I've watched the first one so far! I was glad to see the inclusions of the Poe family, who are skipped in the film. Really enjoyed it and will probably watch like one each day to ration the show a bit instead of binging.

For those that have read the books or know much about them,

do things ever get better for the children? I have watched a few episodes now and I'm worrying about it becoming too samey due to nothing ever going there way.

For those that have read the books or know much about them,

do things ever get better for the children? I have watched a few episodes now and I'm worrying about it becoming too samey due to nothing ever going there way.

The show is called A Series of Unfortunate Events. :P

The whole thing is about it being miserable for the children which is why you have all the warnings and stuff not to watch it. There's always a glimmer of hope only for it to be tarnished by something horrible happening. You've missed the point of it if you think there's a happy ending! The books that the first series is based on all are quite similar in terms of plot but things start to change in terms of plot through the rest of the books. Things don't get better for them though! :lol:

 

For those that have read the books or know much about them,

do things ever get better for the children? I have watched a few episodes now and I'm worrying about it becoming too samey due to nothing ever going there way.

 

The books get stranger and stranger as they go on :lol: 5 and 10 are my personal favs

The show is called A Series of Unfortunate Events. :P

The whole thing is about it being miserable for the children which is why you have all the warnings and stuff not to watch it. There's always a glimmer of hope only for it to be tarnished by something horrible happening. You've missed the point of it if you think there's a happy ending! The books that the first series is based on all are quite similar in terms of plot but things start to change in terms of plot through the rest of the books. Things don't get better for them though! :lol:

 

 

'The books that the first series is based on all are quite similar in terms of plot but things start to change in terms of plot through the rest of the books.'

 

That is really what I wanted to know. I didn't expect them to be riding off into the sunset by the end of the season, I just hoped the story would progress beyond how repetitive it is thus far.

 

Okay, I finished this today! I am a bit gutted that they didn't finish on the Austere Acadamy as that is my fav (also I need Carmelita to be introduced ASAP) also because the film focused on books 1-3 it would have been nice to have an additional book with the Miserable Mill. I do love the fact that Catherine O'Hara played Orwell after originally playing Justice Strauss in the film! :cheer: I am so excited to relive the rest of the books, I just hope the wait isn't too long :cry:

 

I really enjoyed the series. I loved the books growing up and whilst I have a few issues with Mr. Poe, I think they did a great job.

I've not watched the books but I'm enjoying this series. The only problem I have is the thickness of the adults (to the point where I'm actually shouting at the TV :lol:). Are they meant to be stupid?

The Austere Academy was my favourite book as well, I'm glad we got a little teaser of the setting before the end of that series!

 

I've watched the whole series already. I had VERY high expectations due to loving the books and the film and they weren't quite met, but it was still enjoyable. My biggest problem with this series is the utterly diabolical decision to have Lemony Snicket as a character. I know they are trying to stay faithful to the books and Snicket's way of writing suited the written form, but the CONSTANT cutbacks to Snicket's character with his snippets of narration are so annoying, they ruin the flow of the episode and I don't know if it is supposed to come across comedic, informative, sarcastic or what. All I know is that every time his character appears I sigh and cringe in equal amounts.

 

It was also more childish than I expected, I don't remember the film being so childish although I was younger so perhaps didn't notice it as much. I'd have liked it to be a bit darker and less cartoony in terms of the character personalities of Mr. Poe in particular, but perhaps that will appear in later series. I already noticed the Miserable Mill was a bit darker and I enjoyed that one the most of the four because I had never had a visual for that book before.

 

Overall it was enjoyable, and the casting of the three kids and Olaf was spot on. I just wish they hadn't had this Snicket character popping up every 5 minutes ruining the flow of the episodes.

So I've finished watching after wanting to spread it out! Really enjoyed it on the whole as it was a really loyal adaptation of the books but it also built on the mystery within the books, perhaps making it more explicit from the start. I liked all the additions such as Olaf making Mr Poe put them in his care and the new VFD characters that helped to showcase more about what the organisation was/is about. My only sort of annoyance in that respect is that their presence meant that the children got loads more help than in the books so they're not as 'alone' as they are in the books and it means that they can't be seen as being as clever as they are in the books (e.g. in The Wide Window, its the children's idea to take the peppermints but in the TV series its Larry).

 

I think two episodes per book was the perfect length as it does allow it to go into more detail and there was also that room for expansion. I think I did enjoy The Miserable Mill the most, even though its not my favourite book, because with the first three it did feel like we were just retreading steps seeing as though I've seen the film so many times and so it doesn't help when things like Aunt Josephine's house looks so similar in both! Therefore, with the final episodes, it was finally allowed to be something in it's own right and be NEW as there's always going to be comparisons between the film and the series for those first three books.

 

I think the elements that were really successful was the dark humour. There were some elements of the comedy that were a bit OTT in the bad sense, mostly the ones in the trailer, but overall it did the dark setting of the story/series better than the film whilst fitting in those dark jokes alongside it. I think also in that sense it used the character of Lemony Snicket better. I disagree with Ryan about that, I think he's absolutely necessary to the series especially as he is a character in his own right and not just a narrator. He's really needed to set the tone of the series and add in further those dark humorous moments that can also be paid off in the other character scenes with long-running jokes, such as is seen in the books. Just one example is in The Miserable Mill with the black and white comments.

 

I think Mr Poe is my favourite part of it all though, which is really surprising for me considering I've never really focused on him before in either the books or the film! I just think he was perfectly written and acted, highlighting the uselessness of him but the fact that he thinks he's always right. I laughed out loud at so many of his moments throughout. I loved his wife as well, especially in the first episode: "well he's right, nobody asked the Baudelaire's", (referring to their destroyed home making the front page) "I thought it would cheer them up". I thought it was a good decision as well for the Baudelaire's to want to go to the mill rather than Mr Poe sending them there as while the whole series as a whole doesn't make sense in terms of decisions, it is quite odd to send them to a mill before sending them to a school or to live with Esme! Again, it shows how bringing the mystery to the forefront from the start enhanced the series as the Baudelaire's are now curious and actively searching for answers from the start. What did gripe me though was where the hurricane hit the house in 'The Wide Window' and basically all the clues just were thrown at Klaus and stayed there for ages whilst he did some magical stunts to survive. :lol:

 

So that twist

went another step further and the parents are actually the Quagmire parents?!?! I was really shocked by that but it was such a good twist and made a lot more sense that the Baudelaire's parents still being alive as I wasn't sure what the plan would be regarding that, there can't be a happy ending after all!! It was good to give us a bit more focus on the triplets and a good introduction for them, to help set up the next series

.

 

I think the series has given the author the chance to do what he really wanted to do with the film, just he wasn't given the chance as there was only one film! The fact that the spyglass features in both but not in the books showcases that really. I'm just as excited for the next series as thats when it really starts for me! Books 5 and 6 are my favourites and the fact that its all new adaptations from here makes it sooo exciting!