WARNING! This article contains minor SPOILERS for Wednesday season 1!Jenna Ortega revealed that the dance scene from Wednesday season 1, episode 4, “Woe What a Night” was almost very different, which would have changed the entire meaning of the sequence. A reluctant Wednesday Addams attends the Rave’N dance with Tyler Galpin in Wednesday episode 4, which includes the title character standing out among her white-clad classmates while wearing a gothic black dress. Though Wednesday refrains from dancing to modern pop songs, she takes to the dance floor on her own when the DJ plays “Goo Goo Muck” by The Cramps, a psychobilly rock song with an eccentricity that matches Wednesday’s perfectly bizarre dance moves.
Wednesday season 1’s dance scene caused a lot of stir upon the series' release. In addition to an internet trend of fans copying her moves on TikTok, there was a small but loud voice of complaints that Wednesday’s dance was too “weird.” However, the original plan for Wednesday’s dance would have had a very different effect, as the initial idea was to include Wednesday Addams dancing in a flash mob. The song and dance moves hadn’t been chosen at this time, but Jenna Ortega and Tim Burton decided against a flash mob because, according to the actress, “there’s no way Wednesday would be cool with dancing and encouraging a bunch of people.”
A Flash Mob Would've Been Less Weird For Wednesday
Flash mobs offer a sense of unity and conformity among those in the dance, which would have presented Wednesday Addams as fitting in with her peers and being accepted in the Nevermore community. In addition to Jenna Ortega’s unconventional choreography, the actual moment stands out because it’s just one person dancing in a crowded room of people staring at her. If Wednesday’s dance scene was a cohesive flash mob, and it wouldn’t have been prone to as many divisive complaints because it wouldn't have been as weird or singular to Wednesday’s eccentricities and peculiar style. The odd nature of Wednesday episode 4’s dance would be perceived as far less strange or jarring if the entire school was in on it.
A flash mob also wouldn’t have made much sense for further separating Wednesday from her classmates. The students at Nevermore Academy are typically supposed to be quite conventional despite their supernatural powers, whereas Wednesday Addams’ psychic ability is just one layer of her multifaceted kookiness. Wednesday season 1’s dance scene makes her seem weirder and more of an outcast from her classmates, but a flash mob would have made Nevermore Academy too perfect for the title character. Wednesday is an outcast among outcasts, which a flash mob would undermine.
Wednesday's Dance Scene Was Very Weird - And That's Perfect
Lost among many complaints about the dance scene’s oddities is the underlying notion that it’s supposed to be weird. The weirdness in Wednesday’s dance is perfect because it clearly establishes herself as separate from her peers, but in a manner that’s confident and self-embraced. Wednesday’s moves are a form of self-expression that proves she doesn’t care what anyone thinks or that she’s different from everyone else, so the moment is brilliantly in tune with her character. Ortega’s choreography even took inspiration from Lisa Loring (Wednesday in the 1960s Addams Family sitcom), Siouxsie Sioux, and Goths dancing at clubs in the 1980s, all of which perfectly align with the eerie conception of Wednesday’s protagonist.
Wednesday Addams has always been somewhat of a gothic loner, so it also wouldn’t have made much sense for the character to be engaging in a group dance that represents togetherness. Seeing Wednesday willingly dance to a song and choreography that her peers enjoy and chose would have been worse and more unnatural character-wise. Wednesday season 1 made the right decision by sticking with Jenna Ortega's solo dance, the wonderfully eccentric dance composition, and The Cramps’ “Goo Goo Muck” for the song, as they captured the style and demeanor of the character in a way that didn’t require words or emotion.