WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Wednesday season 1!Wednesday Addams only sincerely smiles once in Wednesday season 1, which reveals much about her character. Part of the charm of Wednesday Addams’ character is her deadpan wit and emotionless nature, but Wednesday season 1 attempts to unravel this apathetic disposition on rare occasions. Wednesday nefariously smirks when her interest is piqued by sinister developments or actions, but only gives a gleeful, wide, toothy smile during one important scene in Wednesday season 1, episode 7.

The emotional detachment of teenage Wednesday Addams is broken in Wednesday season 1 when her Uncle Fester Addams (Fred Armisen) arrives at Nevermore Academy. Proving she does truly possess the warmth and heart that she outwardly denies, her uneasiness regarding the mysterious cloaked figure turns into genuine happiness when realizing the man is her father’s quirky brother. In addition to Fester kindly telling Wednesday that she’s his favorite member of the family, she returns the warmth by trusting him to help her investigation of Jericho’s murder mystery, which indicates that she shares a stronger bond and level of understanding with Fester than any of her other family members.

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Why Wednesday Addams Hardly Ever Smiles In Season 1

Wednesday Addams smiling

Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday continues to deny her empathetic humanity, instead wanting to purport herself as a cold, heartless, and sadistic loner. Wednesday’s actions in the Tim Burton series continue to subvert this assessment of herself, but her genuine expressions of happy, heartfelt emotion are what truly counteract this, such as when she smiles at seeing Uncle Fester and finally hugs Enid. The only other times that she smiles in Wednesday season 1 are on occasions that emphasize her sadism, which is influenced by her family’s love of the macabre and wicked.

The first time she smiles in Wednesday season 1 is when she says she’s going to like Nevermore Academy, as she’s excited by homicidal maniacs, attempts on her life, and implications that her own father is a killer. Before Fester arrives, Jenna Ortega's Wednesday Addams smirks again when “blood” sprays down on the students at the Rave’N dance, which plays into her macabre interests. Despite still being expressions of emotion, sinister smiles emphasize Wednesday’s spooky nature, which is how she prefers others to view her.

What Wednesday's Smile Says About Her Bond With Uncle Fester

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Wednesday and Fester’s bond suggests that she shares more in common with him than the rest of her family members, as Ortega’s character doesn’t smile when reunited with her parents or brother. Fester seems to come in and out of Wednesday’s life when not in prison or on a job, with Fester seemingly seeing the potential in Wednesday to become a criminal mastermind even more clever than himself. Wednesday’s parents show much affection to one another, but there seemed to be largely surface-level connections between them and Wednesday before the Tim Burton series. While Morticia and Gomez Addams can’t choose a favorite between Pugsley and Wednesday, Fester can, and Wednesday always cherished this favoritism from her uncle.

Wednesday rarely opens herself up to others, but The Addams Family’s Uncle Fester appears to be the one character she trusts with her vulnerabilities. From crying in front of him about Thing’s death to giving a joyous smile when he arrives, Fester is the person from whom Wednesday’s title character likely learned her notably empathetic values. Wednesday and Uncle Fester are outcasts within their own family of outcasts, so her smile when seeing him in Wednesday season 1 demonstrates her comfort with him and relief at having his help in the investigation. Since Wednesday and Fester understand each other better than Netflix's other Addams family members, he’s apt to return to aid her in future conflicts.

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