Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’ presents an intimate portrait of the Addams family with shocking mysteries and crimes unfolding in the background. While Wednesday Addams tries to get to the bottom of it all, she also has to navigate the complex relationship she has with her mother, which becomes even more antagonistic in this season. Curiously, Wednesday’s fraught relationship with Morticia starts to reflect the conflicted relationship that Morticia has with her mother, Hester, and this makes the dynamic of the trio more complex than before. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Hester Frump Becomes Wednesday’s Partner-in-Crime
The second season of ‘Wednesday’ brings another member of the family to the fore in the form of Morticia’s mother, Hester Frump. It is revealed that she is an ultrarich person and the owner of Frump Mortuaries, which underlines her love for macabre. She comes into the picture when Nevermore’s new headmaster, Barry Dort, expresses his desire to get her to donate money to keep the school running. For this, he needs Morticia, but then, it turns out that the mother and daughter aren’t exactly on cordial terms. Hester is revealed to be an emotionally distant mother, whom Morticia blames for the downfall of her sister, Ophelia.
According to Morticia, Hester did not handle Ophelia’s psychic gifts and the trouble that came with it with the tact and kindness it required. She blames her mother for sending her younger sister to Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, where things seemed to get worse for her. She doesn’t want the same thing to happen to Wednesday, considering how similar her abilities are to Ophelia’s, and also considering that it has been a very long time since Hester has been in touch with or even has had an inkling of the whereabouts of her younger daughter. While Morticia might not be on speaking terms with Hester, this hasn’t kept Wednesday from having a strong relationship with her grandmother.
In fact, Morticia has never tried to come between them, especially considering how much alike Wednesday and Hester seem. This is also why, when the time comes, Wednesday turns to her grandmother to ask for her help and Hester delivers it, even though she knows Morticia wouldn’t approve of it, and she is proven right. Hester agrees to the donation to Nevermore in return for Morticia giving Wednesday Goody’s book back. However, Morticia doesn’t appreciate being blackmailed, and she most certainly doesn’t like Hester trying to interfere in her family matters. This sets up a fraught dynamic between the trio as both mothers struggle to connect with their daughters, while both daughters blame their mothers for one thing or another.
Joanna Lumley Brings Hester’s Eclectic Morbidity to Life
The role of Hester Frump in ‘Wednesday’ is played by Joanna Lumley. Considering one of the most recognised voices in the UK, Lumley’s decades-long illustrious career speaks for itself. Over the years, she has appeared in projects like ‘Coronation Street,’ ‘Ella Enchanted,’ ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ ‘Paddington 2,’ and ‘Fool Me Once,’ to name a few. Apart from her work in movies and TV shows, she has also had a successful run in the world of theatre and radio, has authored several books, and has been involved in several philanthropic causes. In 2022, she was made a Dame for her several achievements.
‘Wednesday’ is not the first project that Lumley has collaborated on with Tim Burton. They previously worked together on his animated gothic romance, ‘Corpse Bride.’ She received a call from Burton for the role of Hester, and revealed that initially, the character’s presence was much less in the story. However, when she came on board, the role was expanded significantly to give more depth to the relationship between Hester, Morticia, and Wednesday. Describing the world of ‘Wednesday’ as “sensational, gothic, and quite bone-chilling but kind of playful,” Lumley told Netflix Tudum that she is always thrilled to work with Burton because of the characters and the worlds he creates.
She was also impressed by the attention to detail given to the character, right from her costumes to makeup, to how she presents herself to the world. Apart from setting up Hester as yet another cold, calculating member of the Addams family, her character adds more tension to the dynamic between Morticia and Wednesday in the show. It also serves as a plot device to give us more information about the mysterious Aunt Ophelia, who is expected to become a critical part of the story in the second half of the second season.
Read More: Is Wednesday Addams Allergic to Color?
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