A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Miserable Mill: Part Two   Show Only 
January 15, 2017 7:54 PM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe

Klaus just isn't himself after seeing Dr. Orwell, an optometrist with oddly optimistic patients. Meanwhile, Violet works to clear her parents' names. (Season finale)

Plot developments:
*Mrs. Poe picks up the search for the Baudelaire orphans from the stymied and hysterical Mr. Poe.
*The orphans learn of Olaf's latest disguise, as receptionist Shirley St. Ives.
*A re-hypnotized Klaus (trigger word = lucky) causes the stamping machine to run out of control, crushing Phil's leg.
*The orphans sneak into Orwell's office and witness the hypnosis of Charles, and see from files in her closet that she's been hypnotizing all the mill workers.
*Sir tells the orphans that they will be sent to live with Shirley if they cause another accident (since Sir didn't fall for Olaf's initial ploy of saying Shirley longed to adopt, due to how profitable child labor turned out to be for Sir)
*Olaf tries to engineer another 'accident' by getting hypnotized Klaus to saw hypnotized Charles in half, but when the Hook-Handed Henchman accidentally awakens Charles by saying the magic word "fire", Violet wakes all the workers via shouting 'fire' on the PA, and they angrily storm the mill.
*Violet remembers that 'inordinate' is Klaus' release word.
*Orwell threatens to throw Sunny into the furnace, but perishes in it herself when she steps back startled by the angry workers, throwing Sunny to safety in the process. Olaf and his henchman flee.
*Mrs. Poe's investigative journalism leads her to report on the mill accident, only accidentally finding the children for Mr. Poe.
*Charles leaves in search of Sir (who fled from the angry un-hypnotized workers), but gives them the un-redacted Chapter 12 proving the Baudelaires were responsible for getting Paltryville back on its feet after the fire (for which they were not at all responsible).
*Mr. Poe drops the Baudelaire orphans at Prufrock Preparatory School (alma mater of Olaf and Lemony, per the photo in the trophy case), and gives them a package from Jacquelyn, containing the stolen spyglass part.
*Two of the Maquire children are at school, also now orphaned after their mansion was set on fire by an unseen person. They too have a spyglass part.
*EVERYBODY SING! "There's no happy endings, Not here and not now. This tale is all sorrows and woes. You might dream that justice and peace win the day. But that's not how the story goes."

Defined by Lemony Snicket this episode: seeing in black and white, fatal, skeletons in our closet

Inventions this episode: using gum to repair a lumber stamping machine

***
Quotables:

Phil: If somebody can help me up to my foot, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get back to work.
Violet: You need to go to a hospital.
Norma Rae: We earned those coupons last month. 50% off Ahab Memorial.
Jimmy: The two of us will chip in. We'll get your leg fixed up.

Violet: What's that thing Samuel Beckett said?
Klaus: "I can't go on. I'll go on."
Violet: Let's go on. Together.

Lemony Snicket: Unless you are a murderer or a taxidermist, it is rare to have actual skeletons in your closet, as opposed to metaphorical ones. But as Klaus had just discovered, Dr. Orwell's closet... had both.

Georgina: You wouldn't have the Baudelaires at all if it wasn't for me.
Olaf: I don't have them. You were supposed to hypnotize the bookworm into causing a fatal accident.
Georgina: Don't blame me for that. I'm running a business while you're running around wearing my clothes.
Olaf: How quickly we fall into old routines.

Klaus: "It'll build character." That's just something people say when they're trying to make others accept a miserable situation.

Olaf: Poor little orphan. Haven't you learned anything this year? Week? Season?

Lemony Snicket: In a world both frightening and unlucky, there are a few comforts. One of them is making new friends. Friends can make you feel the world is smaller and safer than it really is, because you know people who have similar experiences. When you meet people like that you may find your world feels a little more complete. Like the missing piece of a puzzle, or two halves of a broken spyglass. Click.
posted by oh yeah! (11 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, that was quite a roller coaster. I'm torn between wanting to go read the books right away to find out how it all ends, or to just wait and see if Netflix makes another season so I can go into it blind again. Though I don't know that they'll ever be able to trick me as completely as they did with the Mother & Father fake-out, so maybe staying unspoiled will be fruitless if I spend the next season anticipating a twist. (Not going to buy them right away anyway, it's $95 for the 13 book set on kindle today, but something to think about for whenever the next sitewide promotions hit.)

I thought maybe I'd have something intelligent to say after sleeping on it, but I'm still at 'kermit-flail-gif' level. Just so beautiful, and sad, and strange, and funny.
posted by oh yeah! at 9:47 AM on January 16, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh, it's already been renewed for a second season, don't worry.
posted by Pendragon at 2:24 PM on January 16, 2017 [3 favorites]


And I'm not going to read the books until after the second or hopefully third season.
posted by Pendragon at 2:28 PM on January 16, 2017


I'm so into this I'm already tired of waiting for another season. I did read the books up to the penultimate one , but that was awhile ago so I forgot most of the plot and several things were changed anyway so its been pretty thrilling having only the barest idea where things are going to go. There's just so much to like about this show, but perhaps the most powerful is how it captures the feeling when people don't take you seriously and ignore you.

And if you missed them, here's some anagrams of "Count Olaf" I caught up to this point:
Episode 1/2: Al Funcoot, writer of The Marvelous Marriage
Episode 3/4: O. Lucafont, nurse
Episode 7/8: Flacutono, foreman
posted by Green With You at 10:53 AM on January 17, 2017 [1 favorite]


OK! I've binged all 8 episodes and am now caught up with all of you.

I am obsessed with the baby playing Sunny, who is (unusually) not a twin. Did filming take ages and ages or is this just the happiest, most easy-going baby in the universe?

I'm torn between wanting to go read the books right away to find out how it all ends, or to just wait and see if Netflix makes another season so I can go into it blind again.

I would urge caution. I love this television series; the books, not so much. I am a voracious reader and will read almost anything but was unable to get into the books.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:22 AM on January 18, 2017 [3 favorites]


I am obsessed with the baby playing Sunny, who is (unusually) not a twin. Did filming take ages and ages or is this just the happiest, most easy-going baby in the universe?

I had the feeling they did some CGI-ing of the baby's face onto a dummy body during a lot of scenes where Violet was was doing dialogue while holding Sunny. Expensive, but still probably cheaper to get the maximum legal hours of filming the baby alone/with stand-ins than to lose Violet for a whole day's work because the baby fussed for too long.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:50 AM on January 18, 2017 [4 favorites]


Mr. Poe: I've just received a promotion: Vice-President of Orphan Affairs! Which means I'll be too busy to check in on you orphans.

Well, that was absolutely fantastic. Having Handler on hand to write and produce clearly benefitted; in my book this season was at least two notches better than the film (which I liked at the time), and the writing and spirit of the books shone.

The lead characters were all cast spectacularly, but a definite highlight was Aasif Mandvi as Uncle Monty.

Two episodes per book seems exactly right, giving everything room to breathe but never get boring or repetitive, and the humour balanced the dark whimsy really well. The set design and slightly uncanny-valley special effects were also great.

I loved it all.
posted by Quagkapi at 9:47 AM on January 18, 2017 [2 favorites]


Olaf is in disguise as Shirley T. Sinoit-Pécer... And T. Sinoit-Pécer is receptionist spelled backwards!

I wish I could claim credit for figuring that out on my own.

I liked the series more and more as it went on. And really, really I loved the song at the end. It felt like dessert.
posted by mochapickle at 2:27 PM on January 19, 2017


I'm slight obsessed with the baby Sunny – she's incredibly sweet. Perhaps it's just the CGI but they do a largely fine job of it.

I am also impressed that they got "la petit mort" into Olaf and Georgina's dialogue. That's Anamaniacs-quality flying under the radar!
posted by NoiselessPenguin at 4:20 AM on January 29, 2017 [1 favorite]


Having never read the books or watched the movie, I have to say that I was blown away by this season. Very clever writing, lots of laughs, great performances across the board.
posted by nubs at 8:28 AM on February 8, 2017




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