Dear Reader,
you may have come to this review straight from my review of the movie A Series of Unfortunate Events, expecting a review of a film with infinitely happier material. I am afraid that I must disappoint you here, as the Netflix Television adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events content is every bit as woeful and saddening. I have committed myself to reviewing every chronicle of this tragic tale, but you dear reader are under no such obligation. Therefore I implore you to spare yourself the pain of reading a review of this Valiantly Faithful Depiction of the torments of the Baudelaire children and instead read my reviews of Robot Wars, Hunted or The Returned.
At the beginning of January, Netflix released the first season of their adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events. As a child, A Series of Unfortunate Events was one of my favourite book series, and in case you hadn't noticed, I was deeply disappointed by the 2004 film adaptation, thus I was hopeful that the TV series would be a vast improvement. My hope was not in vain. I loved this series. Netflix has adapted the first four books: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window and The Miserable Mill, into eight episodes, with each book spread across two forty-five minute segments. Although the episodes were released in two parts, I'll be reviewing both parts in one review.
A Series of Unfortunate Events follows the story of the three Baudelaire orphans. Violet (Malina Weissman) is the eldest child at fourteen and has a real knack for inventing things, Klaus (Louis Hynes) is twelve and is a keen researcher, and Sunny (Presley Smith) is an infant with four sharp teeth, which she likes to use to bite things. Their parents and mansion both perish - perish means killed - in a terrible fire, leaving the Baudelaires in the care of Mr Poe (K. Todd Pressman) who is a banker and the executor of the Baudelaires' estate and the enormous fortune that the Baudelaire parents left behind. Until Violet comes of age and can inherit the fortune, the Baudelaires are placed in the care of Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris) a Violent, Fiendish Demon, and untalented actor who wants nothing more than to steal the Baudelaire fortune.
Straight from the off, A Series of Unfortunate Events wonderfully captured the cadence of the book series written by Lemony Snicket (Patrick Warburton) - who as I'm sure you know is the non de plume of the author Daniel Handler. The theme tune, sung by Neil Patrick Harris, is called Look Away and encapsulates Lemony Snicket's pleas that the viewers not subject themselves to such torment. I also loved how the theme tune was shot to look like an old-time film, complete with a grainy sepia filter. This gave the TV series that timeless feel, which exists in the book series.
Secondly, Lemony Snicket appears on screen, inserting himself into the action and breaking the fourth wall - a phrase which here means, "constantly defining words, dissecting popular expressions, espousing anecdotes of his life or pleading for viewers to stop watching" - thus providing much of the TV series black humour. In this episode alone things get increasingly dark, from children becoming orphaned by terrible fires to audiences being subjected to Al Funcoot's catastrophically bad play, and Lemony Snicket provides some great comic relief. He does this by reciting monologues, which are ripped straight from the pages of the books - a phrase which here means "narration that is recited word for word, and has nothing to do with tearing pages out of books, which is of course a terrible act of vandalism and should never be done to books, which are great fountains of knowledge. The only exception would be if these books are poorly written and are about a young woman who undergoes a sexual awakening after her first experience of BDSM."
I agree with Zack Handlen of AV Club who argues that Patrick Warburton is completely up to the task. His portrayal of Lemony Snicket reminds me of Humphrey Bogart or Fred Macmurray in an old noir film, made complete by his drab, dark suit.
This humour is carried over into the action of the series with the adult characters defining - defining is a word which here means, "explaining what certain words mean" - what certain words mean to the Baudelaire children. Obviously, you could make the argument that this makes for awkward dialogue and indeed, a lot of the dialogue, especially from the Baudelaires sounds unnatural. However, this all ties into the absurdist nature of the books. It's supposed to sound like this. The Baudelaires are supposed to be well-mannered and polite, certainly more so than the villainous adults that they encounter.
Villainous adult don't come any more villainous than Count Olaf who Neil Patrick Harris plays brilliantly. He is exuberant and charismatic without being over the top or straying into pantomime territory. He is also menacing, malevolent and malicious - a word that here means "menacing and malevolent." The commenter Velocityprime1 on A.V's Club review identified that Count Olaf dragging his finger across Violet's face stating that "I can touch anything I want" was threatening, which I would definitely agree with. Even though we see Olaf strike Klaus across the face earlier, this was far more powerful, as the allusion of violence can be more effective at generating fear than seeing the act of violence itself. Furthermore, as Count Olaf is the children's legal guardian, it is disturbing to see him touch the fourteen year old Violet in this manner. Of course this disturbing element is only accentuated when it is revealed that he is scheming to literally marry Violet, whilst performing The Marvellous Marriage, whilst the audience thinks it is only a figurative marriage.
Considering how Neil Patrick Harris has a background in musical theatre, he is a great choice to play Count Olaf, who is a considerably worse actor. Count Olaf and his antics also helps to provide a lot of the show's humour especially his interaction with his henchmen/theatre troupe. Count Olaf has five henchmen who are as incompetent, as they are threatening. They are the Hook-Handed Man (Usman Ally) the two White-Face powdered woman (Jacequelin and Joyce Robbins) the man with the Long Nose and Bald head (John DeSantis) and the Person of Indeterminate Gender (Matty Cardaropole.) Far from being mere shadows of their boss or stage-props, they are frightening characters in their own rights. I was initially disappointed that the person of indeterminate gender looks obviously like a man, but this was forgiven by his cynical and abrupt philosophical statements.
Joan Cusack is also great as Justice Strauss, one of the few adults who tries her best who actually helps the Baudelaires. She is softly spoken and sweet, if largely ineffectual and misguided. I've also noticed a lot of commenters praise the set design comparing it to a Tim Burton film. The production of the series certainly brought to mind Sleepy Hollow and Edward Scissorhands, attaching a gothic tone to the season. Count Olaf's house was filthy and dusty, whilst Justice Strauss' was brightly lit and clean.
With the episodes being a minimum of forty-five minutes, there is plenty of breathing space and nothing is too rushed. This allowed for the Baudelaire children to receive their deserved screentime and for us to see their talents in full show, from Violet inventing a grappling hook to rescue Sunny to Klaus researching inheritance law to Lemony Snicket's many various asides. The added run-time also allowed for a number of original subplots, as well as Easter Eggs. The most obvious was the two lines "Volunteer Fire Department" and "Vigorously Fixed Destination," which share the same initials as V.F.D. Book readers will know that V.F.D is a massive part of the books and the fact that it's included within the first episode, rather than the fifth, adds another level of depth and intrigue to the TV series. Other great Easter Eggs include Count Olaf's shock at hearing the word "lemony" and his confusion as to the disappearance of the Sugar Bowl.
The other two subplots follow the characters of Mother (Cobie Smulders) and Father (Will Arnett) and Mr Poe's secretary Jacequlyn (Sara Canning) and Gustav (Luke Camielleri.) We find out very little about Mother and Father, but we see that they are escaping from prison using a grappling hook to return home to their children. We don't find out who their children are, but the obvious conclusion is that they are the Baudelaire parents who survived the fire. If this is the truth, then this would be a massive deviation from the canon, which has been so faithfully adhered to. However, I wonder if this is a red herring and whether the producers are going to pull the rug from under our feet.
The character of Jacequlyn is a unique creation of the TV series. Initially, she appears to be nothing more than Mr Poe's more assuming secretary who is kidnapped, whilst Count Olaf manipulates Mr Poe into assuring the Baudelaire orphans are delivered to him rather than their Uncle Montgomery. This in itself was a neat way of filling in the plot hole in the book of just why exactly the Baudelaires ended up in Count Olaf's care. However, it is obvious that Jacequlyn is far more important as a lot of time is spent on her, too much time, as Zach Handlen argues, being tied to a tree before escaping and rendezvousing with Gustav. Gustav meets an unfortunate end after he is shot by a poison dart, whilst standing literally on the edge of a pond. His last words are "The World is Quiet Here," (book readers will know what this means,) but to new viewers, this is one mystery that is left unsolved, as is the true identities of Gustav and Jacequlyn. It is obvious that they are trying to help the Baudelaires and are deeply concerned that they ended up in the care of Count Olaf, instead of Uncle Montgomery. I think they are on the volunteer side of V.F.D, but let me know your own theories in the comments below. Also let me know who you think Mother and Father are.
Lastly, we come to the many literary references and allusions. These are littered throughout the books, but I wasn't aware of them as a child. As I have become older and read more books, I can truly appreciate all of the allusions that Snicket has included. The Baudelaire children are named after the French author Charles Baudelaire and Mr Poe, his wife Eleanora and his sons Albert and Edgar are a homage to the American gothic author Edgar Allan Poe. When sampling the wedding cake, he says "let me eat cake," a reference to Marie Antoinette's famous line. Lemony Snicket swore himself to document the woes of the Baudelaire children to honour the memory of their mother Beatrice, of whom Lemony Snicket has always had an unrequited love for. Of course, he could stand for countless writers, but I would like to think of him as Petrarch, who held an unrequited love for a woman called Laura for over ten years.
This was a great start to the series and I am hooked, right from the first episode. Tune in next week for my review of The Reptile Room, although I do implore you to fill your time with much happier enterprises.
Please let me know any Easter Eggs or literary references that I might have missed.
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