WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for Wednesday season 1!The many black dahlias featured in Wednesday season 1 have significant dark symbolism, especially in regard to The Addams Family show’s murder mystery twists. Flowers played a surprisingly important role in Wednesday season 1. Christina Ricci’s character Ms. Thornhill, A.K.A. Laurel Gates, was the science and botany teacher at Nevermore Academy, with her lessons on carnivorous plants having apt connections to Wednesday’s themes and mysteries. Not only were flowers used as clues for major twists, but they also helped indicate the secret intentions of Wednesday’s nefarious characters.
The first black dahlia appeared in Wednesday’s season 1 premiere, as Marilyn Thornhill gifted Jenna Ortega's character one of the flowers due to her noted aversion to color and dark personal statement. Later in the same episode, a black dahlia was featured in the flashback scene in which young Wednesday Addams cries over the grave of her pet scorpion Nero. The black dahlia flower later returned in Wednesday season 1, episode 7 when Tyler and Wednesday had a picnic and watched a movie in Joseph Crackstone’s crypt. While the rare nearly-black flower is fitting for Wednesday Addams’ preferred color palette, the black dahlias also have clever symbolism within Wednesday season 1’s story.
Black Dahlias Symbolize Wednesday’s Betrayals, Warnings & Woe Theme
The black dahlias seen in Wednesday season 1 are really meant to represent the show's darker themes, as the flowers are typically associated with death, betrayals, warnings, and negative emotions – like Wednesday’s commonly used word “woe.” All of these dark omens are present throughout Wednesday, so when a black dahlia appears, it’s never a good sign. Considering Wednesday was gifted a black dahlia upon her arrival at the outcast school Nevermore Academy, the series was already setting up a warning that death and betrayals would follow. Another applicable negative meaning of black dahlias is dishonesty, which connects to the many lies and secrets throughout Wednesday, largely in regard to Thornhill and Tyler's sinister actions.
While Wednesday season 1 primarily uses the black dahlia for its floral symbolism, there are several other plants that bear subtle messages in Netflix’s Addams Family series. The nightshade flower takes on two major roles in Wednesday’s murder mystery, as it’s the symbol of Nevermore Academy’s secret society as well as the plant that is used by the Gates family when attempting to poison outcasts. The nightshade flower represents silence or death, so its meanings fit well with its usage by the Nightshades and Marilyn Thornhill. Ms. Thornhill was also seen feeding a Venus flytrap, which likely symbolized how she had already captured Tyler's Hyde and was setting a deadly trap for Wednesday Addams.
The Black Dahlia Quickly Set Up Wednesday’s Murder Mystery
When Marilyn Thornhill first gifts Wednesday the black dahlia flower, The Addams Family’s eldest child remarks that the Black Dahlia is also the name of her favorite unsolved murder. Wednesday is referring to the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, who was nicknamed the Black Dahlia by the press. The Black Dahlia murder is one of the most famous unsolved homicides in history, which was widely publicized due to its gruesome and public nature. Wednesday episode 1’s reference to the case and its association with the flower was an early tease that the series would similarly feature brutal murders that are difficult to solve.
Perhaps too much of a coincidence, Elizabeth Short was also born in the Hyde Park area of Boston, Massachusetts, which links to Wednesday season 1’s story. Not only does Wednesday mention Boston often due to Nevermore’s location in the Northeast, but Tyler’s monster species is a Hyde. Wednesday is full of subtle hints to the real killer, monster species, and impending murder spree throughout the first two episodes, with the black dahlia symbolism being especially clever.
The Black Dahlia Teased Wednesday’s Biggest Villain Twists
One of the biggest clues to the killers’ identities in Wednesday season 1 was the black dahlia flower. Both Tyler and Marilyn Thornhill/Laurel Gates gifted Wednesday Addams black dahlias, which symbolized their deceit and the death that the two Wednesday season 1 characters were causing. Additionally, while Tyler Galpin may have purchased the black dahlia he gave Wednesday from Jericho’s floral shop, it would have made more sense for him to have received it from Laurel Gates, who revealed that she was growing them at Nevermore’s conservatory. This should have been yet another clue that Tyler and Thornhill were secretly working together against Wednesday and Nevermore Academy's outcasts.