Laurel Gates, aka Marilyn Thornhill (Christina Ricci), is the hidden main villainess from Season One of the Netflix series, Wednesday (airdate November 23, 2022).
Backstory and Introduction[]
Laurel Gates is the daughter of Ansel Gates, a "normie" (the nickname for regular humans) who carried an immense prejudice of outcasts and preached it into both Laurel and her brother, Garrett Gates--who died in during his mission to kill all outcasts. Laurel was believed to have drowned several decades prior, but she actually survived and had been going on her own mission to eliminate outcasts, which included getting herself hired as a botany science teacher at Nevermore Academy.
Nevermore was attended by, among other students, Wednesday Addams, and in the series' pilot, "Wednesday's Child is Full of Woe," Laurel introduced herself as Marilyn Thornhill, and gave a sweet and cheerful demeanor to Wednesday. In secret, Laurel was carrying out her evil plans throughout the season progression, which also included seeking out Tyler Galpin, a local barista, and informing him about his mother being a Hyde, an outcast who transforms into a monster following a traumatic event. Knowing that Tyler had inherited his mother's gift, Laurel kept Tyler prisoner and forced him to do her bidding, which included killing various victims (human and outcast) under her orders.
As for Laurel herself, the villainess' role in the murders was in danger of being discovered by coroner Dr. Anwar, so she shot him to death (episode 1.04, "Woe What a Night") and staged his death as a suicide. In episode 1.06, "Quid Pro Woe," Laurel ran down town mayor Noble Walker in her blue Cadillac, as Walker began to figure out that Laurel had faked her death, and at that episode's end, the villainess entered Walker's hospital room and killed him by disconnecting his life support.
Reveal[]
Wednesday's investigation into the murders led her to suspect that Xavier Thorpe, a psychic fellow student, was the Hyde, and she later suspected that her therapist, Dr. Valerie Kinbott, was actually Laurel Gates. The suspicion came when Wednesday spotted Xavier and Kinbott together, but in the season's penultimate episode, "If You Don't Woe Me By Now," Kinbott was mauled to death by the Hyde, and in the end of the episode, Wednesday ended up learning that Tyler was the Hyde due to one of her visions.
The following episode (and season finale), "A Murder of Woes," saw Wednesday visit Eugene Ottinger in the hospital (after he survived being attacked by Tyler), and it was Eugene's mention of seeing red boots that led Wednesday to realize that Marilyn Thornhill was Laurel Gates. Wednesday's confrontation with the villainess saw Laurel/Marilyn deny everything, but after Tyler appeared, Laurel ordered Tyler to kill Wednesday, while revealing that she sent Tyler to distract Wednesday and kill her before she could get on a train out of town. In a swerve, Wednesday revealed that she never got on the train, and that "Tyler" was actually Larissa Weems, the school's principal.
Weems' asking to Laurel only saw her attacked and possibly murdered by the deranged villainess, who injected Weems with a lethal dose of nightshade. After Tyler abducted Wednesday, the evil Laurel revealed her true plan to resurrect her family's ancestor, Joseph Crackstone, and enlist him to eradicate all outcasts. Regarding her genial treatment of Wednesday, Laurel revealed that because Crackstone was killed by Wednesday's ancestor, Goody Addams, Wednesday's blood was needed under a blood moon to resurrect Crackstone, with Laurel succeeding in doing so. The psychotic mastermind left Wednesday to die after Crackstone stabbed her, though Goody Addams resurrected her descendant, who later killed Crackstone on the school campus. At that moment, Laurel emerged with a gun and made her own attempt to kill Wednesday, but she was later taken down by a swarm of bees summoned by Eugene, before she was kicked in the face by Wednesday. The season ended without revealing Laurel's exact fate.
Trivia[]
- Ironically, Christina Ricci played Wednesday Addams in the 1991 Addams Family film, as well as the 1993 sequel, Addams Family Values.
- Christina Ricci also played an alternate reality villainess in 2005's Cursed.
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