WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Wednesday season 1!Wednesday season 1 features a clever nod to a character from The Addams Family sitcom, but the circumstances of the reference suggest she’ll never appear in the Netflix show. Tim Burton’s Wednesday follows the eldest daughter of the Addams family as she attends the supernatural Nevermore Academy, a school where her family holds an important legacy. While Wednesday Addams and Thing are the only original characters who have main roles in the series, her mother Morticia, father Gomez, brother Pugsley, uncle Fester, and butler Lurch all make appearances.
In addition to the main group of Addams Family characters and the new character Goody Addams, Wednesday makes several references to her relatives from the 1960s sitcom, who are primarily Gomez Addams’ family members. So far, most of the recurring members of the family have yet to appear in Wednesday, except for a portrait of Cousin Itt in the Nightshades Library. The Addams Family’s Grandmama was also potentially referenced, but Wednesday didn’t clarify whether this was Morticia or Gomez’s mother. Unfortunately, another Easter egg indicates one memorable member of Morticia’s family won’t be included in Wednesday’s Addams Family adaptation.
Wednesday’s Ophelia Hall Means Morticia’s Sister Won’t Appear
In Wednesday episode 1, Principal Larissa Weems announces that Wednesday Addams will be living in Ophelia Hall, which is where Larissa and Morticia roomed 30 years ago. While Ophelia also connects to the character in Hamlet, the name is a clever reference to Morticia Frump’s sister in The Addams Family sitcom and original comics. Ophelia Frump serves as the foil to Morticia, as she’s more colorful and cheery while Wednesday’s mother is dark and macabre. In the sitcom, Ophelia (also played by Morticia actress Carolyn Jones), reveals that she was originally supposed to marry Gomez, which was certainly not the case in Wednesday.
Since neither Wednesday nor Morticia mentions Ophelia when discussing the name of Nevermore’s dormitory, it seems she doesn’t exist in Wednesday. Instead, Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday brings up Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet when hearing the name, which suggests Ophelia has no personal bearing on the family. This is another missed opportunity to expand on the supernatural gifts of both Gomez and Morticia’s families, as Ophelia exhibited the original power of growing plants out of her head. Considering plants like the Nightshade and Black Dahlia played important roles in Wednesday season 1, exploring Ophelia’s floral power would have been an interesting plot point.
Wednesday Season 2 Needs To Introduce Morticia’s Family
The ancestry of the Addams family is a significant part of Wednesday’s story, but this focus has also sadly left out the history of Morticia’s bloodline. Wednesday season 1 didn’t give a single explicit reference to one of Morticia Frump’s family members, despite implying that her relatives are also supernaturally gifted and potentially attended Nevermore. Now that Ophelia Frump likely won’t appear in Wednesday, there is one less interesting member of her family from past adaptations to explore.
Wednesday’s maternal family members should also bear importance on the title character’s journey at Nevermore Academy’s outcast school, especially since it’s been a significant avenue for understanding her supernatural legacy. Morticia is said to be a gifted psychic, but it’s unclear if this was inherited from her mother or if she had any siblings who also exhibited supernatural powers. Understanding the character of Wednesday Addams means exploring more than just Gomez’s ancestors, so Wednesday season 2 needs to give more insight into Morticia’s background.
