Season 1 of Netflix’s Wednesday remixes a big twist in the Harry Potter lore but this sinister arc is done much better in the Netflix show.
The following contains major spoilers for Wednesday Season 1, now streaming on Netflix.
The first season of Netflix’s highly-popular Wednesday is filled with romance, drama, comedy, and of course, murder. Jenna Ortega’s titular character soon realizes there’s a killer running amok at the Nevermore Academy and takes it upon herself to solve the case. Little does she know, this monster, the Hyde, has its claws and fangs set on her, too.
As she investigates, the show provides an intriguing mystery with a lot of personal stakes, not to mention it spices up Wednesday’s love triangle. Interestingly, by the time the killer is revealed, Wednesday clearly takes a page from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. However, the series significantly upgrades what J. K. Rowling’s book and the 2001 fantasy film did with its big swerve in the finale.
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Harry Potter Hid Quirinus Quirrell as Its Villain
Harry’s crew tried to solve the case of the figure haunting Hogwarts, thinking the evil Voldemort found a way back. The big surprise came in the finale when Professor Quirrell was revealed to be the avatar for the evil wizard. Voldemort’s face was under Quirrell’s head wrap, eager to offer the gift of resurrecting Harry’s parents. It was all to get the magical stone and return to the land of the living fully, rather than be this disfigured entity under the professor’s turban.
As cool as the idea was, the execution was off. Making the stuttering, less-imposing Quirrell a villain wasn’t bad at all, but the film didn’t really give him any emotional attachment — not to Harry or the viewers. Had he helped Harry’s crew in the case, shaping an air of misdirection, or treated them to secrets as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to dupe them into giving him the relic, it’d have been a lot more engaging. Instead, Quirrell playing such a minimal role, then being rushed in as a deus ex machina felt like a force plot twist. As such, when he and this iteration of Voldemort died in the battle, no one in the audience really felt anything.
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Wednesday Has an Evil Teacher Spreading Evil, Too
Wednesday rips the idea of a wicked teacher as well, when the heroine discovers Marilyn Thornhill is the puppet master manipulating the Hyde to maim people. She confronts her, and while Principal Weems (Wednesday’s Dumbledore) dies in the battle, the twist works out much better. This plot twist works because Thornhill had a big role to play throughout Season 1, influencing Wednesday to be a hero. She tricked her into thinking she was a “normie” (aka a human), but inspired Wednesday due to her knowledge of potions and magic.
With this story direction, Thornhill and Wednesday bonded, with the former being a guardian, mentor, sister and even a mom at times. As a result, when she betrayed the teen, it resonated a lot more. What also works is how the series shows Thornhill’s ancestors in the past: Puritans waging war against Wednesday’s ancestor, Goody, and other witches. Thus, audience members are given a proper backstory for Thornhill, which informs the big reveal, making it intense and personal. This also keeps fans invested for Season 2 after Thornhill gets arrested, not killed. Ultimately, it’s the same idea of a teacher backstabbing a student with an apocalypse looming, but Thornhill ends up being the better Quirrell due to the nuance, and history with Wednesday and her kin.
