With a sneaky villainous twist and a cliffhanger ending to set up Season 2, Jenna Ortega's
gloriously deadpan take on Wednesday Addams is plenty of fun!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan, and in this video I'm breaking down the ending
of Wednesday Season 1 and revealing the hidden clues to the mystery that even Wednesday herself
missed.
Spoilers ahead, of course, so take care.
The puppet master at the heart of the first season's whodunit is Miss Thornhill, Nevermore's
resident dorm mum and botany teacher, whose real name is actually Laurel Gates.
Although Wednesday doesn't realise that Thornhill's the secret villain until Eugene says he saw
red boots on the person who set the cave on fire, as viewers we should have been suspicious
of her when she introduced herself for the first time.
Good evening, girls.
Oh, sorry about the mud.
In the scene shortly before this, we'd seen the sheriff and his deputy in the woods in
the rain, surveying the crime scene of the hiker killed by the monster.
So, when Miss Thornhill stamps her muddy boots while claiming she's only been in her conservatory,
it's a clue that she'd likely been outside in the woods near the murder scene instead.
All of Thornhill's connections with dangerous plants were hinted at right in the opening
episode when we saw her smiling as she fed live worms to some Venus fly traps.
Wednesday later deduces that after Thornhill revealed to Tyler the family secret that his
own mother was a Hyde, she used extracts from her plants to fully unlock the Hyde inside
him.
But well before Wednesday figured that out, there were several clues to Miss Thornhill's
interest in botanical chemical trickery.
Most plants reward their pollinators with sweet nectar, many carnivorous varieties turn
to sexual trickery or deception.
And the way that Hydes effectively become slaves to those who unlock their power…
This act causes the Hyde to develop an immediate bond with its liberator, who the creature
now sees as its master.
… was also hinted at when Thornhill explained another trick from the plant world.
The orchid produces a pheromone that mimics a female insect, luring the males in.
Thornhill even gives herself away a little right at the very end, when just before Wednesday's
expelled, she gives her an oleander plant as a parting gift, which as Wednesday observed
is especially toxic.
White oleander.
One of nature's deadliest.
The body parts that Thornhill collects and stores in jars are part of her plan to resurrect
her ancestor and original zealot Joseph Crackstone.
And there's a little clue to this earlier on when she presents Wednesday with a copy
of the classic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Similar to how Thornhill brings to life the monstrous Crackstone with a spell that conducts
electricity between the body parts she'd been collecting, in Shelley's novel Victor Frankenstein's
monster was created from a collection of animal and human pieces.
And the idea of electricity bringing Frankenstein's creature to life became popularised after
the 1931 movie.
When Crackstone is mentioned for the first time as Jericho's founding father, a couple
of banners for Pilgrim World are unveiled with the words "Where History Comes To Life"
together with a picture of the long-dead pilgrim, in a clever bit of foreshadowing and a hint
to his resurrection in the final episode.
And just after Wednesday breaks into the old meeting house and comes across a model of
the evil pilgrim, she narrates…
Secrets are like zombies… they never truly die.
… which is another nice bit of foreshadowing for how Crackstone can and will come back
as a kind living dead creature himself.
And Crackstone's death at Wednesday's hands, which sees him burning up into a cloud of
hot ash and smoke, was also telegraphed earlier in the season when she and Thing set the memorial
statue of him on fire and the metal melted into a black goo.
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Wednesday prefers to do things alone.
I'll survive alone.
I always have.
However, in the end, taking down the villainous trio of Laurel, the Hyde and Crackstone was
something Wednesday simply couldn't do by herself;
instead it required a team effort.
This was predicted early on when she met Eugene for the first time and he explained why he
liked bees so much.
They're nature's perfect community.
All working together to achieve a common goal.
So, although Wednesday confronts Tyler alone, it's one of her friends, Enid after wolfing
out who saves her just before he's about to kill her.
Then when Wednesday tries to take down the evil Crackstone, the villain smashes her sword
to pieces with his magical staff and is about to finish her off, but Bianca stabs him from
behind, which gives Wednesday just enough time to grab a shard of the sword and this
time she stabs him in the heart, which as her ancestor Goody explained…
Crackstone must be stabbed through his black heart.
It is the only way he will be vanquished now and forever.
After Crackstone's demise, Laurel decides to kill Wednesday herself, but this time it's
her friend Eugene who stops Laurel when he turns up with his bees.
Wednesday's my only friend, and if she's in trouble, I've got to help her.
It's hive code.
By the way, Wednesday taking an arrow to the shoulder to save Xavier from Crackstone, mirrors
how he saved her from the falling gargoyle in the first episode.
The last few moments of the finale leave us with some big questions for a potential Season
2, such as who is the mystery stalker sending threatening texts to Wednesday?
Someone who might be antagonistic towards her is the Siren guy, Kent.
He was in charge of sabotaging the other teams during the Poe Cup race, however both Wednesday's
net and Thing's punch to the face stopped him, and he ended up getting the blame for
queen bee Bianca losing.
It was your job to help us win and she's never lost.
Wednesday also made him look foolish in front of the other Nightshades when she explained
how she'd discovered their secret meeting room.
Then I solved the riddle.
Wait, there's a riddle?
I thought we just snapped twice.
Well, aren't you the brightest in the bunch?
Seriously, even Kent is here?
How exclusive is this club?
Alternately, it might be someone connected to the MorningSong cult run by Bianca's mum.
It seemed like a weird subplot when this came up, and I wonder whether it'll be explored
further in Season 2.
We are a personal development movement that helps people take control of their lives.
After you take control of their bank account.
Another possibility could be the mayor's son Lucas, who got interested in MorningSong via
a self-help app that Bianca's mum recommended to him.
His father was killed, presumably by Laurel.
And although he appears to regret the Carrie-style stunt at the Rave'N, he and his two mates
do have an antagonistic history with Wednesday when she fought them after they harassed her
at the coffee shop.
And the final shot of Season 1 has Tyler Hulking out –
or, rather, Hyding out – which makes me wonder if Laurel is actually
dead, or whether she's still alive and able to trigger him to transform into a Hyde.
She may still have some kind of connection with Tyler, and so after he presumably breaks
out of the truck, he could go and find her and together they could plot their revenge
on Wednesday.
So, who do you think Wednesday's stalker could be?
And is Principal Weems really dead?
Comment with any thoughts, plus Season 2 theories below!
Tap here for my next Netflix video, and if you enjoyed this video, do leave a thumbs-up,
I really appreciate it.
Thanks for enjoying Wednesday with me and hope you have a marvellous movie-loving week!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!