A Season of Unfortunate Events

A review of season two of the Netflix original By: Mariyam Siddiqui

A Season of Unfortunate Events

Everyone’s life is full of unfortunate events, none so much as the Baudelaire children from the Netflix original A Series of Unfortunate Events. At least, that’s what Patrick Warburton’s character Lemony Snicket keeps saying.

The first season was a good introduction to the world of the Baudelaires, setting up the events of season two and what is to come in season three. The books follow the lives of the three Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny (played by Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes and Presley Smith, respectively) as they go through several guardians, followed closely behind by Neil Patrick Harris’ Count Olaf, a man who desperately wants the fortune that the children’s parents left them, and his troupe.

The TV series follows its source material almost to the tee, but also brings in elements that aren’t actually seen in the 13 book series- such as the events outside of the Baudelaire’s immediate lives. In season one, this was the story of the “parents,” and in season two it is the story of the spy organization V.F.D, an acronym that seems to follow the Baudelaire’s all throughout the season.

The first season covered the first four of these books (The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window and The Miserable Mills), adapting two episodes per book. The second series covers five of the books (The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital and The Carnivorous Carnival). Season three is expected to be an adaption of the next four books in the series (The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril and The End).

Despite the grim experiences that the children go through and the deaths they experience almost every episode, the show is filled with nonsensical humor. It’s meant to be funny and exaggerate while still maintaining a sad overtone as events play out and the children are placed in more precarious situations.

One of the best parts of the series two is its awareness of mistakes. Within the first episode, Violet and Klaus make a comment about the size of Sunny, their baby sister. As the actress who plays the young girl has grown since the filming of the first series, the siblings jokingly call her a toddler even though she is still meant to be a baby.  They also tend to make fun of people who watch television rather than talking or interacting with other people, a topic often brought up by Count Olaf.

The character development of the Baudelaires grew even more, placing them in situations that have forced them to lie and steal. Even Count Olaf has experienced a major development, becoming angrier and more reckless as his plans continue to fail. Even with a love interest, Olaf is possessive and greedy, biting off more than he can chew and killing off anyone who gets in his way. As a whole, season two brought about the same charm as season one, holding true to the books and maintaining a storyline that is full of coincidences.