WEDNESDAY : SEASON 1 CHAPTER 3 – FRIEND OR WOE

WEDNESDAY

SEASON 1 CHAPTER 3 – FRIEND OR WOE 

In this chapter, Wednesday and the students at Nevermore go to do some work at Pilgrim World for Outreach Day. While there Wednesday does some research into the founder of the town. When she uncovers the truth, she decides to take matters into her own hands at a town celebration. 

Out of all the episodes in the entire series. This is by a long shot the least inventive and most boring. While it does harken back to some of the ideas we got in GINGER SNAPS BACK: THE BEGINNING, almost to the point where a flashback scene almost looks ripped from that movie. Only we don’t get any werewolves in this episode. That comes later. This episode does give us some background to Wednesday’s ancestor from 400 years earlier, but it didn’t feel necessary to waste a whole chapter on it. 

My other issue with this chapter is that they take some completely unnecessary potshots at people of faith. I wouldn’t expect Wednesday to believe in heaven or hell, but the fact that it comes out of nowhere in this episode is a sign the writer is a Godophobic and had to find a way to sneak a jab in. A better writing effort here would have been to draw a distinction between things as they are now and things as they were, then calling a spade a spade. We also get a few scenes where Wednesday is by herself just talking to herself. I think most people do this in real life at one time or another, but it is pretty tacky in this chapter since they could have simply had Eugene duck into the room. 

Acting wise this episode introduces newcomer, Iman Marson as Lucas, Tommie Earl Jenkins (PARADISE HIGHWAY) as Mayor Noble Walker, Naomi J. Ogawa (SKYLINES) as Yoko Tanaka, newcomer, Johnna Dias-Watson as Divina and Lisa O'Hare (THE CLOSER) as Arlene. For other introductions see Chapters 1 and 2.

Best Line: “Would you rather I develop an obsession with horses and boybands?”- Wednesday

Second Best Line: “I don’t know who Etsy is, but I doubt she was an outcast settler” - Wednesday 

Third Best Line: “After the crap she pulled in the Poe Cup, there is no way in hell. We talk about not making waves, she’s a tsunami.” - Bianca

Fact – Revenue from Nevermore (the school for outcasts) pays for the roads, parks, and even the salaries of the police department. 

Fact 2 – One of the songs the Nevermore band knows is Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop”. 

Oddity –  One thing that stands out like a sore thumb in this episode is the terrible CGI on some of the students that don’t have faces. I have been watching a lot of 1950s and 1960s movies over the past year or so and a few of those did better jobs with similar effects challenges.

What I liked about this episode is the subtle instrumental background music where Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” is playing. The final sequence is awesome and a bit STRANGER THINGS inspired. They do a good job of showing some interactions with Wednesday, Eugene, and Enid which helps us draw closer to the characters. Even though Wednesday is perfectly fine in solitude. 

Overall this is a drop in awesomeness from the first 2 chapters, but it is not uncommon for this sort of thing to happen just trying to get introductions out of the way. I have to give this one a 3 out of 7. It was a lot of the same stuff I’ve seen in other projects. 

Previous Chapter -

WEDNESDAY: SEASON 1 CHAPTER 2 –WOE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER

Next Episode - 

WEDNESDAY: SEASON 1 CHAPTER 4 – WOE WHAT A NIGHT

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