There are 21 super sneaky Easter eggs hidden in plain sight throughout Netflix’s Wednesday. Here’s where to find them all…
Wednesday has done the unthinkable and overtaken Bridgerton as one of Netflix’s most-watched shows. Ever.
That’s right; starring the darkly brilliant Jenna Ortega as its eponymous antiheroine, Wednesday has – according to the streamer – been watched worldwide for a total of 752.5 million hours since its release date on 23 November.
As Netflix ranks the popularity of its shows by the total number of hours they’re watched within their first 28 days of release, this means that Wednesday has just become its third biggest English language show of all time – just behind Stranger Things and Dahmer.
You may also like
The internet has fallen in love with this beautiful on-screen duo in Netflix’s Wednesday
If you’re among them, then congratulations: you’re well and truly part of the zeitgeist. If you want to stand out, though, you need to give the series another watch and do your best to spot the many, many Easter eggs scattered throughout it like gloriously gothic treasures.
Or, if you prefer, you could check out our round-up below.
Snap twice, Wednesday
Everyone knows that the classic Addams Family theme song is punctuated throughout with a double snap of the fingers (click, click). And so everyone screamed in unison when during the second episode of Wednesday, she cracked a series of riddles to unveil the secret password for the Nightshades’ headquarters: “snap twice”.
Wednesday’s dance macabre
Everyone is utterly obsessed with Wednesday’s gothic dance routine – and, as Stylist’s Lauren Geall previously pointed out, there was far more to the choreography than meets the eye: it borrowed a few moves from the OG Wednesday.
Check it out:
And let’s compare it to the new Wednesday’s big dance moment:
Obsessed.
Alas, poor Beetlejuice!
Every high school worth its salt tends to have an old (fake) skull knocking around the place, so drama students can hold it up and recite the famous words of William Shakespeare. Nevermore is little different, it seems, as Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie) keeps a small skull on her desk under a glass dome. A very small skull.
So small, in fact, that the show’s production designer, Mark Scruton, hastold Variety that it’s an intentional nod to the ending of Tim Burton’s iconic movie, Beetlejuice.
When you consider all those rumours about a long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel being in the works, this homage feels pretty pointed. Maybe it’s a hint about Burton’s next big project?
… and what about the local coffee shop?
“In the town, a lot of the shop fronts were stolen right out of the Chas Addams cartoons. There’s a florist’s shop, a cobbler’s shop, a thrift store,” Scruton says.
He adds that the back wall in the Weathervane Cafe features a series of metal weathervanes, each of which is inspired by some of Burton’s past movies, including a top hat (Charlie & The Chocolate Factory) and the Headless Horseman (Sleepy Hollow).
… and the taxidermied mice in Uriah’s Heap?
You need to pay attention to the stuffed mice at Uriah’s Heap because, as production designer Mark Scruton tells Tudum, they are mini homages to some of Burton’s best movies.
“We (have) little mice that reflected some of Tim’s movies that you might be able to spot, going on to reveal there are several mice and even a rodent version of Freddy Krueger.”
You may also like
Netflix’s Wednesday finale: how that surprise ending exposed the truth about ‘nice guys’
Wednesday’s origin story, part 1
The OG Addams Family cartoon characters didn’t have names when creator Charles Addams first made them. However, over time he gave them names and he allegedly sourced inspiration for Wednesday’s name from the nursery rhyme.
It should come as little surprise, then, when Catherine Zeta Jones’ Morticia reveals that her daughter’s “name comes from a line from my favourite nursery rhyme, ‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe’”.
Wednesday’s origin story, part 2
You probably don’t need us to point out that Miss Thornhill is played by Christina Ricci. As in, yes, the very same legend who portrayed Wednesday in The Addams Family in 1991 and its sequel Addams Family Values in 1993.
The truth hurts… especially at Pilgrim World
The greatest scene in the aforementioned Addams Family Values movie was, without a shadow of a doubt, the one which saw Wednesday toss out the script to her summer camp’s Thanksgiving play and call out how the pilgrims (and their descendants) really treated the Native Americans.
“You have taken the land which is rightfully ours,” she says, in character as Pocahontas. “Years from now, my people will be forced to live in mobile homes on reservations. Your people will wear cardigans and drink highballs. We will sell our bracelets by the roadsides. You will play golf and enjoy hot hors d’oeuvres. My people will have pain and degradation. Your people will have stick shifts.”
She finishes: “The gods of my tribe have spoken. They have said, ‘Do not trust the pilgrims, especially Sarah Miller.’ And for all these reasons, I’ve decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground.”
It seems as if Wednesday’s distaste for the whitewashing of American history is something which Burton’s team wanted to keep alive, as Ortega’s iteration of the character is forced to work at Pilgrim World.
There, she tells visitors (in German) that that the fudge they’re eating was made by oppressed indigenous people, and that the amusement park has ignored the many, many, many crimes of the pilgrims.
“Enjoy your ‘authentic’ pilgrim fudge made with cacao beans procured by the oppressed indigenous people of the Amazon,” she intones darkly.
“All proceeds go to uphold this pathetic whitewashing of American history. Also, fudge wasn’t invented for another 258 years. Any takers?”
We genuinely love to see it.
Arachnophobia
Spiders feature heavily in Netflix’s Wednesday; not only does one leap from the page of Xavier’s magical sketchbook, but Wednesday also cracks open a piñata filled with spiders.
Why all the eight-legged freaks? Well, it’s a callback to the 1964 TV series The Addams Family, in which our favourite goth girl has a pet spider called Homer. And the Netflix series also boasts a flashback to six-year-old Wednesday and her ill-fated pet scorpion, Nero, which suggests that she’s always been fond of predatory arachnids.
Bullseye
Wednesday dazzles (or intimidates) Xavier with her archery skills when she fires an arrow neatly into a falling apple. This is likely a callback to Addams Family Values, which sees Wednesday and Pugsley showcasing their own prowess with a longbow at their summer camp.
Pugsley even manages to bring down an American Bald Eagle.
“But aren’t they extinct?” asks their shocked counsellor.
“They are now,” replies Wednesday coolly.
And that’s the way the cookie crumbles
In The Addams Family movie, Wednesday is asked repeatedly by a girl scout if the lemonade she’s serving is made from real lemons.
She then tries to sell Wednesday a box of girl scout cookies, to which our antiheroine asks: “Are they made from real Girl Scouts?”
Again, Netflix’s Wednesday includes a nostalgic reference to this moment for fans of the 90s films.
“I could eat Girl Scouts for breakfast,” says Wednesday during the third episode.
Scooby-dooby-doo
Wednesday’s decision to investigate the many, many deaths surrounding Nevermore does not go down well with the local sheriff.
“Listen, Velma,” he snaps during episode four. “Why don’t you and the Scooby gang stick to your homework and leave the investigating to the professionals?”
Yes, this is an obvious Scooby-Doo reference – but did you know that Wednesday Addams actually appeared in a Scooby-Doo episode of her very own back in the 70s?
You may also like
Netflix’s Wednesday: 3 things the Tim Burton series gets right, and 1 thing it gets so wrong
Titled ‘Wednesday is Missing’, the cartoon sees the Scooby Gang watch the Addams kids while Gomez and Morticia go on a second honeymoon.
When Wednesday disappears, they’re abruptly propelled from their babysitting duties and into mystery-solving mode.
If you spotted that reference, you’re well and truly owed a Scooby snack.
Addams alumni
There are two (two!) references to old Addams students who’ve attended Nevermore over the years.
Firstly, there’s the fact that Wednesday’s dorm is named after her aunt Ophelia – aka Morticia’s sister, who was portrayed by Carolyn Jones in the 1964 television series. And secondly, there’s the portrait of Ignatius Itt (aka the iconic and hair-covered Cousin Itt) hanging in Nightshades HQ.
Good to see they’re keeping it in the family, eh?
A round of applause for Edgar Allan Poe
We already know that Nevermore is named for one of its most famous alumni, Edgar Allan Poe, but there are plenty more references to the legendary poet and author.
You may also like
Netflix’s Wednesday: the internet is obsessed with that iconic dancing scene
Firstly, there’s all those ravens: they’re bouncing off the Addams’ car windscreen, they’re perched on the school gates, there’s a taxidermied one on Principal Weems’ desk, and they plague Wednesday’s visions, too.
Next, there’s the fact that all of the boats in the (very Goblet Of Fire-esque) Poe Cup are named after/inspired by Poe’s short stories: think The Pit And The Pendulum, The Gold-Bug, The Black Cat and The Cask Of Amontillado.
We have the Nightshade Society, seemingly named after one of Poe’s most famous short stories, Morella – which is all about a woman who seemingly dies and gives birth to a daughter who looks just like her. Her husband loves the daughter, but she dies when he names her the same as her mother, implying that mother and daughter were the same person.
And that name, Morella, can be translated, quite literally, as black nightshade.
And then, on top of the Edgar Allan Poe statue, there’s the advice that Wednesday firmly sticks to during her investigations: “Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see.”
You may also like
Wednesday bangs are trending on social media and they’re a great first fringe to get
You guessed it, it’s a Poe quote. Of course it is.
The gargoyles
The gargoyles at Nevermore Academy are more than just stone creatures, they represent different characters. As the show’s set designer Mark Scruton revealed to Variety: “All the gargoyles, they designed [them] to represent the different groups within the schools. So there’s vampires and gorgons and sirens.”
And one last thing…
Miles Millar and Alfred Gough – both of whom worked tirelessly on the series as showrunners – have had their surnames printed as Millar & Gough on the office window of the building where Wednesday attends her therapy sessions.
Phew!
Images: Netflix
Source: Read Full Article