given by a lot of fans as it was forced into becoming a monster by Laurel Gates/Marilyn Thornhill, who used his grief and confusion over his mother’s death, which initially was something that left it quite understandably terrified at first. While it is a villain, it definitely has a lot of tragedy to its story.
- Diagnosed by the Audience: Wednesday's lack of social skills, dislike of being touched by people she's not comfortable around, blunt and direct way of speaking, unusual interests (even for an academy designed for outcasts), strong sense of justice, and skill at pattern recognition have led to the autistic community labelling her as one of them.
- Die for Our Ship: Before the show even aired, Wednesday/Enid shippers hated Tyler and Xavier for the sheer potential of them getting in the way of their ship. This hasn't stopped with the release of the show, despite Wednesday not ending up with anyone and Tyler being revealed as the monster. When the show aired, and it was revealed that Enid and Ajax are interested in each other, many Wednesday/Enid shippers were also quick to wish he would be killed in Season 2.
- Draco in Leather Pants: Despite often being the victim of Die for Our Ship from one section of the fandom, another section downplays the crimes committed by Tyler Galpin or outright ignores them, saying that all his evil deeds are actually Thornhill's fault, even when Tyler admitted to being aware of them and has started to enjoy killing his victims. It doesn't hurt that he is played by the very good looking Hunter Doohan.
- Dry Docked Ship: A fairly popular headcanon in the fandom is that Larissa Weems had a crush on Morticia during their time at Nevermore, but never did anything because Morticia is so in love with Gomez. This has little to no evidence in actual canon, but it is helped by the chemistry between Gwendoline Christie and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Almost any fanfic centered around the teenage Weems will have her have a crush on Morticia; whether it is unrequited or not depends on the author.
- Dry Docking: There exists a very large part of the fandom that refuses to ship Weems with any character, mainly a very large queer female fanbase that prefer to write fanfics where Weems ends up with them or some insert character. Of course, her being played by the beautiful Gwendoline Christie doesn't hurt matters either.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Yoko is very popular in the fandom and has a lot of fan content dedicated to her, despite her only having a couple of lines in the show and not having any plot relevance. This is mainly due to her actress being well-liked in the fanbase and giving Yoko a lot of charisma and magnetism that makes her compelling despite her limited screen time and her being indirectly involved in one of the most popular scenes in the first season, namely Enid moving out of her and Wednesday's room and staying with Yoko for a bit. Her unique style, most notably her Cool Shades, also helps.
- Rowan is only in the first episode before being killed off. However, despite this, he is quite popular with the fanbase, due to his actor's good looks and his similarities in appearance to Joel Glicker from Addams Family Values.
- Divina is surprisingly popular for a minor character, mainly due to her good looks and her being originally meant to be in a relationship with fellow Dark Horse Yoko.
- Uncle Fester only appears in one episode but is quite popular in the fandom, many due to his fun personality and Fred Armisen's Large Ham performance.
- Fan-Preferred Couple: Even before the series premiered, a lot of fans already shipped Wednesday with her roommate, Enid Sinclair, and it only got stronger when the show was released to the point of overshadowing their respective canon pairings with Xavier and Ajax. This is due to both the Les Yay they share; and the chemistry between their actresses Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers.
- Fandom-Specific Plot:
- Enid meeting the rest of the Addamses is a very popular plot in fanfiction for the show, especially shipping-related ones. Almost all of them will also have the rest of the family instantly take to Enid.
- Enid dying is a fairly popular plot in fanfiction for the show. Surprisingly this is mostly in the Wednesday/Enid section of the fandom and is usually used to cause Wednesday angst at never telling Enid how she feels about her.
- Despite Rowan dying in the first episode, he often survives in fanfics. This is mainly shipping motivated as a surprising number of fans ship him and Wednesday. It is also not unheard of for Wednesday/Enid fanfics to keep Rowan present so they can get Xavier out of the way of their ship by having him date his roommate as well.
- Fanfics where Principal Weems is revealed to be alive, having faked her death somehow are very popular, as are stories that adjust the plot to avoid her death happening in the first place.
- Wednesday visiting Enid in San Francisco is a fairly popular plot in fanfics. These almost always have Wednesday being appalled by Enid's family treating her horribly and having Enid move in with the Addams Family.
- Foe Yay Shipping:
- Even after Tyler has been revealed to be the murderous Hyde monster and tried to kill Wednesday several fans still ship them since they did have some sweet and touching moments together.
- While they become friends, Wednesday and Bianca start out as rivals. However, despite that, many fans still ship them, mainly because of the chemistry between both of their actresses.
- Despite the facts that Tyler used to bully Xavier, they are competing for the same girl, and that Tyler is the Hyde trying to kill Xavier's friends, a large group of fans walk away shipping the two, mainly as a way to keep both out of the way of the more popular Wednesday/Enid ship.
- Friendly Fandoms:
- With The Owl House as both series are horror comedies, starring a Latina lead going to a supernatural school. The fact in both series a puritan witch hunter (who also hypocritically uses twisted magic to make sure he's alive in the present) ends up being a major villain has only increased the friendliness.
- To some extent with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier due to each being known for having an iconic dance scene featuring a stoic, yet socially awkward character trying to let loose on the dance floor.
- This show and Scream (2022) share a lot of fans, due to both being modern updates to franchises, both coming out in 2022, and both staring Jenna Ortega. In fact, they had already shared fans before this show even aired. Some fans even like to imagine Wednesday and Tara being cousins and hanging out with their respective friend groups.
- With M3GAN as both are female-led horror-comedy franchises with LGBT Fanbases and dances that went viral. It's common to have the two characters do a Dance-Off.
- Genius Bonus: For Brazilians only. The British band Uriah Heep is more known in Brazil than the David Copperfield character that is the actual inspiration for the Jericho taxidermy store's name, so the translator probably thought the inspiration was the band and thus gave the store the name Tralhas de Porão ("basement junk"), a Shout-Out to the Brazilian band Ratos de Porão ("basement rats").
- He Really Can Act:
- Emma Myers had only a handful of credits to her name before the series, but impressed many fans and critics with her performance. Not only is she able to play her bubbly character without becoming annoying but she shows some surprisingly good dramatic chops as well and easily holds her own alongside the more experienced Jenna Ortega. The two most notable examples are her finally getting fed up with Wednesday's mistreatment of her and when Enid thinks Wednesday didn't make it (where both her sadness at the possibility of Wednesday dying and her relief at the fact that she is alive are displayed with her face alone).
- Hunter Doohan's performance as Tyler for most of the show has been criticized as bland. However, even the detractors of his character will admit that his performance in the final episode is great. The scene where he reveals that he remembers and enjoys everything he does as the Hyde is specifically praised for how scary he makes the speech come off.
- Ho Yay:
- The developing friendship between Wednesday and Enid. In the pilot, the two quickly open up to each other despite not getting off on the right foot, and Enid happily tries to hug Wednesday as soon as they meet. In one episode, Wednesday flat out threatens Enid's date if he hurts her. One of the few times Wednesday actually gets sad is when a fight causes Enid to move out, and when Enid moves back in it's because she thinks she has to take care of Wednesday and Thing. In the final episode, Enid even finally learns to transform to save Wednesday and the two finally hug when it is all over. Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers' extremely close real-life friendship has only enhanced it. Enid once points out to Wednesday that they shouldn't work as friends as well as they do in a way that sounds like a line from an Opposites Attract Rom Com:
- Although small, Xavier and Ajax have their moments being close friends. While talking to Enid, Ajax at one point in their conversation affectionally refers to Xavier as 'my man' while at the same time commenting that Xavier has a hidden side that few realize and that he has a complicated relationship with his father, something that Xavier has not even revealed to Wednesday. In the parents weekend episode, Xavier can be seen happily sitting at a table with Ajax and his mothers, implying that he has a good relationship with Ajax's family or that Ajax is fond enough of Xavier to introduce him to his family.
J-W
- Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: While Marilyn Thornhill aka Laurel Gates and Joseph Crackstone are the main villains and have an intense hatred of outcasts, they are not the most hated due to the Creepy Cute and Evil Is Cool aspect of their characters. Enid's mother Esther, however, is hated for being an abusive parent to Enid and planning to send her to conversion therapy.
- Just Here for Godzilla:
- Many — especially shippers — have ended up watching the show purely for the relationship between Wednesday and Enid. Even those who dislike the show or were otherwise indifferent to it have found their dynamic and development to be one of the show's better aspects, thanks in part to the strong chemistry between Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers.
- Several fans were only interested in the show just for the Addams Family themselves and not for any of the stuff or characters related to Nevermore Academy, to the point that many of them were disappointed that the family (outside of Wednesday obviously) is Demoted to Extra in the show, despite the show being focused on Wednesday. It helps that this series is the first official live-action portrayal of them since 1998's The New Addams Family, with the performances themselves becoming regarded as some of the show's best, especially Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, who arguably carries the show based on her performance alone.
- Launcher of a Thousand Ships:
- Wednesday Addams herself quickly became a big fandom bicycle after the show aired, due to Jenna Ortega's great chemistry with everyone. The most popular ship is her with roommate Enid, but there's also Wednesday/Tyler, Wednesday/Xavier, Wednesday/Bianca, Wednesday/Ajax, Wednesday/Eugene, and Wednesday/Yoko. It certainly helps that Wednesday doesn't actually end up with anyone at the end of the first season.
- Enid Sinclair has been a big part of multiple ships in the fandom. Beyond her popular ship with Wednesday, Enid has been shipped with Yoko, Ajax, Tyler, Xavier, and Bianca. It helps that her actress Emma Myers has great chemistry with the whole cast.
- LGBT Fanbase: The show has gathered a large fanbase of queer fans, which can be separated into four groups. The first is those who are already fans of The Addams Family's embrace of the strange and unique. The second is those who saw Enid's struggles with not fitting in with her family and not being a "normal werewolf" to be very relatable (especially with her mom wanting her to go to conversion therapy). The third is those who believe Wednesday is asexual and/or aromantic. The final group are those who saw the Les Yay between Wednesday and Enid and watch the show specifically for this dynamic.
- Magnificent Bastard: These two members of the Addams family are on point in their utter brilliance:
- Wednesday Addams herself remains as astute and prodigious as ever. First mauling a bully with piranhas who attacked her younger brother Pugsley, Wednesday then nearly sneaks away from Nevermore Academy successfully while also threatening to torture Thing for trying to become her chaperone in her parents' absence and later charmingly coaxes him to her side. Wednesday uses a combination different supernatural visions, fighting, combat training and her investigative skills to find the murderous Hyde monster; clear her father Gomez of a murder accusation; and also arranges a fire that destroys a statue of Jericho's evil founder Joseph Crackstone. Investigating, accusing and then getting Xavier Thorpe arrested as the Hyde, Wednesday eventually tries to torture Tyler Galpin, the true Hyde, into confessing; while also convincing Principal Larissa Weems—a shapeshifter—to help her expose Marilyn Thornhill/Laurel Gates for plotting against the school and then killing a resurrected Crackstone who nearly burns Nevermore to the ground.
- Uncle Fester Addams is a stealthy and eccentric criminal mastermind and the most beloved and respected of the Addams Family by Wednesday herself, having taught her all she knows. Fester has successfully performed numerous high stakes robberies and heists everywhere he's gone while also evading authorities and even endangering some in the process. He's also traveled in a pet grooming disguise to constantly be "incognito" as well. In his one appearance, he helps Wednesday with her investigation while providing the info that the creature is a Hyde and then uses his electricity absorbing abilities to save a seriously wounded Thing by means of defibrillation.
- Memetic Mutation:
- "What signals, Tyler? Are the signals in the room with us right now?" Explanation
- This image of Wednesday and Enid
Explanation - "Girl trying to scare me with her Wednesday personality//My personality" Explanation
- Wednesday dancing to Lady GagaExplanation
- It has also became common to pit Wednesday Addams against Helmut Zemo due to both of their dances having gone viral and meme-worthy for being so unconventional, coming from awkward, anti-social individuals attempting to let loose and have a bit of fun.
- "Wednesday goes to Monster High"Explanation
- Calling Wednesday "Willa", the name writers for the character used on early scripts in case they leaked, as a nickname is also extremely popular with many Wednesday/Enid shippers using it as Enid's nickname for her.
- Moe: The way Enid is Sickeningly Sweet, Desperately Craves Affection, and loves bright colors would be cute enough in a normal show, but contrasting her to Creepy Loner Girl Wednesday throughout the series makes her even more adorable by comparison. Her puppylike whining when scared just enhances this.
- More Popular Replacement: Enid Sinclair has proven to be far more popular than the previous attempt to give Wednesday a best friend, Parker Needler from The Addams Family (2019), due being better developed, having a more interesting dynamic with Wednesday, and being far more memorable due to Emma Myers' charm.
- Misaimed Fandom: Much less the Wednesday of the '90s, some fans love Wednesday's anti-social and quirky behavior, claiming they want to be like her. They forget that the show deconstructs this attitude; Wednesday's disregard for other people's feelings in her obsessive drive to solve the mystery ends up alienating them, to the point that Enid briefly moves out of their room and part of her arc is learning how to appreciate some friendship and being vulnerable.
- Narm:
- Rowan's facial expressions while trying to kill Wednesday are a little 'too' over the top.
- The mayor abruptly being struck by a car and Crackstone's statue suddenly exploding manage to be more humorous than dramatic as they were probably supposed to be given their bizarre timing.
- Older Than They Think:
- This isn't the first work in The Addams Family to focus on one of the Addams instead of the titular family as a whole. That honor goes to Fester's Quest on the NES, which was focused on Uncle Fester.
- This is also not the first time that Wednesday has been the central character in her own series. That would be the web series Adult Wednesday Addams.note
- This is not the first work to depict Wednesday as a teenager as opposed to a little girl, as the Broadway musical also depicted her as being an eighteen-year-old.
- Many viewers who watched the show think that Wednesday calling out the hypocrisy of historical whitewashing when she is at Pilgrim World is something new and fits with current times. Wednesday did the same thing in the iconic Thanksgiving Play/"We cannot break bread with you" scene in Addams Family Values.
- Many fans thought a pretty blonde who wears bright clothes in a dark setting full of supernatural people was new with Enid, but The Munsters actually did this first with Marilyn Munster, the human niece living in a spooky monster family.
- Some fans complained about the new Morticia being more curvy and smiling, but this isn't new; the 1960s Morticia, Carolyn Jones, was also depicted this way.
- One True Threesome: Larissa Weems/Morticia/Gomez Addams has quickly gathered a following in the fandom as a popular threesome pairing. Weems and Morticia were roommates at Nevermore and have a lot of tension in the present, Gomez and Morticia are happily married, and a lot of fans ship Morticia with both of them.
- Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading: Even though Wednesday and Enid are just supposed to be best friends, many fans walked away thinking that they were romantically interested in each other. Their growing bond is one of the biggest threads of the first season and Enid is constantly trying to win Wednesday's affection. Wednesday also starts to treat Thing nicer just because Enid tells her to. When they have a fight and Enid moves out, not only is it one of the few times Wednesday is visibly saddened, but it comes off to many as seeming like a break up. In the final episode, not only does Enid finally "wolf out" and take on a Hyde to save Wednesday, but their climatic hug is considered by many fans to be far more romantic than any their moments with their canon love interests.
- Preemptive Shipping: A lot of fans started to ship Wednesday and Enid Sinclair as far back to the very first teaser trailer, mainly because many feel that their differing personalities (the gothic and dour Wednesday and the cheerful Enid) would make for a fun duo, and this has only grown as fans have learned more about the series. The pairing already has a Portmanteau Couple Name, "Wenclair", and has developed quite a devoted fanbase on sites like Tumblr, Twitter and AO3. For example, it crossed the 200 fic line on AO3 before the show even aired. This is only further fueled by the fact that their real life actresses, Jenna Ortega and Emma Myers, have exchanged a number of flirty, romantic comments between each other on instagram (which, predictably, has led to some Actor Shipping as well). Even after the show released, Wednesday and Enid remained the most popular ship in the fandom.
- Portmanteau Couple Name:
- As far back as the teaser trailer, many fans started to ship Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair. These shippers quickly dubbed them "Wenclair".
- Hunter Doohan coined the name "Tylorpe" for the Tyler Galpin/Xavier Thorpe ship that quickly became Ship Mates with the popular "Wenclair" (Wednesday/Enid) ship.
- On the het side, there's "Wavier" for Wednesday/Xavier and "Wyler" for Wednesday/Tyler.
- Some other portmanteaus include "Wenclay" (Wednesday/Bianca Barclay), "Yokovina" (Yoko/Divina), "Bianko" (Bianca/Yoko), "Xajax" (Ajax/Xavier), and "Morissa" (Morticia/Larissa).
- Questionable Casting:
- One wonders why an African-American actor was chosen to portray the owner of a Pilgrim World theme park that whitewashes colonalism (which Wednesday criticizes while working as a volunteer), especially when Morticia tells him, "People like you don’t know what it’s like to not be believed."
- While Luis Guzman arguably has the perfect look for Gomez (he looks uncannily similar to how he was drawn in the original cartoons), some fans found his trademark vocal delivery to be a poor fit for the character, who's traditionally portrayed as having a suave and elegant speaking style. Others also criticized his interpretation of Gomez for lacking the maniacal energy usually associated with the character.
- Romantic Plot Tumor: The alleged Love Triangle between Wednesday, Tyler and Xavier was quickly labelled as one of the weakest parts of the show, with many feeling that it often slowed down the plot and took up too much screentime. Many fans argued that it didn't fit the usual themes of The Addams Family, especially for a character like Wednesday, and that she lacked chemistry with either of the boys.
- Ship Mates: Fans who ship Wednesday and Enid together were quick to ship Tyler/Xavier as a way to avoid Die for Our Ship. This has actually reached the cast, with Tyler's actor jokingly naming the ship "Tylorpe" (a Portmanteau Couple Name of Tyler with Xavier's last name Thorpe). Those fans who ship Wednesday with either Tyler or Xavier will often pair Enid with Ajax.
- Ships That Pass in the Night:
- Yoko and Bianca never directly interact on the show but it is fairly popular in the fandom to pair them together. This mainly started due to the two being pretty good Ship Mates with the Fan-Preferred Couple Wednesday/Enid.
- Xavier and Ajax barely have a few scenes together and they never interact directly on the show due to more focus being given to their relationships with their love interests. However, the couple became popular thanks to the fact that fans prefer to get Wednesday and Enid together but do not want to leave the boys alone, making them Ship Mates.
- Ship-to-Ship Combat: A bloody three way war has started in the fandom over who Wednesday should be with between Enid, Tyler, or Xavier. On the one hand, you have those who say that Wednesday has far better chemistry with Enid, who actually allows Wednesday to be herself, in comparison to Tyler, who they claim is weird and point out tries to kill Wednesday and her friends, with many also pointing out that Enid is a far more interesting and fleshed out character than either Tyler or Xavier. On the other, you have those who find that Tyler being a killer would be a perfect fit for Wednesday in comparison to the completely different in personality Enid and the dull Xavier. Then you have those who believe that Xavier is a more sane option compared to Tyler, while Enid and Wednesday are simply friends. Needless to say, the battlefield gets very bloody as all three of the sides absolutely loathe each other, with them starting flame wars over any little thing.
- Signature Scene: Wednesday's dance sequence during the Rave'N has become iconic for perfectly capturing her stoic yet off-the-wall nature. Netflix themselves wasted no time in using it as one of their clips to draw people to the show. It even became a TikTok trend to dance this dance, albeit to Lady Gaga's “Bloody Mary” instead of “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps, as Wednesday did in the show.
- Special Effects Failure:
- The special effects of the Hyde look rather cheap and old, not helped by the inconsistent lighting. Especially odd as Enid wolfing out looks much more impressive, and the fight between them and the Hyde near the end is jarring to watch because of how out of place the Hyde looks. Many fans pointed out that they look exactly like a zombie from Plants vs. Zombies, which did not help to make them look scary.
- The rain during the Mayor's funeral was clearly done on a sunny day, as several background characters are standing in rays of sunshine that were not edited out.
- Christina Ricci had to replace Thora Birch halfway through filming, and as a result was green-screened into the episodes they had already shot. In the first half of the series especially, she stands out either because of inconsistent lighting or because she noticeably doesn't interact or share the frame with any other characters.
- Tainted by the Preview:
- Some fans are a bit wary about the idea of Wednesday attending an Academy of Adventure, citing that part of the charm and appeal behind the Addams Family and what made them hilarious was their dark, offbeat and morbid contrast against the rest of normal society and that Wednesday being amongst people who are just as dark and offbeat as her goes against that appeal. Others also just find the premise to be insanely clichéd and overdone, given how a plethora of other works have done the supernatural school mystery premise following the success of Harry Potter.
- While fans are excited for the prospect of Tim Burton finally being able to work with the Addams Family, fans are less excited that Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are involved, given their output tends to be met with mixed lukewarm results. Even Burton fans, however, are a bit wary of his involvement, given the divisive reception towards his last few live-action projects such as Alice In Wonderland, Dark Shadows, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and Dumbo.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: While most members of the Nightshade Society can qualify, Ajax deserves a special mention. He is a gorgon with a very interesting power that would make him a very dangerous and powerful opponent in combat, as well as being a close friend of Xavier. However, in the end Ajax is used solely as Enid's love interest and unlike Xavier or Bianca, he never has an impressive moment.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
- Bianca's mother is part of a cult masquerading as a self-help therapy. She does not want to be part of it, and later successfully convinces another student to not become a member. However, it has no bearing on the plot and it never really comes up in subsequent episodes.
- One of the cliques at the school is The Gorgons, whose petrification is mentioned as temporary, but the only person who gets turned to stone is Ajax himself and said statue is not shown.
- Ugly Cute:
- Thing is a disembodied hand that is covered by stitches but behaves rather adorably towards the Addamses and Enid.
- The monster is a grotesque creature, but has large goofy eyes, which has drawn comparison to the Zombies in Plants vs Zombies and Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- The audience is clearly supposed to sympathise with Xavier and see him as a Love Martyr for Wednesday. Many fans and critics, however, found his behavior towards Wednesday creepy and entitled, as he ignored her numerous statements that she wasn't interested in him, and often followed her around for little reason. Some have also argued that his arrest was more his fault than Wednesday's, considering he often hid important information about his visions for no real reason.
- Thing acting behind Wednesday's back and writing a fake letter to trick Tyler into going to prom with her is presented as a fundamental part of Wednesday's Character Development.Some fans however failed to sympathize with Thing, arguing it shouldn't have gone against Wednesday's wishes and her lack of interest towards the school dance. It also comes across as a case of Skewed Priorities as the prom stopped Wednesday from investigating the murders, and almost caused the death of Eugene.
- Win Back the Crowd: Tim Burton had been in quite an Audience-Alienating Era with his career in the 2010s, thanks to poorly received films such as Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows and especially Dumbo (2019) with even he himself admitting he was creatively frustrated on some of those films. The reception to Wednesday has been significantly better.
