Lemony Snicket’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events” is the sort of show which is entertaining to a certain kind of person with a certain kind of life. Riffing off an era of Victorian misery tales which flirted with the Gothic darkness of Poe and his contemporaries and missed the point of Dickens, they put plucky protagonists through ridiculous levels of discomfort in order to highlight an inevitable, Phoenix like rise. Terrible, unbelievable happenstance full of madcap characters are piled upon malign intent, with a dash of bad weather to taste and the heroes rise, return and…it happens again. Which maybe that’s why it all feels a little sociopathic.
But that’s probably not why you are reading this review. Netflix’s new show “A Series of Unfortunate Events” is a well made, well realized retelling of the series. Fans of the book will instantly recognize their favorite characters and moments. The tonal dissonance of the books, the dark humor, the florid narration, all finds a treasured place in the show. Patrick Warburton (The Tick, Rules of Engagement, Venture Bros) narrates as Lemony Snicket, providing a perfectly understated anchor while Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog) chews the scenery as only he can as the vile Count Olaf. The child actors are, like their archetypal literary counter parts equally effective if slightly (intentionally) wooden.
Also, like the books, the show looks you squarely in the eye and asks you to ignore the often bizarre questions raised by the setting. Is this the 30s? The trolleys and the classic cars seem to say so, but where in the world are we using cell phones and computers, but also metal coinage as our primary form of currency? In what universe is the bank solely responsible for the disposition of children and the local magistrate wears a wig at all times? Is this England? The New England coast? Where does a man like Count Olaf get a freak show collection of sidekicks if it’s not circa 1920? What is with all the brass fittings? A series of Unfortunate Events cares nothing for these questions and apparently neither should you.
As a storyteller and a parent, none of this gets a pass, even if it was in the books. To me, failing to provide even the most basic consistency in world building is simply lazy and honestly, in a children’s book, condescending. In a world of readily available and much better, much more entertaining literature and television, why should I waste my time? It is after all, on Netflix where options are rather the point.
Similarly placing children in repeated peril for laughs is, to me at least, equally tasteless. Count Olaf’s house actually exists in a thousand cities across America and the world. There are usually drugs involved and people do in fact live and suffer in homes without power, using dysfunctional plumbing, living in squalor. Children are in fact exploited for financial gain as society looks on (see failed instances of the foster system) and while we laugh at the circumstances of the Baudelaire’s any court in America would consider them deeply abused. The inclusion of a baby, however capable of chewing through stone or unique verbal communication, simply heightens the horror. Life is fragile, even more so for the youngest of us. The moment Count Olaf threatens Sunny, the moment she is placed in a cage, or famously finds herself encircled by a python for laughs is the moment I lose interest in your tone deaf non-sense.
Perhaps I am simply over thinking the whole thing. Perhaps A Series of Unfortunate Events falls into a category of humor which I simply don’t get. That happens to all of us at some point. If you’re a fan of the books, you’ll probably be a fan of the show. If not, maybe you should take the show,s own advice. Don’t watch this show. It doesn’t get better.
