I can’t believe it’s over! Truly, I am devastated.
So, the last season of Netflix’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events just came out, which
I definitely did not bingewatch in one sitting. It’s a little bittersweet, because as someone
who read the books and was dying to see them all adapted ever since I was a kid, I no longer
have any more content for the series to look forward to! Well, unless they adapt All The
Wrong Questions.
To be honest, while I enjoyed Season 1 well enough, and really enjoyed Season 2, I was
kinda hesitant about the third season. I mean, I was looking forward to it, but I had read
a bunch of interview content where the producers mentioned answering several questions that
weren’t answered in the book series, and tying up some loose ends from the books. And
part of what I loved about the series, both now and as a child, was that the mystery
aspect was really well-done.
The series answered just enough questions to keep us satisfied, but it was also shrouded
in mystery enough that it felt like we were given a very small look into this massive
organization that was so old and so complex that it’s possible all of the answers- and
everyone who knew those answers- died years ago. But that was okay, because the central
focus was the inner lives of these very smart children who were trying to navigate this complex world
that didn’t always give them those satisfying answers. And as a kid, that really rang true
for me.
That feeling of coming into this big, vast world and wanting to know all the answers
to every question- but having to kind of make peace with not reaching a satisfying conclusion
to everything right away- was really relatable to me, and it is true to life. Endings are
not always tied up in a neat and easy-to-swallow bow. They are often very messy. And as a kid,
when all the other books that I read had these happy fairytale endings that were not true
to my life and my reality, an ending like this was actually really welcome. Like, that
is what it’s like. Thank you for not talking down to me, Lemony Snicket!
So, I was a little bit hesitant. Of course I wanted to know what was in the sugar bowl
and whether the Baudelaires survived their journey, but I wasn’t sure if any answers
to that question would really be satisfying. However, I am happy to report that the conclusion
to this series was a Valorous, Fun Denoument.
To be honest, I did have some trouble getting into the first couple episodes of the series.
I appreciated the way the series recap was done, but even coming right into it after
having watched season 2, the first episode seemed a little bit busy in its pacing. On
one hand, I’m glad it wasn’t suffering from the slow pacing problem of the first
season, but it did feel like a lot was being jam-packed into that first episode.
And I get it; a lot happened in the previous season, so they need to remind us of all of
that in an organic way, introduce in a bunch of new characters and plot elements, and develop
the Sunny/Fernand friendship so that the second book of the season makes sense. And I’m
very glad that it was split into two episodes and not just condensed into one. And three would have
been too many. But I just wish that first episode had been a little longer. Since
Netflix doesn’t have to contest with commercial breaks, they really could have spared an extra
ten minutes to just slow down and give us those lacking emotional beats.
I especially felt that way about Olaf’s character at first; I really love that the
Netflix series has explored the darkness of that character more than the movie, where
he felt like a cartoon character 100% of the time. But for those first episodes, instead
of seeing what I like, which is a really well-done balance of that outlandishness and that underlying
darkness, it instead felt like Neil Patrick Harris was just rapidly switching between
the two, which made me a little bit worried about the tone for the rest of the season.
Luckily enough, by the time the Grim Grotto episodes came out, a lot of that ended
up being resolved. Once they had introduced all of the new characters and mysteries and
we finally got a good sense of what the “game” was going to be for the rest of the season,
we finally got some breathing room, and I really ended up enjoying where they went and
what they did with the rest of the season. The acting was excellent; I remember at the
very beginning of the show some of the kids’ eloquent dialogue felt super stilted, but
all three of them knocked it out of the park for seasons 2 and 3. I was especially impressed
with Manila Weissman’s performance as Violet. Just… top notch. I loved it. The only performance
that I didn’t love was the kid playing Quigley. But, his role was pretty small, so eh.
I was also really happy with Sunny’s character development throughout the series, and although
I was a little bit worried at first that she was the only sibling who was going to grow
and Klaus and Violet were just going to remain kind of formulaic as characters, we got some
really great moments for them too development-wise. They both got minor romance arcs, and while
to me, the romances themselves did feel a little bit forced, which I also felt was the case
in the books, the development that ended up coming from those arcs was really appreciated.
I enjoyed watching them become less trustful of the black-and-white moral compass that
they were previously sticking to religiously, and I had a lot of fun watching them wrestle
with various ethical questions and not always know the right answer. The Good Place jumped
out.
The Penultimate Peril was my favourite book in the entire series as a child, and the show
definitely did it justice. I loved the visuals and the costume design for that episode. We
finally got to see Violet in the ubiquitous purple dress from the book illustrations,
which was very exciting to me! Aesthetically speaking, it was just a fantastic episode.
I mean, they were all aesthetically excellent, and really distinct from each other, but this
one was especially pleasing. I also loved the way the narrative was handled. It was
cartoonish when it needed to be cartoonish, and emotionally striking when it needed to
be emotionally striking, and those two factors were blended well enough that we didn’t
get these jarring shifts between the larger-than-life moments and the serious, grounded moments,
which is definitely a delicate balance to maintain when you’re adapting a series like
this.
Okay. Now, I can’t see, but I think this is the elephant in the room? So, The End,
which probably diverged from the books the most out of any of the episodes, is probably
going to be controversial because of its answering some of the unanswered questions in the books,
and because of its ending. Before talking about the ending, though, a few things about
the episode in general.
I really liked how they concluded Olaf’s story arc.
They acknowledged that this is a person who's experienced a lot of hardship, and
this is a human being who is capable of love and of selfless acts, but that in and of itself
doesn’t undo that he did have a choice in his actions, and he repeatedly chose to hurt
people. So, even though the show doesn’t shy away from having the siblings learn to
empathize with him, the show never lionizes him through his romantic feelings for Kit,
and doesn’t try to revoke his status as a villain simply because Sad Backstory. Which,
after all the Snape Discourse, was very relieving to me. Very well-handled!
In terms of Kit’s character, I liked what they did with her, I think she was a cool
character, and I’m glad we got to see more of her in the series. My one problem with
her was more of a meta thing, and it’s just… in the book, she's Lemony’s older sister,
and they cast a 30 year old woman to play the older sister of a 54 year old man.
I get that she was pregnant, so maybe they wanted a younger woman for plausibility, but
I just felt like even when she was washed up on the shore and poisoned by mushrooms and
going into labour, she had to be pretty, and wearing visible makeup, which kind of annoyed
me for a series that’s all about inner virtue and intelligence. Allison Williams is a great
actor, and I have nothing against her personally, but I just felt like casting her was just kind
of a safe, pretty choice, and I just wish Hollywood wasn’t so terrified of women over
35. Like… did she have to be wearing mascara after giving birth on a desert island? Eh.
Whatever. That was my biggest quibble with this series. Other than that, though, I really
loved The End, including, well… the ending of The End, which I am now going to talk about.
So, spoiler alert from here on out!
So, the books ended on a pretty ambiguous note. Olaf is dead, and so is Kit. The siblings
are left with the task of raising Kit’s newborn daughter on an abandoned island. A
year later, Violet, Sunny, Klaus, and baby Beatrice sail off in their attempt to reach
land, not knowing whether they’ll survive the journey or what awaits them ahead. And
that’s where the book series ends. The books are told from Lemony Snicket’s perspective
as he tries to research the details of their journey, and he doesn’t know what happened
to them or the Quagmires after they sailed away.
It’s an ambiguous, bittersweet ending that’s quite in line with the tone of the series,
and it’s one that I really liked as a kid despite me wanting to know more. On the other hand,
the Netflix series continues after this ending. Lemony still doesn’t know what happens to
them, until he’s contacted by a now preteen Beatrice, who meets up with Lemony and tells
him of the family's journey back to shore.
We also get closure with most of the side characters; Fernand and Fiona likely reunite
with their stepfather, the Quagmires sll see each other again, and Olaf’s ex-troupe find a
life as theatre performers. Finally, we find out what was in the famous Sugar Bowl, something
that both the original book series and the spinoff series All The Wrong Questions hinted
at but never ultimately revealed.
In terms of the reveals themselves, I think they were all satisfying. The answer to what
was in the sugar bowl makes sense, and is consistent with its important role in causing
the Schism. What I think is going to be more controversial isn’t the content of these
reveals themselves so much as just the fact that they happened. I think a lot of people wanted
the mysteries to stay mysterious. On the other hand, I think the change of medium from book
to Netflix series was the perfect place to do this. Because in-universe, Lemony himself
didn’t know these answers when he was compiling the Baudelaires’ stories, something told
entirely from his perspective wouldn’t be able to reveal them.
But with the existence of the camera letting us see beyond his inner thoughts, the series
was able to introduce characters like Beatrice in a way that might not have worked with the
narrative style of the original books. I’m glad the series took advantage of the new
medium to expand on the story and didn’t just give us a word-for-word recreation of
the books.
I imagine some people also aren’t going to like the fact that most of the “good
people” in the series ended up getting their happy ending. I can understand the argument
that this isn’t necessarily consistent with the tone of the series. You know, everything
is always so doom and gloom, so to give them this fairytale ending might feel like a Disney copout. And
if I had watched this a few years ago, I might have agreed with that.
But I think, besides the fact that I wouldn’t necessarily call this a completely happy fairytale
ending so much as something bittersweet, the world is kind of lacking stories like this.
When I was a kid, it was exciting to see a story where the main characters faced hardship
and the narrative tone was a bit cynical, and honest about how the world was not
a perfect place. Because when you’re a kid going through a difficult time, you already kind of
have an idea that this is true. It’s satisfying for someone to validate you and acknowledge that, and
say “yes, the world can be shitty. You’re not alone.” I think having a story that
acknowledges that can be cathartic for people who are suffering, while just trying to shove
unbridled positivity down the throats of people for whom that positivity is not always their
reality feels out-of-touch.
But I think the show has already done such an excellent job of showcasing the suffering
that has happened to these characters, and how profoundly it can affect some people.
Adults don’t always have your best interests in mind, the world is not a dichotomy of good
people and bad people, and sometimes you do have to make hard decisions. That message of “you
are not alone” has definitely been conveyed.
And in the often shitty world that we live in, a story that concludes with a family doing
their best to recover and be happy together is honestly welcome. It’s not a fairytale
ending where everything is perfect for these people. It’s several characters doing their
best in a tough world to heal and live a better life through their connections with each other.
I think in the world we’re currently living in, that’s a great message to convey, and
one that I don’t think is inconsistent with the larger themes of the story.
Yeah, the world sucks sometimes, and we go through these hardships, but at least we have
each other, and we can do our best to love and move forward with what we have. To be
honest, for some reason it kind of reminded me of the ending to the musical Into The Woods,
with the Children Will Listen number.
That’s also a great deconstruction of these fairytale tropes, with similar themes of questioning
what kind of world we’re raising children in. In both of these stories, we have this
theme of “parents do their best to prepare their children to face the world, but they’re
not always successful. Sometimes you find yourself unexpectedly alone in that world,
but you still have to move forward and do your best with what you have”.
In a world where we’re constantly being bombarded with messages of everything is horrible
all the time, I appreciated having a series that acknowledges the Various Frightening
Developments in life, but still gives us an ending that tells us that these things are survivable.
So, as a whole, this season did have a few stumbles, but it was an excellent way to finish
the series off. I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m still Very Fond of this Delightful
adaptation.