A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning: Part One   Show Only 
January 13, 2017 5:38 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe

The dreadful history of the Baudelaire children begins with a deadpan narrator, a terrible fire, and the ominous arrival of a distant relative.
posted by oh yeah! (26 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Ok, I suspect that this is more of a full-season-thread kind of show, but having never gotten around to reading the Lemony Snicker books, I figured I might as well start with a pilot-episode thread to avoid spoilers. (Maybe someone else should post a full-season-books-included thread?)

Anyway, loving the casting in this episode. Mr. Trick! Supernatural's Golem! And I don't know where the hell I'm recognizing Matty Cardarople from, nothing in his imdb credits is giving me an "aha!" moment, but, I guess in future I'll recognize him from this. I mean, the starring cast is great too, of course. Warburton does such good deadpan.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:06 PM on January 13, 2017


> And I don't know where the hell I'm recognizing Matty Cardarople from

Same, though his showreel made me realise it's probably from his role as the gyrosphere operator in Jurassic World.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 6:57 PM on January 13, 2017


oh man, I am watching the second episode and NPH is wonderful and awful and ACTING! all over the place

so far it is all very sly without being over young people's heads, like The Princess Bride
posted by Countess Elena at 7:56 PM on January 13, 2017


Can I watch this with my 4 and 6 year old?
posted by bq at 10:25 PM on January 13, 2017


I would say so, there's nothing explicit, gross, or even super scary, and they explain what all the big words mean. (Heh heh) I am liking it a lot. Its very true to the spirit of the books which, I guess makes sense cause the author wrote the scripts.
Anyone else feel like Warburton was kind of doing a Don Draper impersonation. I mean I know that's his voice and kind of his schtick but i dunno something about how he was moving his neck or something.
posted by bleep at 12:04 AM on January 14, 2017 [3 favorites]


I haven't watched yet, but I've both read the books and listened to the audio books (very well done, and the "Dear Reader" introductions are by the author himself (Daniel Handler reading AS Lemony Snicket). I enjoyed the film, though I guess it didn't do well enough to warrant a sequel, so I must have been in the minority. NPH strikes me as inspired casting, but Warburton seems like a very strange choice. I was shocked when I saw the trailer where he's introducing it. I'm glad to hear that the reception has been positive because I've been unreasonably excited about this series coming to Netflix. Don Draper impersonation was the exact vibe I got from the trailer.
posted by terilou at 10:29 AM on January 14, 2017


Also - the whole thing of watching a bunch of optimistic, kind, smart, trusting kids being shuffled into the hands of a transparently greedy, plotting, incompetent, evil, lying, third-rate wannabe actor by a bunch of feckless, ambitious, overly-trusting clueless adults was almost too much to bear right now.
posted by bleep at 12:02 PM on January 14, 2017 [12 favorites]


It's a very transparent allegory to the current situation in the US written years ago, is what I'm saying.
posted by bleep at 12:04 PM on January 14, 2017 [3 favorites]


The show reminds me a lot of the criminally underrated movie. They share Sonnenfeld too. I think wordiness of the humor and narration is one of the best aspects of the show, and the cast is all solid. I really like that they show the parents and hint at more, it helps cut the despair just a bit and hopefully works to tie things together more. Joan Cusack is perfect, and though NPH is less menacing than Jim Carrey, he certainly is more creepy.
posted by sleeping bear at 1:18 PM on January 14, 2017


I'm so glad I wasn't the only one picking up on the Don Draper thing! I kept thinking, if they wanted Jon Hamm, they should have gotten Jon Hamm, who surely would be game for this sort of thing.

I like the style of it, but I feel like NPH breaks the spell of it, what with all the winking. Shouldn't Count Olaf take himself a little more seriously, even if we don't?
posted by mochapickle at 5:40 PM on January 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


And the line where Violet wonders out loud what pasta puttanesca means in Italian made me laugh.
posted by mochapickle at 5:43 PM on January 14, 2017 [8 favorites]


I've seen the books but know nothing about them, and on first blush I hadn't expected to like the story. (In retrospect, I totally would have been into the series when I was a kid; I was typed strongly with the Baudelaires.)

Came for NPH (saw him promoting it on The Late Show), staying for NPH(!!)... and the funny clever story and interesting visuals. I'm particularly enjoying the use of saturated bright colours amidst the washed out grimdark filter that has pervaded media the last decade.
posted by porpoise at 5:47 PM on January 14, 2017


(working on an episode 2 post now)
posted by oh yeah! at 6:01 PM on January 14, 2017


Thanks for the post! I saw this article that I thought was interesting.
posted by gt2 at 2:03 AM on January 15, 2017


Anyone else feel like Warburton was kind of doing a Don Draper impersonation.

My husband & I thought he was impersonating Rod Serling on the old Twilight Zone episodes.
posted by belladonna at 11:49 AM on January 15, 2017 [6 favorites]


I'm now of the opinion that Barry Sonnenfeld has dedicated himself to adapting Lemony Snickett in the style of famous directors. Having done Tim Burton in 2004 and Wes Anderson here, I'm hoping he moves on to emulating Russ Meyer next time.

That said, I'm enjoying this immensely.
posted by Grangousier at 3:39 PM on January 15, 2017


(Oh. He didn't do the film. I was sure... Oh, well. According to Wikipedia, Daniel Handler wanted Guy Maddin, which would have been perfect, but would have lost and awful lot of money.)
posted by Grangousier at 3:50 PM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Yes! That was what the narrator felt like - The Twilight Zone! The Explainer.
posted by porpoise at 8:05 PM on January 15, 2017


According to Wikipedia, Daniel Handler wanted Guy Maddin

Much like Jodorowsky's Dune, some things are just too much for this world.
posted by Literaryhero at 1:28 AM on January 17, 2017 [1 favorite]


OH this series is delightful. The love child of Harry Potter and Twin Peaks. Fabulous!

BRB just gonna binge watch and get all caught up so I can play along, too.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:36 AM on January 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


DarlingBri, not to spoil it or anything, but it gets BETTER as it goes on!
posted by mochapickle at 12:46 PM on January 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


Can I watch this with my 4 and 6 year old?

There are some things in some of the episodes that would have been way too scary for me at that age (there's a dead body a couple of episodes in that would have caused bed-time screaming meltdowns for weeks, and my already fairly intense fear that monsters were lurking in any body of water larger than a bathtubs would have been greatly exacerbated by a nautical misadventure a couple episodes after that).

All kids are different, and you know your kids better than we do, but I personally would give it a few more years.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 4:38 PM on January 17, 2017 [2 favorites]


NPH strikes me as inspired casting, but Warburton seems like a very strange choice.

Patrick Warburton first worked with A Series of Unfortunate Events director/producer Barry Sonnenfeld on The Tick back in 2001. Sonnenfeld also directed Warburton in Big Trouble and Men in Black II. I suspect that Warburton's presence in A Series of Unfortunate Events is mostly the end result of his having a good working relationship with the guy who has final say on casting decisions, but I've enjoyed his performance and don't mind at all.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 2:18 PM on January 19, 2017 [1 favorite]


Warburton seems like a very strange choice

Really? I think he's AMAZING. I love him in this role, he's perfect.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:53 PM on January 19, 2017 [3 favorites]


I have been watching this with ChildAged6 and we both find everything about this show delightful.
posted by bq at 2:40 PM on February 15, 2017


Giving me the idea that a world was possible in which Guy Maddin directed the movie just reaffirms that we're truly stuck in a darker timeline.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 9:59 PM on February 21, 2017


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