Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Wednesday.
On Netflix’s Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega as the titular Wednesday Addams, being an outcast takes on an entirely new meaning. At Nevermore Academy, outcasts from around the country come to spend their formative years in an environment where they don’t stand out among the normies — at least, until they wander into the nearby town of Jericho. Wednesday, however, is an outcast among outcasts, just like her parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán) who also made their mark upon the school during their youth. Not even among outcasts does Wednesday fit in, and this is something that Nevermore Queen Bee, Bianca (Joy Sunday), immediately uses to try to tear Wednesday down.
When we meet Bianca, she’s in a relationship with Xavier (Percy Hynes White), one of the two young men who promptly try to woo Wednesday upon her arrival at Nevermore. Xavier and Wednesday had met prior, so they have a little bit of familiarity with each other, which doesn’t do much to quell the jealousy rising in Bianca. She lashes out at Wednesday, concerned over the attention that Xavier pays to her, as their relationship has been struggling since long before Wednesday showed up to add another layer of complexity. They spar in fencing class, Wednesday standing up to Bianca almost as soon as she stepped foot onto Nevermore’s campus. It says a lot about Wednesday’s character, but unfortunately doesn’t make Bianca seem very interesting.
As such, Bianca seems very one-note when we meet her. Given the fact that Wednesday is a teen drama reminiscent of what we used to constantly see on The CW, her mean girl attitude was nothing that hadn’t been done before. In fact, it felt very familiar, almost like little thought had gone into Bianca’s character going into the premiere episode. She sought to make Wednesday’s life hell for daring to capture her boyfriend’s attention and not giving in to Bianca’s rule over Nevermore. Yawn. Wednesday wasn’t impressed by the school’s queen and her reign, and neither were we. However, while Bianca began the series as another incarnation of a tired and overdone trope, she evolved into so much more in the episodes that followed.
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Bianca's Mother and the Intriguing Secrets She Holds
One quite intriguing aspect of Bianca’s story, which changes nearly everything we think about the former mean girl, is revealed when her mother arrives at Nevermore for parents’ weekend with a hidden agenda in tow. We quickly discover the tenseness between them as Bianca is less than thrilled to see her mother Gabrielle (Gracy Goldman). This is partially due to her mother’s involvement in the Morning Star cult, as Gabrielle uses her siren’s abilities to trick people into joining and giving over their resources to the leader — a man that, to much surprise, also happens to be Bianca’s new stepfather. Bianca took major issue with this unethical means of roping people into the cult’s nefarious existence, running away to attend Nevermore.
Unfortunately, her mother’s visit isn’t to simply visit her daughter either. Nearly as soon as she arrives, Gabrielle demands that Bianca return to Morning Star with her. Gabrielle’s siren abilities are weakening, destroying the hold that Morning Star has over those involved with the cult. She needs her daughter to take over her role and use her abilities for evil, and she’s ready to blackmail Bianca to get what she wants. Gabrielle threatens to reveal the truth about how Bianca got into Nevermore that Gabrielle suspects will get her daughter kicked out. Wednesday doesn’t explore this thread after this, leaving it open for some interesting development and opportunities for Bianca’s role to be expanded if the series returns for another season. It seemingly can’t be as simple as Bianca using her abilities to get in. We already watched Bianca deal with the repercussions of using her power on Xavier at some point before the series begins, as it officially marked the beginning of the end for the couple. To be something surprising, something that challenges Bianca as a character and is as devious as Gabrielle makes it seem, it has to be darker and much more thrilling.
Bianca's Relationship with Wednesday Offers Great Potential
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Another exciting prospect for Wednesday Season 2 is the friendship, of sorts, that developed over the course of the first season between Bianca and the titular heroine. They start as undeniable enemies, but it’s not difficult to see the similarities between them. Both have a similar competitive drive that peaks with the competition over the Poe cup, while struggling to let people into their lives as they’ve figuratively put up walls for one reason or another. They are both fiercely loyal to a chosen few, and Wednesday seems to have become one of those people for Bianca.
In the season finale, Bianca doesn’t hesitate to help Wednesday confront Tyler (Hunter Doohan) after discovering he’s the Hyde, only stepping back and going to Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie) once Wednesday proposes torture to get the answers she deserves. Later in the episode, Bianca is a major player in Wednesday’s face-off with the resurrected anti-outcast Joseph Crackstone (William Houston). He’s about to kill Wednesday, for real this time after her ancestor Goody helped to save her life in the crypt, when Bianca stabs him in the back (literally). It’s brief, but it gives Wednesday the opportunity to grab a weapon and stab him in the heart, effectively killing him all over again and saving Nevermore. From the look they share, even though no words are spoken, there’s a deep understanding between them of how grateful they are and how things have forever changed between them. Bianca may never be as close to Wednesday as Enid (Emma Myers) is, but they have an alliance that needs to be taken advantage of, if not just so we see much more of Bianca going forward.
In short, Bianca proves herself tenfold over the first season. When she officially calls things off with Xavier, she shows self-respect and that she is willing to make hard choices to get where she wants to be in life. Her rivalry with Wednesday bloomed into something much bigger. Bianca is no longer the “mean girl,” which rarely happens in a teen drama. She’s a deep, nuanced, and flawed character that, despite her little screen time, easily became one of the best written and well-developed characters of the season next to Wednesday and Enid. Bianca is surprising, her role in the story unexpected, and that’s exactly how she became such an enjoyable part of the series. We need more of her.
Every episode of Wednesday is now streaming on Netflix.
