It’s quite easy to forget when watching the Netflix series Wednesday, but the Addams Family is, for all intents and purposes, a loving family unit.
This may be clearer in the other adaptations, but they are renowned for being a caring family, even with all their flaws and foibles. Like any family, there are parents and siblings, but the Addams Family is no ordinary family.
They have a zombie-like chauffeur and a servant called Thing that is nothing more than a sentient hand. The family may not be the main focus of the teen-centric Wednesday, but the brother does make a few important appearances in the show.
Wednesday Addams’ brother is Pugsley Addams, played by Isaac Ordonez (A Wrinkle in Time). He is a softly spoken, shy student who attends Nancy Reagan High School.
We first meet Pugsley when he is tied up inside a locker, with an apple in his mouth. It would appear that the boy is frequently bullied for his odd dress sense and reserved demeanor. Wednesday gets expelled from the High School for finding the bullies and punishing these stereotypical jocks for what they did to her brother.
Pugsley is there to see Wednesday off to her new school and returns with his family for Parents’ Weekend. During a therapy session, he talks about how much he is missing his sister, and then his father, Gomez (Luis Guzman), is arrested. The siblings share one heartwarming moment later in this episode, where they discuss the future of the family.
It looks like Gomez may go down for murder, and Wednesday needs Pugsley to remain strong for the family. To offset the emotional conversation, Pugsley hurls grenades into the pond next to them to catch some fish. This perfectly sums up their relationship, endearing yet mischievous.
In the Netflix original, Pugsley is a quiet character who clearly has an emotional disposition. He is a wallflower at school, who is constantly bullied and picked on. This is quite different from the nineties movies, where Pugsley is seen as a dim-witted, mischievous prankster, played by Jimmy Workman.
This immature, cheeky chappy is always blindly following his sister into trouble, happy to go along with any of her despicable schemes without hesitation. This is an interesting contrast, but Ordonez’s portrayal fits better with his father’s temperament, too. Gomez is also a quieter soul in the series than he is in the movies.
Pugsley is a minor character in the Netflix series, reduced to guest appearances instead of being a series regular. His purpose is to round off the family unit, but he rarely speaks or adds to the situation. There’s only really one key scene that involves Pugsley from Episode 5, “You Reap What You Woe.” In this installment, he discusses the family’s future with Wednesday by a lake. This is a sweet little moment for the siblings, one that hints at a shared history and the potential for a much larger relationship in the future. Pugsley deserves a bigger part in a potential second season, where he might even end up as a student at Nevermore, too.
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