You know what I love most about this Weyler video? The comments. It’s average viewers, a handful of ‘ship’ people thrown in, but overall it’s average Wednesday viewers loving the canon couple representation. When ‘ship wars’ get dirty, I like to go read the comments of this video and remember that the average Wednesday viewer knows Tyler is (or will be) her partner.
I've seen conjecture online that Weyler isn't dark romance, and I'm here with a Bachelor's degree in Literature and Writing to tell you it definitely is. Here's a heavily edited picture of my college transcript as proof of expertise. (Why yes, I did graduate Magna Cum Laude. Thanks for noticing. Some people partied in college; I spent my time analyzing symbolism at 3 a.m. because I am a nerd at heart.) 😏
Dark romance isn't just sad people with pretty faces or a beast with a heart of gold falling for a fair maiden. It's specifically a romance built around attraction that exists alongside manipulation, danger, obsession, violence, power imbalances, or other morally troubling dynamics.
By that definition, Weyler fits the genre remarkably well.
Wednesday arrives in Jericho and quickly realizes there's a murderer in the area. She meets Tyler, who initially presents himself as helpful, attentive, and genuinely interested in her. He's sweet, but with just enough edge to make him intriguing. Over time, Wednesday develops feelings for him.
Then she discovers he's the very monster she's been hunting.
This revelation recontextualizes their entire relationship. Tyler didn't simply keep a secret from her. He manipulated her. He used her obsession with solving the mystery to his advantage. He exploited her trust and her feelings while actively deceiving her.
That's not romantic. It's predatory.
And in dark romance, that's exactly the point.
Dark romance doesn't ask readers or viewers to ignore harmful behavior or pretend it's secretly healthy. Instead, it explores why attraction can persist despite those dangers. Wednesday is drawn to Tyler while he's actively lying to her, and that tension between desire and threat is one of the defining features of the genre.
By Season 2, Tyler's descent into madness with violence and instability become even more pronounced. The relationship isn't becoming safer or healthier. If anything, the emotional and moral stakes are getting darker.
Then there's the gothic element.
Jericho is a town built on secrets, violence, and buried histories. Nevermore has the atmosphere of a gothic castle. The Addams family legacy is steeped in darkness, mystery, and generational secrets and baggage. Tyler is literally a monster struggling with the most destructive parts of himself.
Those are classic gothic conventions.
The relationship doesn't just happen to take place in a gothic setting; it's reinforced by it. The atmosphere of dread, the family secrets, the monstrous transformation, and the constant presence of violence all situate Wednesday and Tyler within a distinctly gothic romance tradition.
What makes dark romance compelling is that it refuses to simplify attraction into neat moral categories.
It's easy to say, "He's the villain. She should leave him."
Realistically, she probably should.
But that's not what dark romance is interested in exploring.
The genre asks what happens when the attraction is still there despite the danger. It examines the uncomfortable space where someone can be both sympathetic and destructive at the same time.
Tyler isn't evil without nuance. Donovan was a terrible father. Tyler was manipulated and tortured into becoming a Hyde. He was sent away to a boot camp and returned isolated from his peers and denied meaningful support. None of that excuses his actions, but it does complicate them.
The attraction is real.
The manipulation is real.
The danger is real.
And that combination is precisely why Wednesday and Tyler fit so comfortably within the dark romance genre. If anything, Weyler exemplifies many of the genre's core conventions rather than existing outside of them.
The geese are out here living their best life in August like they didn’t just get a memo that fall is literally NEXT MONTH.
Photo credit: Nath (@nathali_rufino
I love this scene. Beautifully written and acted to show that Wednesday was happy and loved Tyler.
I hope Capri helps bridge the relationship between Tyler and Wednesday back to each other.
I had a medically necessary hysterectomy a few months ago, and I'm heading to Disney World next week. This was supposed to be my "you're all healed" trip with my friends, but recovery has been slower than expected. Still, I was ready to go, just dealing with occasional discomfort near the incision site.
Then last night, I missed the bottom step and fell, landing hard on both knees. I can bear weight today, so I don't think anything's broken, but the idea of walking my usual 26,000 steps a day at Disney feels pretty impossible right now.
I'm icing, resting, and doing everything I can to help my body heal. If you could keep me in your prayers for quick healing in my knees, I'd really appreciate it. Any extra help from the Lord is always welcome. 🙏
I grew up in Minnesota, and here in the Midwest there's a delightfully silly hobby a lot of us embrace: the Porch Goose. It's whimsical, and exists purely to make people smile. We dress our geese up in tiny costumes and let them stand guard on our porches, brightening the block one ridiculous outfit at a time.
Right now mine is celebrating Wednesday Addams, complete with her favorite Hyde tucked right into her handbag. I'm tagging this as Fan Art, because I curated her look with a Scorpian broach, and bedazzled the heck out of her clothes. 😄
We love a happily married queer king.
About Wednesday he says they are "really expanding the world for all the characters and diving deeper into everything."