A Series of Unfortunate Events Renewed for Season 2!

One teaser trailer later, and even though Lemony Snicket is determined to keep us away and unexcited, Netflix was encouraged by the response to the first season and according to Snicket, they are already starting production for the 2^nd season. Check out vastlyfrighteningdecision.com to read his full message of woe. There’s not much else to say here, except to get hyped! Season 2 should include The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival.

Here’s to more misery!

Review of "The Miserable Mill" (Netflix)

SPOILERS

“The Miserable Mill” is the episode most removed from the source material when it came to small details, and strangely, I’m okay with that. It’s clear by this point that the story the show is telling has a different agenda than the story the books are telling. Like I’ve said before, the show introduces the VFD from the start, unlike the books which it takes until about halfway through to introduce it. One way the show made a change to satisfy this story is by having the children find the picture of the mill and going there themselves, instead of the book situation where Sir is another one of their guardians who just puts them to work.

The rest of this episode follows the basic structure of the story: the kids work in the mill, Klaus is hypnotized, they are almost caught by Count Olaf in disguise. They meet Phil and Charles (who, pardon my Tumblr-talk, are just precious cinnamon rolls) and find the library. I’m not sure which library I like better, the one in the book with only three books that are written in uncommon language (with no dictionary in sight) or the one in the show that is just filled with the same book (and a Verified Functional Dictionary). Of course the book in the show has a little hint about their parents, and all the workers know who they are.

One thing that did come to an end in this storyline was any hope we had that Cobie Smulders and Will Arnett were Beatrice and Bertrand. I held out the tiniest hope that they were for the first few episodes, but by this point I was waiting for the penny to drop and drop it did. They’re the Quagmires! It took me a little while to figure out why the names of the kids seemed really familiar. Then I remembered. I can’t wait to keep reading the books.  

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not applaud Neil Patrick Harris on his performance at some point. His Count Olaf is arguably different than Jim Carrey’s, but I think NPH feels more like the Olaf from the books, a poor actor who is definitely, definitely dangerous and capable of terrible things. And it takes talent to keep that in mind while wearing a very loose disguise and playing different characters and let it slip through occasionally when the kids need to see it and hide it when the adults are around.

I, for one, cannot wait until the next season. They say it’s already in the works and will cover books 5-9. I was very impressed and hopefully the next season holds up to the standard this one already set.

VFD noticed:

VFD on Dr. Orwell’s board

Verified Functional Dictionary

Very Fancy Door

Vigorous Fire Defense

Click here for my full series review!

Review of "The Wide Window" (Netflix)

SPOILERS

The Wide Window is probably my least favorite of the first three books, but I will say I enjoyed the story found on the Netflix show so much more. By this point, this is the third in the “goes to relative, bad things happens, goes to another relative” storyline and it lacked some depth and felt a little rushed while reading it (I think I read it in less time than the length of the show). Being able to expand the story and the world was a good decision on the part of the writers and directors, especially with the first few books being as small as they are.

The biggest change, besides the continuing behind-the-scenes VFD moments, was how they made some changes to Aunt Josephine. The show took her character and gave her a little more depth. She and Ike knew their parents and had a secret safe with the book about secret organizations like in Justice Strauss’s library. She used to be brave and ready to do dangerous things, and she tries to reclaim that right before her death. In the book her dialogue is reduced to banning things because they are dangerous and correcting grammar.

Again, I love how the show keeps the smallest details of the setting the same, such as the names of the stores in the town (Look! It Fits!), or other details like the exact allergic reactions each sibling experiences while eating peppermint or the fact that “delmo” was the first word Sunny said to Aunt Josephine. The inclusion of Larry the waiter at the Anxious Clown as a covert member of the VFD trying to help the orphans under the watchful eye of Count Olaf’s comrades was a wonderful addition. I can’t wait to see how many other little characters that are in the books they will include in slightly larger roles in the show.

Overall, ‘The Wide Window’ was a great adaptation of the book; more of an expansion than an adaptation, actually, and a very good one at that. Many of the small details remained the same and the changes did not take away from the story but rather added to it. The tone stayed the same, with a little humor mixed in with the dark story, the suspense with Count Olaf’s latest disguise, and the anxiety of the precarious house and leeches.

VFD noticed:

Very Fresh Dill

Vastly Frightening Decision

Come back next Sunday for "The Miserable Mill"!

Click here for my full series review!

Review of "The Reptile Room" (Netflix)

SPOILERS

Much like “The Bad Beginning”, “The Reptile Room” was very true to the book. In the little trilogy of the first three books, this is probably my favorite, and this story is my favorite of the series so far. It was funny, charming, nail-biting, awesome, and tragic, pretty much in that order. Of course there were minor differences from the book, like Uncle Monty’s appearance and the elaborate way the Reptile Room is locked on the show and how the siblings still had the same room together instead of their own unique rooms like in the book. But they still got most of it right and these details were so minor I didn't even care!

The biggest change I loved and it reinforced the background story of the VFD so much more, since at this point in the books it’s not even mentioned yet. This was the inclusion of the movie, which they did see in the book, but what wasn’t included was the decoder spyglass with the hidden message. I loved this decoding game; it reminded me a little of The 39 Clues. In the books, they were supposed to go to Peru for fun and to accompany Uncle Monty on an expedition. On the show, the audience is lead to believe that their parents are in Peru and Uncle Monty got that message and is trying to get them there. This is about when I started questioning how realistic these scenes with the parents were. There’s no way they are still alive, right?

I remember when watching, while trying to remember if there was a Jacquelyn in the books, also wondering about Gustav. Gustav was a book character; he was still Monty’s assistant who disappeared, killed by Count Olaf. However, there was no indication that he was a member of the VFD. That’s fine with me; there’s probably people out there who are determined to make every minor character in the books a member of the VFD or at least having knowledge of it (much like the Game of Thrones “everyone’s a secret Targaryen” theories). Let me say again that these inclusions of the VFD are something that could only be done in a setting like this and blend in seamlessly with the rest of the narrative.

Yet again, this was a very well done episode, hitting all the right emotions without being too over-the-top about it. You feel what you’re supposed to feel, you’re confused when you’re supposed to be confused. And the narrative just keeps on rolling. Next stop, Lake Lachrymose!

VFD noticed:

Verified Film Discount

Vitiated Film Distribution

Vincent Fig Demetrios

Come back next Sunday for "The Wide Window"!

Click here for my full series review! 

Review of "The Bad Beginning" (Netflix)

SPOILERS

Soon after watching A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, I decided to reread the books for the first time in years. It was surprising at how quickly the story went, how easy it was to read, and how the voices and expressions in my head from years ago all of a sudden came back.

For someone who has had her fill of book to screen adaptations, good, adequate, and plain old disappointing, this was a breath of fresh air. Since Daniel Handler, the real name of the books’ author and narrator, Lemony Snicket, was involved with the adaption from the beginning, instead of fired like he was on the film adaptation, I was expecting high quality storytelling. And I was not disappointed. "The Bad Beginning" stayed pretty true to the book. Since I read the book soon after watching, it was fresh in my mind and I was surprised at how similar it is. Dialogue and references and the quips of Lemony Snicket were exactly the same, like “Klaus found himself reading the same sentence over and over. Klaus found himself reading the same sentence over and over.” This is my new number one book-to-live action adaptation. It beats Deathly Hallows. It beats The Hunger Games.

The episodes hit all the classic main plot points, the things that were in the film as well. You have the opening scene on Briny Beach, the disastrous dinner with good old pasta puttanesca, and of course “The Marvelous Marriage” by Al Funcoot. But then there were small changes, of course, including all the cutaway VFD stuff which I just love and was intrigued from the very start. It took me a little into the first episode to remember all the VFD subplot, but at the first mention of “volunteer fire department” something clicked and it all came rushing back.

I was also surprised at all the big-name actors that were involved, such as NPH, Joan Cusack, Cobie Smulders, and Will Arnett. What I took away from that was those involved had to know the amount of success the show was going to have; the day before it was released, Netflix ordered Season 2. There were plenty of small and unknown actors who played their parts well (I recognized K. Todd Freeman, who played Mr. Poe, from Buffy).

My favorite little literary reference was the scene towards the beginning with the two Poe kids, Edgar and Albert (read: Allan), mentioning a raven (as in Edgar Allan Poe, author of “The Raven”. Clever, Mr. Snicket. Very clever.).

VFD noticed:

Volunteer Fire Department

Vigorously Fixed Destination

Come back next Sunday for "The Reptile Room"!

Click here for my full series review!