The Wednesday series updates the Addams Family lore by classifying them as “Outcasts,” a distinct community of supernaturally gifted individuals who are treated as pariahs by mainstream “Normie” society. This world-building formally codifies the family’s strangeness, which was only implied in previous adaptations. Season 1 established this framework by revealing that Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is part of an ancestral line of seers and by giving her Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) the ability to generate electricity. It also wove the family’s history into the founding of Nevermore Academy through their ancestor, Goody Addams. While these additions provided new context, the core personalities and family roles presented in the first season of Wednesday remained consistent with familiar interpretations. Season 2, however, provides an extended look at the Addams family tree and reveals that one key character is a significant departure from her established history.
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Warning: Spoilers below for Wednesday Season 2, Part 1
The character known as Grandmama has one of the most convoluted and inconsistent backstories in popular culture, with her identity, name, and even her direct lineage changing with nearly every new adaptation. Her origin lies in Charles Addams’ original single-panel cartoons for The New Yorker, where she was an unnamed witch-like figure. With her frizzy hair, shawls, and ghoulish demeanor, she was a crucial part of the creepy aesthetic of the Addams Family but lacked a defined personality or family role beyond being the resident old hag.
The 1960s live-action television series, The Addams Family, gave the character her first concrete identity, and in doing so, created the central point of confusion that would follow for decades. In this beloved show, actress Blossom Rock portrayed Grandmama Addams, a kooky and mostly benevolent witch who was explicitly established as the mother of Gomez Addams (John Astin). This made her Morticia’s mother-in-law and cemented the popular image of a potioneer who wrestled alligators and cast inept but well-meaning spells. However, that same series also introduced Morticia’s mother as a completely separate character, Granny Frump, played by Margaret Hamilton. Granny Frump was more cynical and dour, creating two distinct grandmothers in the show’s universe. This split was maintained in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
The major retcon occurred with the popular 1990s films. In Barry Sonnenfeld’s The Addams Family, the matriarch, played by Judith Malina, was still called Grandmama, but she was now established as Morticia’s (Anjelica Huston) mother, a Frump by blood. This effectively merged the two separate grandmother characters into a single entity, a change that largely stuck. Carol Kane took over the role in Addams Family Values, giving her a quirkier and more whimsical personality, but keeping her as Morticia’s mother. However, the canon immediately became messy again. The 1992 Hanna-Barbera animated series, which ran concurrently with the film era, reverted to the old continuity, with Carol Channing voicing a Grandmama who was once again Gomez’s mother. The late-90s live-action reboot, The New Addams Family, further cemented this inconsistency, with actress Betty Phillips playing Grandmama Eudora Addams, who was also Gomez’s mother.
This constant shifting continued into the 21st century. The Broadway musical adaptation featured Jackie Hoffman as a Grandmama whose lineage was kept deliberately ambiguous, though she was presented as being 102 years old. The most recent animated films, The Addams Family and its sequel, reverted yet again to the original TV series canon, with Bette Midler voicing a Grandmama who is Gomez’s mother. This version, however, had a more abrasive and sarcastic personality than previous interpretations. In short, Grandmama’s personality, name, and her very bloodline have been in a state of constant flux, making her the most malleable member of the entire Addams clan.
Grandmama Is a Frump in Wednesday (& She’s Nothing Like an Old Hag)
Wednesday Season 2 follows the film canon by establishing Grandmama as a Frump, but it entirely discards her established personality. Portrayed by Joanna Lumley, this Grandmama is the impeccably dressed, powerfully wealthy, and coldly manipulative matriarch of the Frump funerary homes, the country’s most successful Outcast-owned business. Her character is introduced through her deeply strained and antagonistic relationship with her daughter, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who sees her as a calculating woman who uses people as pawns.
The primary source of their conflict is the tragic fate of Morticia’s sister, Ophelia. When Ophelia’s psychic abilities became too powerful and caused her immense strain, evidenced by her crying black tears, Grandmama had her own daughter committed to the Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital against Morticia’s desperate objections. At Morticia’s request, Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) later broke into the facility to rescue Ophelia, but he was told she had already escaped. Season 2 reveals this was almost certainly a lie, as Ophelia was likely taken by the LOIS program. The Long-Term Outcast Integration Study was a secret and cruel experiment run in the hospital’s basement, designed to find a way to replicate Outcast powers in Normies.
In the present, Grandmama’s wealth puts her in the sights of Nevermore’s new Principal, Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), who blackmails Bianca (Joy Sunday) into using her siren powers to orchestrate a family reconciliation, all in the hopes of securing a large donation. Once she is back in the family’s life, Grandmama’s manipulative tactics are on full display. She buys Wednesday a cemetery as a gift, an act clearly meant to spite Morticia. She then tries to convince Morticia to give Wednesday Goody’s book of shadows, the very tool Morticia hid to prevent her daughter from suffering Ophelia’s fate.
This final attempt at manipulation prompts Morticia to burn the book in front of her mother, declaring that her family’s safety is non-negotiable and solidifying the rift between them. While it is uncertain how the second half of the season will handle their conflict, the series has reimagined Grandmama as a cold and formidable family antagonist, a significant departure from her historically comedic role.
Wednesday Season 2, Part 1 is now available on Netflix, with Part 2 scheduled for September 3, 2025.
Do you think Grandmama will reconnect with Morticia and Wednesday? Share your theories in the comments!
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