In a twist I didn’t see coming, Wednesday is Netflix’s most-watched English language series ever. The Addams Family spin-off focuses on the homicidal daughter of the odd-ball family and brilliantly separates the character from her brood. Acting in many ways as a detective thriller, Wednesday’s success is because of its amazing characters, intriguing world and the mysteries in its first season. And while the show has a very satisfying ending, there is still a Wednesday season 1 mystery that wasn’t really explained in the show.
Note: This article will feature heavy spoilers for Wednesday season 1, so read on at your own discretion.
The Idea Behind Wednesday Season 1
Wednesday follows the adventures of Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) after her explulsion from a ‘normie’ school, as in normal people, and sent to a school more suited for her— affinities. But after arriving at Nevermore Academy, full of vampires, werewolves and other outcasts with powers and oddities, Wednesday is still the odd one out. Fully planning on running away, again, a mystery unfolds in front of her, that compels her to stay, and get to the bottom of it all.
During this mystery, Wednesday makes friends, confronts the challenges of a solitary life that she has thus far enjoyed, and even gets into some boy drama. But despite the well-written story, there is one Wednesday season 1 mystery that we don’t get closure for. And it definitely involves one of the boys in Wednesday’s love triangle.
The Writers Of Wednesday Misdirects The Audience
There’s a murderer loose in the town of Jericho, home of the Nevermore Academy. Someone or something is killing people. And our very own Wednesday is on the case. She figures out that it’s a monster killing people, called Hyde. Her suspicions led her to another student at Nevermore, and one of her potential love interests, Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes-White).
This is because she discovers that Xavier has been having dreams of Hyde, which he then put on canvas as paintings. Or so he claims. Wednesday suspects that the reason why Xavier is painting the Hyde, and the reason for his visions, is that he is the Hyde himself. This plot point remains consistent throughout most of the series. The writers use it to misdirect Wednesday, and the audience, to prove that Xavier has to be Hyde. But he’s not, of course. It’s Wednesday’s other boy toy, Tyler (Hunter Doohan).
How Xavier’s Visions Remain A Mystery
As is usual, by the end of Wednesday season 1, all the mysteries get unravelled and explained. The true perpetrators come to light, and everything makes sense. Well, almost everything. Why Xavier got visions of Tyler as Hyde, and his connection to him, remains unexplained. Which would be okay, given that the show isn’t perfect when it comes to all its connections and explanations. But it’s not okay, seeing how this plot point was a key reason why everyone (Wednesday and us) suspected Xavier.
It’s the main factor and undisputed proof (until Tyler’s back story came out) as to why Xavier was Hyde. So not explaining this Wednesday season 1 mystery, feels like a major oversight. And even if we try to make a headcanon as to why Xavier got visions of the Hyde, it’s still barely laudable.
What The Heck Are Xavier’s Powers?
We see that Xavier’s powers include bringing whatever he draws to life. The degree of this ‘life’, seems limited either by his range of powers or by his choice. Early on, a spider sketch he drew comes to life and walks across a table. Whereas his painting of Wednesday playing the Cello seemed limited in its movements, almost like an animated 2D drawing. But there’s also a part of the story where one of his Hyde paintings apparently came to life and clawed at Xavier, leaving some pretty gnarly gashes on his back and neck.
But nowhere in the show do they ever ascribe any visions or psychic ability to, at least, this power of Xavier’s. However, they do discuss a few times, how his father is a world-famous psychic. So even though the show doesn’t make this connection directly, we can maybe theorize that Xavier inherited some psychic powers from his father. Which is why he’s getting visions of Hyde? Maybe.
But even if Xavier had latent or dormant psychic abilities from his dad, why do they only connect him to Tyler? Why not, Wednesday, the girl he likes who also has some sort of vision abilities? Why not his ex-girlfriend Bianca (Joy Sunday)? Or even a connection to his Dad, who is also a psychic? It’s too many presumptions and theories on our part to have to work at, to explain what the show presented as a huge mystery. That they never bothered to answer themselves.
Wednesday Season 1 Is Still A Good Show Despite This
Even without this, what I think is a huge Wednesday season 1 mystery didn’t get explained, it’s still a fun show. Ortega is fantastic as Wednesday and the supporting cast are wonderful together. It’s an engaging new thriller with familiar faces that definitely warrants a watch. But let’s hope that they deal with this Xavier vision nonsense somewhere in season 2.
All episodes of Wednesday are now streaming on Netflix.
What did you think of this unsolved mystery from Wednesday season 1? Did it bother you as much as it clearly did me? Let me know in the comments below.
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