The first season of Wednesday places the eponymous character front and center in her comedy and mystery as well as a teenager coming into her own story while not giving up on her peculiarities that are what endeared The Adam’s Family creator Charles Adam’s characters for generations. Played to perfection by Actress Jenna Ortega, the streaming series grew exponentially not just because of Director and Series Executive Producer Tim Burton’s distinct visual stile combined by the signature soundtrack by long time collaborator Danny Elfman, but Wednesday’s dance scene became a pop culture phenomenon.
In fact one can argue that in their own way, the collaborations between Burton and Elfman are not unlike the collaborations of Steven Spielberg and John Williams in that they have worked with each other on so many mutually successful projects that it is hard not to associate one name with the other because when we see a Spielberg film we expect to hear John Williams’ music and so it is the same that when we watch or even become aware of a new Tim Burton project, we immediately think of and expect Danny Elfman’s unique musical crafts.
In many ways the first season of Wednesday feels like a Tim Burton feature film for television, but sadly he only directed the first four of the eight episodes. Please note than in television the Executive Producer wields creative control over a television series and Burton served as Executive Producer for the entire first season.
Had he directed all eight it would have been even more of an event much like David Lynch created a feature for television when he directed all 18 episodes of Twin Peaks: The Return aka Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series. Outside of Burton and Lynch, the only filmmaker with a comparable visual style from their generation is Terry Gilliam. I wish he would make a film with Netflix.
Season one presents all eight episodes splits across two discs packed within a blue BD case with a cardboard slipcase over it. All four of the first season episodes on disc one were directed by Tim Burton with the episode titles and run times delineated as “Wednesday’s Child Is Full Of Woe” (55:51), “Woe Is The Loneliest Number” (46:45), “Friend Or Woe” (46:10) and “Woe What A Night” (47:32), which features Jenna Ortega’s mesmerizing Wednesday Dance for those who can’t wait to watch that scene again.
On disc two Ganja Mondteiro directed episode seven “You Reap What You Woe” (49:52) while James Marshall directed the final three, which are “Quid Pro Woe” (48:08), “If You Don’t Woe By Now” (45:33) and “A Murder Of Woes” (50:04).
The picture quality is excellent on both discs for every episode. I mean amazingly so and the English DTS-MA 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is enveloping and engaging. Though there appears to be other language and subtitle options on the discs than what is listed on the packaging, I can confirm French and Spanish Dubbed Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtracks along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles are encoded on to both Blu-ray Discs.
Sadly no extra value features are included. No featurettes and audio commentary track, nothing. The main menu is static though easy to navigate. Excellent picture and sound presentation still make this a good purchase for fans who demand the best that only physical media brings home to the viewer, but Warner Brothers Discovery Home Entertainment has you covered regardless when Wednesday: Season One debuts on Blu-ray Disc, DVD and Digital Copy, but sold separately on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
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