Tamal Kundu
Created by Tim Burton, Alfred Gough, and Miles Millar, ‘Wednesday’ is a Netflix coming-of-age fantasy mystery series. It is based on the characters developed by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The story follows Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) as her parents enroll her at Nevermore Academy, the boarding school they both attended when they were younger, after attempts to educate their daughter at an ordinary school fails.
Nevermore is a special place where all the students and most of the teachers are outcasts — people with special abilities that set them apart from the rest of humanity or the normies. Even among the outcasts, Wednesday manages to stand out, exasperating Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie), the principal of Nevermore, with her actions. An aspiring author, Wednesday finds herself entangled in a mystery involving a murderous monster and learns about a prophecy about her destroying the school. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Wednesday’ season 1. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Wednesday Recap
After Wednesday lets a school of piranhas loose on her brother’s bullies, her parents, Gomez (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), decide to enroll her at Nevermore as a last measure. She has already gone through eight schools in the last five years. Gomez and Morticia hope that the school where they found themselves and each other will be what their daughter needs.
However, as Weems and Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Riki Lindhome), the therapist Wednesday has to see because of her actions at the previous school, find out, she is as stubborn as she is morbid. Wednesday tries to escape the school at every chance she gets and initially develops an almost antagonistic relationship with the rest of the student body.
Wednesday’s roommate, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), is an antithesis of her. Colorful and chirpy, Enid is a werewolf but hasn’t undergone the complete transformation, which has become a matter of concern for the family/pack. It is Enid who introduces Wednesday to the school hierarchy. In this rendition of the Addams family, the world population is split between outcasts and normies. Outcasts have special powers, whereas normies are everyday people.
Nevermore is supposed to be a haven for outcasts, where young members of various supernatural races come to be educated. Predictably, there are cliques, the main four of them being Fangs (vampires), Furs (werewolves), Stoners (gorgons), and Scales (sirens). There are also students with unique powers, such as Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White), whose paintings come alive, and Eugene Otinger (Moosa Mostafa), who can control the insects. As for Wednesday, she is a psychic, having inherited her mother’s power of visions. And through her father, she is connected to Goody Addams, one of the earliest outcasts in Jericho, New England, the town near which Nevermore is located. As a homage to the rich history of the characters, the Addams family is exclusively depicted in black and white in the film.
Within a few days since she has arrived in Nevermore, Wednesday nearly gets killed by a fellow student, Rowan, who uses his telekinesis power on her, claiming that his mother has foretold Wednesday would cause the destruction of Nevermore. Suddenly, a monstrous creature appears and kills Rowan.
The incident leaves even Wednesday unsettled, and she begins investigating the monster. There have already been a few murders attributed to the creature. Wednesday comes to an agreement with Sheriff Donovan Galpin (Jamie McShane), who believes that the monster is one of the students of Nevermore. Wednesday convinces Galpin to help her as she has access to the academy.
As Wednesday continues to stay and study at Nevermore, something extraordinary happens — she begins to make friends, starting with Enid. She also grows close to Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan), the sheriff’s apparently normie son. It turns out that Tyler and Xavier have a long-standing feud that started when the former destroyed one of Xavier’s street art. The rivalry soon becomes the start of a romantic triangle, as the boys are evidently interested in her. Even though Wednesday is aware of their interest, she is mostly aloof about the entire thing. However, as the series progresses, it becomes apparent that the interest might be mutual with Tyler.
When they departed from Nevermore, Wednesday’s parents left behind Thing, the living disembodied hand that serves the Addams family. With the help of Thing and her friends, Wednesday digs deep into the mystery of Jericho and discovers that her ancestor Goody and the town’s founder, Joseph Crackstone (William Houston), were bitter enemies. She has a vision in which she witnesses Crackstone burning the outcasts of Jericho. Goody barely escapes and later gets her revenge on the man.
With the arrival of Wednesday’s diabolical uncle, Fester (Fred Armisen), Wednesday figures out exactly what kind of a monster she is dealing with here. She draws certain conclusions about who that person is underneath the skin of a monster, but that proves incorrect in the season 1 finale. An old enemy of the outcasts returns, seeking vengeance. Some friends show their true colors, while others stand beside Wednesday as she confronts evil.
Wednesday Ending: Who is the Killer? What Type of Monster is the Killer?
Ultimately, Uncle Fester solves the mystery of the monster for Wednesday. When she shows him one of Xavier’s sketches of the creature, he immediately recognizes it as a Hyde, as in the monster from Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novel ‘Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’ With Fester’s help, Wednesday finds the diary of Nathaniel Faulkner, the founder of Nevermore. In his diary, Faulkner cataloged all kinds of outcasts, including the Hyde. The diary was in possession of a secret society called Nightshades, made up of students such as Xavier. At one point, Wednesday is offered a chance to join the group, but she declines.
From Faulkner’s diary, Wednesday learns that the Hydes are artists by nature but also vicious. The Hyde aspect lays dormant until some traumatic experience brings it to the fore. Another way the monster can surface is if someone else unlocks it through hypnosis. And if that happens, this person becomes the master of the Hyde.
Wednesday initially suspects Xavier, who has made several sketches of the Hyde, and Dr. Kinbott. However, Kinbott is killed by the Hyde, and Xavier is arrested, though he claims innocence. Eventually, Wednesday realizes that Tyler is the Hyde; he has inherited monstrous abilities from his late mother, who was also a Hyde.
As for the Hyde’s master, it is Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci), the den mother at the academy and the only normie educator. Wednesday discovers that Marilyn’s real name is Laurel Gates, a descendant of Joseph Crackstone. She used a plant-derived chemical to control Tyler.
What Happens to Larissa Weems, Joseph Crackstone, and Marilyn Thornhill?
The power of Principal Weems is shape-shifting. After Rowan’s death, she tries to keep the peace between the normies and the outcasts by transforming into the boy and trying to show the people of Jericho that Rowan left town. In the series finale, Weems appears as Tyler in front of Marilyn/Laurel and tricks her into confessing. Enraged, Laurel kills Weems by stabbing her with a syringe filled with poison.
The descendants of Goody Addams and Crackstone seem to have been waging war for a long time, even if some of them had no idea about it. When Gomez and Morticia were at Nevermore, they encountered Garrett Gates, Laurel’s brother, who tried and failed to kill all students at the school with nightshade poisoning and died during the attempt. People thought Laurel was also dead, which gave her the opportunity to hide in plain sight and prepare for the return of her ancestor.
Using Wednesday’s blood, Laurel resurrects Crackstone and follows him as he heads to destroy Nevermore. Goody appears before Wednesday, heals her mortal injuries, and advises her to stab Crackstone through the heart. Wednesday fights Crackstone and Laurel with the help of some of her fellow students, while Enid, changing into a werewolf for the first time, takes down Tyler. With the help of the siren Bianca, Wednesday sends Crackstone back to hell. When Laurel points her gun at Wednesday, Eugene attacks her with his bees, giving Wednesday the opportunity to knock the older woman out. So, it seems at least Laurel is alive and likely in custody.
Who is Wednesday’s Stalker?
With Weems dead, the academy closes for the semester. Xavier and Wednesday already reconciled during the battle. As Wednesday prepares to head home, Xavier gifts her a smartphone with his number already saved in it. Soon after, Wednesday receives a message from an unknown number and discovers photos of her with both Tyler and Xavier. She realizes that she now has a stalker.
Although the identity of the stalker isn’t revealed in season 1, it’s safe to assume it’s not one of Wednesday’s friends. It must be someone who has closely watched her since she arrived at Nevermore. This person can potentially be a legacy like her. Their parents might have been involved in a feud with Morticia and Gomez, and now their child wants to continue the conflict.
What Happens to Tyler?
After Enid defeats Tyler, the sheriff finds his son in the middle of the woods, unconscious. In the last scene, we see Tyler restrained and taken somewhere by the authorities. Suddenly, he regains consciousness and begins to change into Hyde. This seems to indicate that we haven’t seen the last of this character. He can appear in the future seasons of the series and make things complicated for Wednesday. Tyler will be more dangerous than ever because he is now free of Laurel’s control.
Read More: Where is Netflix’s Wednesday Filmed?
