"You Reap What You Woe" is the fifth episode of the first season of the Wednesday series. It was directed by Gandja Monteiro and written by April Blair, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, and Charles Addams. It premiered on November 23, 2022, along with the rest of the season.
Synopsis[]
During Parents Weekend, Wednesday digs into her family's past and accidentally gets her dad arrested. Enid feels the pressure to "wolf out".
Plot[]
In 1990, during the annual Rave'N Dance, a teenage Larissa, dressed for the ball, leaves the ball. When she crossed the quad, she saw a boy fall from a great height and then told the police how she saw Gomez standing by the edge with a sword in his hand. The sheriff (deputy at the time of the boy's death) always believed Gomez was the killer, but he somehow avoided arrest.
In present day, Principal Weems opens parent's weekend by updating everyone on Eugene’s health, stating that he is on the mend. In reality, however, Eugene is actually in a coma in the ICU. Both Enid and Wednesday are dreading the arrival of their families and fear the worst for the weekend. Wednesday quickly informs her parents that she knows all about Thing’s covert mission. Whilst Enid’s family embarrasses her to no end. Xavier’s father is a no-show, but Bianca’s mother makes a surprise appearance.
Weems proposes a family therapy session for the Addams family with Dr. Kinbott, which Gomez and Morticia gladly accept. Pugsley starts off the session by admitting that he has found it hard without Wednesday, and the parents agree that it has been torture. Wednesday, desperate to know how Gomez is linked to the murder of Garrett Gates, she takes the opportunity to confront her parents. Morticia pleads her husband’s innocence before storming off in a huff.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Galpin witnesses the Addams family arriving in Jericho, but he is required at another crime scene. This time, the coroner has killed himself in the morgue. The sheriff is confused, having only seen the man happily talking of retirement a few days earlier. They cannot prove whether it was suicide or foul play, as the CCTV footage has been obscured by black bubble gum. However, the coroner has left a suicide note, which explains a possible motive. As it turns out, he felt guilty for covering up and faking the report on Garrett’s death. The sheriff has been waiting 30 years for a lead, and now he has proof that Gomez is the culprit.
Thus, Gomez is subsequently arrested, with the sheriff gleefully cuffing him at Nevermore Academy for all to see. Wednesday pays her father a visit in jail and asks for the whole truth. Gomez recounts the story in detail. It is revealed that Garrett was obsessed with Morticia and broke into Nevermore to attack Gomez on the night of the dance. The jealous man picked up a sword and fought Gomez. This fight then led out onto the scaffolding, where Gomez valiantly defended himself. The sword was dropped, Gomez grabbed it, and he accidentally stabbed Garrett in the chest. He subsequently fell, and Larissa witnessed the death. Wednesday however isn't entirely convinced by her father but agrees that he is a good man and a great parent.
Wednesday then visits Sheriff Galpin to fight in her father’s corner, although Galpin already has a signed confession from Gomez and adds that her father pointed out the sword accurately too. Wednesday queries the odd timing—the coroner’s death, the Parents’ weekend—it all seems a little too coincidental. She then asks about the DNA results, but the claw and the bloodied rag are inconclusive—no match. The sheriff brings up the black bubblegum, and Wednesday tries to deflect, saying that this is all just a distraction.
Meanwhile, Enid’s mother, Esther worries that her daughter hasn’t wolfed out yet and wants her to attend lycanthropy conversion camp. Whilst Bianca’s mother wants her to use her siren skills to bring in more followers and cash at her own little cult. Eugene’s mothers gather to care for their son and thank Wednesday for her pleasantness toward their son.
Fearing Gomez’s incarceration will only further tear the family apart, Wednesday meets with her brother and then her mother. Pugsley is found fishing with grenades, and Wednesday tells him to be strong for the family. Whereas Morticia gets nostalgic, hiding in the Nightshade Society's secret lair. Wednesday admits that she rejected the Nightshades and is tired of living in her mother’s shadow. They talk about Goody Addams, who happened to be the founder of the society and had killed Joseph Crackstone. Morticia then reveals that she was the one who killed Garrett by accident and Gomez actually took the fall to protect her. She describes how Garrett was foaming at the mouth, practically feral that night, and Wednesday solves the crime.
Morticia and Wednesday go for a late-night grave dig and uncover Garrett’s corpse. They are then arrested for this little jaunt, but Wednesday has enough evidence to get them all out of jail regardless. Garrett was poisoned with nightshade, which caused his animalistic behavior. A vision proves that Garrett and his father wanted to use that poison to kill all the Nevermore students. The vial of poison smashed while he was fighting Gomez and caused the self-inflicted poisoning. Wednesday and Morticia take this evidence to Mayor Walker, who was also in on the cover-up. They ask for Gomez to be released and for the sheriff to apologize.
Gomez becomes a free man, and Wednesday has a heart-to-heart with her mother. They talk about her new powers. Wednesday shows real vulnerability and asks for advice. Morticia says that she had positive visions because she was a positive person, which she refers to as a dove. Wednesday has a darker temperament and is therefore a raven. She needs proper training from the undead to hone her powers. Wednesday asks if Goody Addams would be a good choice, but Morticia warns her daughter to be careful of that particular ancestor, as she let her thirst for vengeance consume her.
Elsewhere, Enid rejects the offer of going to conversion camp and succeeds in standing up against her mom's controlling behavior. However, Bianca accepts her own mother’s proposal in order to keep her true origins from her classmates.
The families then say goodbye to one another as the weekend comes to an end. Morticia’s parting gift to Wednesday is the simple advice for her to walk her own path. She passes her daughter her old yearbook, which she has been leafing through all weekend. Wednesday realizes the clues were right in front of her all along. Larissa is a shapeshifter, and she covered up Rowan Laslow’s death. She then confronts the principal, who denies it at first but then quickly accepts the accusations. Wednesday then tries to blackmail the headmistress, saying that the sheriff will be very interested. Larissa explains to Wednesday that this was all done with the father's consent. Apparently, Rowan had lost his mind because of his telekinesis. His father then agreed to have his death covered up so as not to implicate the authorities. This is how Larissa took on Rowan's appearance, pretending that he was alive and well and being escorted to the station by Marilyn, in order to protect the reputation of Rowan's family as well as that of Nevermore and its pupils. Their conversation is interrupted by a ruckus outside, though, and it turns out someone has written "Fire Will Rain" in flames on the grounds.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams
- Gwendoline Christie as Principal Larissa Weems
- Riki Lindhome as Dr. Valerie Kinbott
- Jamie McShane as Sheriff Donovan Galpin
- Hunter Doohan as Tyler Galpin
- Percy Hynes White as Xavier Thorpe
- Emma Myers as Enid Sinclair
- Joy Sunday as Bianca Barclay
- Moosa Mostafa as Eugene Ottinger
- Georgie Farmer as Ajax Petropolus
- Naomi J. Ogawa as Yoko Tanaka
- Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill
Guest[]
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia Addams
- Luis Guzmán as Gomez Addams
- Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams
- Lucius Hoyos as Young Gomez
Guest[]
- Oliver Wickham as Young Larissa Weems
- Ismail Kesu as Young Sheriff Walker (as Ismail Kesu Ahmed)
- Gwen Jones as Young Morticia Addams
- George Burcea as Lurch (as George Valentin Burcea)
- Oliver Watson as Kent
- Johnna Dias-Watson as Divina
- Ichirô Yûki as Kenichi Tanaka (as Yuki Ichiro)
- Amanda Drew as Esther Sinclair
- Ryan Ellsworth as Murray Sinclair
- Gracy Goldman as Gabrielle Barclay
- Victor Dorobantu as Thing
- Rina Mahoney as Janet Ottinger
- Georgia Goodman as Sue Ottinger
- Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as Deputy Ritchie Santiago
- Lewis Hayes as Garett Gates
- Philip Rosch as Ansel Gates
- Tommie Earl Jenkins as Mayor Noble Walker
Uncredited[]
- Horia Bazavan as Nevermore Student
- Tudor Stefan as Gorgon Nevermore Student
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- On Garrett Gates' tombstone and Dr. Anwar's note, his name is spelled 'Garrett' but in the credits, it is spelled 'Garett'.
- In the 1991 yearbook, Gomez's favorite quote is "I loved her not for the way she danced with my angels, but for the way the sound of her name could silence my demons," which is a reference to the 1991 film The Addams Family.
- Deputy Ritchie Santiago said, "Guess it's going to be an Addams family reunion in lockup tonight." This is in reference to the 1998 film Addams Family Reunion.
- Goody Addams is confirmed to be a Gomez's ancestor, making her related to Wednesday through paternal lineage.
- When Wednesday visits Gomez in prison, his orange prison uniform reads the prisoner number 171912. This is in reference to the birthday of Charles Samuel Addams (7 January 1912), the creator of the Addams family.