From the momentWednesdayAddams (Jenna Ortega) stepped foot in Nevermore Academy, it was clear to her that the school was full of mysteries. Dead students, secret societies, unsolved murders, the sudden appearance of a strange creature, too strange even for Nevermore standards… You name it. In no time, our favorite spooky teen had her hands full trying to uncover the hidden secrets of Nevermore. However, not all hidden things onWednesdayare there for the characters to find out. Some secrets are there for viewers’ eyes only. From throwbacks to the original comics byCharles Addamsto references to the 90sAddams Familymovies to unexpected cameos from the showrunners themselves,Wednesdayis full of little Easter eggs that fans better be careful not to miss. But if you got somewhat careless while watching the show, don’t worry. Here are all the Easter eggs you may have skipped.
Wednesday’s Double Finger Snap Is an Addams Family Classic
Perhaps the most obvious Easter egg inWednesdayis the double finger snap, a pretty clear reference to the classicAddams Familytheme song. In order to open the secret passageway to the Nightshade’s meeting room, Wednesday has to snap her fingers twice, rhythmically. The snaps are a very well-known part of the song composed byVic Mizzyfor the 1964Addams FamilyTV show. The song, namely the snaps, became intimately associated with the Addams, being featured or at least referenced in various other iterations of the creepy, kooky family.
The Two Wednesdays
Yet another Easter egg that is pretty easy to spot isChristina Ricci’s castingasWednesday’s Big Bad, Ms. Thornhill. One of Ricci’s most well-known and beloved roles was, of course, Wednesday Addams inBarry Sonnenfeld’sAddams Familymovies of the 90s. Dark and full of sarcasm, Ricci’s Wednesday changed how people thought of the character andturned Wednesday into the goth icon that she is today.
Wednesday Got Her Moves from Lisa Loring…
Few things in this world are more entertaining than a good, unexpected dance sequence, andWednesdayhas gifted us with a fine specimen of the genre. InEpisode 4, “Woe What a Night,”Wednesday shows us some unexpected moves during the school’s Rave’N, set to the sound ofThe Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck.” But were they really all that unexpected? Jenna Ortega isn’t the first Wednesday Addams to be known for her abilities on the dance floor: back in the 60s,Lisa Loring’sWednesday also charmed viewers with her dancing skillsin a now classic scene with Lurch(Ted Cassidy). Ortega, who created Wednesday’s routine herself,took inspiration from Loring, as well as from many other non-Addams sources.
…And Her Bow and Arrow Skills from Christina Ricci
The gift of dancing isn’t the only thing Ortega’s character got from the Wednesdays of the past. In the show, Wednesday is shown to be pretty good at archery, impressing Xavier (Percy Hynes White) with her talent. But what the students of Nevermore Academy might not know about their classmate is that Wednesday has been practicing her archery for quite some time now, with lessons dating back all the way to the 1990s: inThe Addams Family,Christina Ricci’s Wednesday is also shown to be gifted with a bow and enjoys shooting arrows at her brother. Unlike his sister, Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) isn’t that good of an archer, killing an American bald eagle out of sheer ineptitude inAddams Family Values.
‘Wednesday’ Isn’t the First Time We See Pugsley Tied Up With an Apple in His Mouth
But it isn’t just at the traditional bow and arrow that Wednesday excels. She’s also not bad with a crossbow — or, at least, we hope she isn’t. When we first meet her and Pugsley in 1991’sThe Addams Family, Wednesday plans on shooting an apple off of her brother’s mouth with a crossbow. For this, she has him tied up so that he can’t move. It’s a scene very similar to Pugsley’s (Isaac Ordonez) first appearance onWednesday, in which Ortega’s character finds her little brother tied up, with an apple shoved into his mouth, inside a locker.
Principal or Miss Weems?
Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie) may be an entirely new addition to the Addams-verse, but she isn’t the first character in the franchise to go by that name. In one of the original comics by Charles Addams, Morticia and Gomez are leaving home for a night out, leaving the kids in the care of a babysitter. The caption reads, “We won’t be late, Miss Weems. Get the children to bed around eight, and keep your back to the wall at all times.”
“You rang?”
Who knew Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) had so much in common with Lurch? At least, both the Addams family butler andthe romantic-interest-turned-Hydelike to greet people the same way. When Wednesday rings the bell at the coffee shop, Tyler greets her with “You rang?” The line is a reference to how Ted Cassidy’s Lurch usually responded to Morticia (Carolyn Jones) and Gomez (John Astin) whenever they called him by — you guessed it — ringing a bell.
What’s New, Scooby-Doo?
Sheriff Galpin’s (Jamie McShane) remark about Wednesday (whom he calls “Velma”) and her Scooby gang sticking to their homework and leaving the investigation to the professionals might seem like just a joke about the Nancy Drew-esque personality of Ortega’s character in the Netflix series, but there’s more to it than that. Not many people know it, butthe Addams Family actually met Scooby-Doo and his friends in 1972. In the episode “Wednesday Is Missing” from theNew Scooby-DooMoviesseries, the Mystery Machine breaks down right in front of the Addams family mansion, and Scooby and the gang are tasked with helping solve the kidnapping of one pigtailed child full of woe.
RELATED:‘Wednesday’ Season 2: Announcement Teaser, Possible Returning Cast, and Everything We Know So Far
Wednesday and the Pilgrims Go Way Back
The “normies” of Jericho aren’t the first people Wednesday Addams has met who are completely obsessed with pilgrims. InAddams Family Values, Wednesday and her brother, Pugsley, alongside their friend Joel Glicker (David Krumholtz), take it upon themselves to ruin a very offensive Thanksgiving play and tell hard truths to the WASP-y kids and parents of Camp Chippewa. It’s one of the movie’s most memorable scenes,one thatAddams Familyfans bring up every year around Thanksgiving. On Wednesday, the titular character doesn’t participate in any tasteless plays, nor is she young enough to be sent to summer camp, but she and the other students of Nevermore are still forced to show the pilgrims some unwarranted love during Outreach Day. InEpisode 3, “Friend of Woe,”Wednesday is put in a pilgrim outfit and made to give fudge to tourists at Pilgrim World, a colonization themed park. Much like the Wednesday trapped at Camp Chippewa, Ortega’s character is less than pleased by it and makes sure to make her opinions known, telling a group of German visitors that they are contributing to the “pathetic whitewashing of American history.” In the end, much like little Wednesday setting fire to the stage, teen Wednesday sends the statue of the town’s founder, Joseph Crackstone, flying through the air.
The Secret of Ophelia Hall
Upon arriving at Nevermore, Wednesday is assigned to a dorm room in Ophelia Hall. This apparently innocuous name has a lot of history in the Addams universe. Ophelia Frump is none other than Morticia’s older sister, whose cheery disposition is a lot similar to that of Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), Wednesday’s roommate.
Cousin Itt Makes an Appearance at Nevermore Academy
InEpisode 7, “If You Don’t Woe Me By Now,”Wednesday returns to the secret meeting place of the Nightshades, now with her Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) in tow. The two come across a portrait of a strange man, whose face and body are hidden behind a veil of golden hair. Uncle Fester refers to the man as Ignatius Itt, confirming him to be the famous cousin from Gomez’s side of the family who ends up having a brief affair with Morticia’s sister, Ophelia.
Girl Scouts for Breakfast
In Episode 3, Tyler jokingly asks Wednesday if she used to be a girl scout, to which Wednesday responds that she “could eat a girl scout for breakfast.” This is a reference to a scene in 1991’sThe Addams Familyin which Wednesday and Pugsley are selling lemonade when they are approached by a girl scout selling cookies. Played byMercedes McNab, who would later terrorize and be terrorized by Wednesday at Camp Chippewa, the girl scout tries to make a deal with the siblings, promising to buy a glass of lemonade if they buy a box of her cookies, which prompts Wednesday to ask if the cookies are made of real girl scouts.
Gough and Millar Double as Showrunners and Business Owners
In the very first episode of the show, aptly titled “Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe,” showrunnersAlfred GoughandMiles Millarmanaged to sneak themselves in for a little cameo of sorts. They don’t actually show their faces on screen, but their names appear on the window of Dr. Kinbott’s (Riki Lindhome) office building. Sadly, it’s impossible to make out what kind of business Millar & Gough, as their names appear, are in.
