Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix Series)

[Gaius Hermicus]

Here is a thread to discuss the Netflix series "A Series of Unfortunate Events", based on the books by Daniel Handler/Lemony Snicket.

Personally, I enjoyed the series a lot. My hopes were not high going in, mostly due to the god-awful Jim Carrey adaptation from earlier, but the Netflix version is actually excellent.

My favorite episodes were Austere Academy (Coach Genghis and Carmelita Spats, what a delicious pair of monsters) and Ersatz Elevator (mostly because of the Cafe Salmonella scene, which never failed to crack me up).

Who's got thoughts on SoUE?

[Dragonexx]

I personally thought it was great, though there were a few hiccups.

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Seriously, why kill off the circus freaks arbitrarily, when olaf's were going to just walk out on him in the next episode. They could have just gone with them.

[Gaius Hermicus]

I personally thought it was great, though there were a few hiccups.

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Seriously, why kill off the circus freaks arbitrarily, when olaf's were going to just walk out on him in the next episode. They could have just gone with them.

Fair. I guess they needed to establish the bearded man and hairy woman as utterly evil, although I think that wasn't necessary.

[Dienekes]

I personally thought it was great, though there were a few hiccups.

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Seriously, why kill off the circus freaks arbitrarily, when olaf's were going to just walk out on him in the next episode. They could have just gone with them.

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Cartoonish emphasis of evil for the Man with a Beard but No Hair and the Woman with Hair but No Beard. Something quick, easy, and childish to demonstrate that they're way better at the villain business than Olaf. Removing some unnecessary characters does that.

In any case, yeah, I liked it a lot. Though, I'm not sure being more explicit on the purpose of the sugar bowl was the right move.

[Gaius Hermicus]

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Cartoonish emphasis of evil for the Man with a Beard but No Hair and the Woman with Hair but No Beard. Something quick, easy, and childish to demonstrate that they're way better at the villain business than Olaf. Removing some unnecessary characters does that.

In any case, yeah, I liked it a lot. Though, I'm not sure being more explicit on the purpose of the sugar bowl was the right move.

That ticked me off so badly. The entire point of the Sugar Bowl was that it was a mystery, and one of the few mysteries that isn't revealed in Penultimate Peril. I liked it better that way.

[Kato]

As someone who is entirely unfamiliar with the books... It was fine.
I mean, the making of and (most of) the acting and everything I guess you'd attribute to 'production' was great.

It's just the story that was only so-so to me. I know the books are children books and as such über-competent children and useless adults are kind of a staple but it was a bit too absurd for me overall. I mean, I still watched all of it but my heart wasn't quite into it, especially towards the end.

I'm sure most people are less bothered by this than me and can wholly enjoy the series.

[Erloas]

It's just the story that was only so-so to me. I know the books are children books and as such über-competent children and useless adults are kind of a staple but it was a bit too absurd for me overall. I mean, I still watched all of it but my heart wasn't quite into it, especially towards the end.

I'm sure most people are less bothered by this than me and can wholly enjoy the series.

Normally I don't like that sort of thing, but the fact that they embraced the absurdity of everything and didn't try to pretend it was realistic just made it all work. The whole thing was over the top. They never changed tone or tried to pass anything off as believable.

[Kato]

Normally I don't like that sort of thing, but the fact that they embraced the absurdity of everything and didn't try to pretend it was realistic just made it all work. The whole thing was over the top. They never changed tone or tried to pass anything off as believable.

Not to push my opinion on the show, but I feel like that is very much not what happened. The majority of the story presumes the world is mostly realistic, but the absurdity is how stupid / incompetent almost every adult is.

Edit: I hate autocorrect.

[Legato Endless]

Not to judge someone's tonal tastes but in terms of intent the show never takes itself seriously as realistic. It's a black comedy. Half the scenes have winking parodies of various fictional tropes, various characters of every age occasionally to stop in confusion of what someone else is doing.

I mean, the three children all have superpowers and season one ends with a musical number about the story. Also, none of the adults are actually competent. The ones who rise above the malaise of general ignorance are still impotent in actually changing anything meaningfully. (At least for the first two seasons, maybe season three shifts this)

[JoshL]

I absolutely loved it. I hadn't read the books before (but did after the first season) and I hate Jim Carrey, so I never saw the previous adaptation. I'm a big fan of Barry Sonnenfeld (Men In Black, the Addams Family movies, etc), and even more specifically of the show Pushing Daisies (really Bryan Fuller's thing, but Barry worked on that too). This really scratched that stylistic itch for me.

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I didn't mind the explanation of the sugar bowl, particularly since it was largely irrelevant. That everyone was so obsessed with finding what was NOT the only antidote was absolutely in the spirit of the whole piece.

[Erloas]

Not to push my opinion on the show, but I feel like that is very much not what happened. The majority of the story presumes the world is mostly realistic, but the absurdity is how stupid / incompetent almost every adult is.

There is almost nothing at all realistic about anything in the story, so I just don't even see the point you're starting from. It is wildly over the top from the very beginning and stays that way. It is by no means a show for everyone, but there is no question that it is a black comedy from start to finish with no attempt at all to be taken seriously. "Don't take this seriously" is practically the message of the theme song.

[PopeLinus1]

I didn't really like it for the same reasons I didn't really like the books... I feel bad for the Orphans!

[Tvtyrant]

Not to push my opinion on the show, but I feel like that is very much not what happened. The majority of the story presumes the world is mostly realistic, but the absurdity is how stupid / incompetent almost every adult is.

Edit: I hate autocorrect.

What about the show is realistic? In my mind the whole setting hinges on the rule of cool pretty hard, from acting troops that can pay for mansions in the middle of a city to secret organizations that air their internal disputes in print books that multiple people have copies of but haven't read (in the first episode!)

[tyckspoon]

What about the show is realistic? In my mind the whole setting hinges on the rule of cool pretty hard, from acting troops that can pay for mansions in the middle of a city to secret organizations that air their internal disputes in print books that multiple people have copies of but haven't read (in the first episode!)

I figure Olaf either murdered the previous occupant of his 'home', and he and his minions are just squatting there, or it's legitimately his family's home and he inherited it (or he murdered the previous occupant and faked up a will making himself the 'rightful' occupant.) Either way the general state of failure of Olaf's life means he doesn't have the money or emotional investment needed to keep the place in decent shape, leaving it in the state of disrepair seen in those first episodes, but I'd be surprised if he's actually paying anybody to live there.

[Kato]

Okay, people, you need to tell me if you want me to voice my complains. But until then...

I feel like we're working on different shades of 'realistic', even though the term is relative. Yes, there are absurd things in the story but overall the world is not THAT different from ours, compared to one of really 'absurd' comedies. Of course plenty of things don't make sense but that doesn't mean it's what I consider unrealistic (plenty of things real people do don't make sense)

Again, I really don't think the show is bad, it's just that the story told isn't entirely my cup of tea.