A Series of Unfortunate Events: Season 1 Books Included

January 20, 2017 8:49 PM - Season 1 (Full Season)

After the loss of their parents in a mysterious fire, the Baudelaire children are sent in turn to live with their "nearest" relative, a herpetologist, and a grammarian, before finding employment in a lumber mill.

For discussion of the first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events which may include spoilers for the books. And there is so much in these eight episodes which will have added significance to those who have read the books:

* "The world is quiet here" — said by Gustav to Jacquelyn via walkie-talkie as he falls into the pond
* "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion" — waiter at The Anxious Clown
* Just before the Very Fancy Door opens, Lemony Snicket invites viewers to turn off the show and "pretend the woman at the door is the Duchess of Winnipeg, and she's come to throw the Baudelaires a pony party at her chateau."
* Count Olaf is missing a sugar bowl
* Many, many "VFD"s, including a Vigorously Fixed Destination, Very Fresh Dill, a Verified Functional Dictionary, an eye chart consisting entirely of Vs, Fs, and Ds, and the aforementioned Very Fancy Door.

And probably many more book references that I've either forgotten or missed.

posted by DevilsAdvocate (4 comments total)

I called "Mother" and "Father" being the Quagmire parents — I figured having the Baudelaire parents still be alive, as the show obviously wanted us to believe, would be too much of a betrayal of the spirit of ASOUE, and the Quagmire parents were the only other obvious candidates.

I've seen a couple of reviews which note that Jacquelyn seems to be an original character to the show, not from the books. I'm skeptical of that — if true, she would be pretty much the only notable character from the show who didn't appear in the books. I suspect that Jacquelyn is Lemony's sister. In the books we eventually find out that Lemony has two siblings: a brother Jacques, and a sister Kit. The similarity between "Jacquelyn" and "Jacques" is hard to ignore; I think we'll find either that Jacquelyn is a composite of Jacques and Kit, or a gender-swapped version of Jacques. (It would be nice for there to be three Snicket siblings, as in the books, as it mirrors the three Baudelaire siblings and the Quagmire triplets, but that may not be necessary from a narrative standpoint.)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:03 PM on January 20, 2017 [2 favorites]

I watched these on Friday since I was working from home and it seemed like a delightfully appropriate way to avoid the news. And it was! I would've liked to have seen the 8 episodes as 4 "movie" length episodes (since they were, after all), but it's a tiny complaint.

I started the first book but never finished it. I liked the spirit of it but it just never clicked with me. I thought this was solid, though -- great production design, great casting (and so many faces from other Netflix shows, which I thought added to the fun) and a good self-awareness.

I'm on board for the second series.
posted by darksong at 6:31 AM on January 23, 2017

Watching the Netflix series has spurred me to finally read the books - I've just finished the Miserable Mill, but at what point would you folk recommend that I can go back to the show and appreciate the in-jokes? All the way up to The End?

What I'm noticing so far is that the show definitely grabbed me, in a way I don't think the first few books would have - the Netflix series has got a much more zany sensibility in the humour and for instance how they treat Sunny. I am looking forward to what the books have in store and especially the VFD plot.
posted by Gordafarin at 1:53 AM on February 8, 2017

Re: show v. books - I can tell you that when I first stumbled across the books I stood in a bookstore and read them for a long while, absolutely entranced by the voice. I think they may not seem as original now as they did then, because they've been so influential in the world of YA literature.
posted by bq at 2:51 PM on February 15, 2017