Review: A Series of Unfortunate Events is spectacularly binge-worthy

Serena Bettis • January 17, 2017

Fitting to its genre, Netflix released the first season of a new adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events on Friday, January 13 and I then proceeded to finish watching all eight episodes the morning of Sunday, January 15. If you haven’t already, drop everything you are doing, forgo all homework assignments, sit down, and watch this TV show because it is just that good. Despite the fact that I haven’t read the Serious of Unfortunate Events books since I was in elementary school, I can say that this show fantastically stays true to the books (it helps that the author of the books wrote the show) and adds an extra, exciting twist of mystery that also makes the show a distinctive Netflix original. Everything about it, from the plot, the acting, and the set design, is enrapturing and an extremely great source of entertainment, despite constant warnings to “Look Away”.

Documenting one book with two episodes, the show closely follows the plot line the books set up as the Baudelaire orphans are moved from one guardian to another by an incompetent banker, Mr. Poe, with the evil Count Olaf chasing them along the way. The most evident change from page to screen is that the show also gives the viewer a bit of supposed backstory in brief glimpses, of a mother and father seemingly kidnapped and on the run who are trying to get back to their kids. Characters and props in the show also allude to the secret society that the Baudelaires later learn their parents were involved in, though the reveal comes much sooner in the show than in the books, as the Baudelaires constantly ask for answers pertaining to their parents’ lives before them. I appreciate these extra additions to the show because it makes it more interesting for people like myself who do not remember all the details of the books, and other adults who may have never read the series at all.

The acting in the show brings the events away from their dull, dark reality and seems to give the sad story a little more heart and humour. Neil Patrick Harris’s portrayal of Count Olaf, while evil and murderous, also makes him appear even more humorous and dumb than I remember him being in the books, and his horrible acting (Count Olaf’s, not Harris’s) along with his ridiculous henchmen add to the enjoyment of the show. The set design is probably my favorite aspect of the entire show, as it simply makes everything look so pretty. I love the contrast created by the Baudelaire’s brightly colored clothing against the incredibly grey skies and buildings in almost every location they are sent to, and the countless rooms full of books they encounter. In some settings the background almost didn’t look real, as so many parts of the scenes had such smooth edges and intricate parts that I was sure it was animated. It ties all other aspects of the show together, and makes it all-around good entertainment.

Netflix’s version of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events is fantastic, and I don’t think anyone will find themselves disappointed with the product.

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About the Contributor

Serena Bettis, Editor-in-Chief

Serena Bettis, senior, is entering into her third year on the Etched in Stone staff as this year’s Editor-in-Chief. A four year journalism student, she has high hopes for Etched in Stone this school year, and wants to be able to guide the staff in achieving their goals as much as possible. While Bettis has become a much more outspoken person than she was when she started at Fossil Ridge High School, she still finds discomfort speaking in front of large groups of people (“large” being defined anywhere from 6 to 30), but is more than ready to grow in that aspect of leadership over the course of the year. Most of her journalistic goals for the year are not personal, but rather involve the entire program. She aims to further improve upon the look of the Etched in Stone website, which she spent countless hours on her junior year, enough for it to win awards before she graduates.

Aside from Etched in Stone, Bettis takes part in the school marching, jazz, and concert bands as a flute player, volunteers with Key Club, and is the Historian for the National Honor Society. She has also held a part-time job at TCBY for over a year, and now knows more than she needs to about the sugar content in frozen yogurt. In her spare time, which is often hard to come by, Bettis can be found reading for fun, lamenting about how none of the new Young Adult romance novels she used to love so much are good anymore, working on making the perfect French macaron, or binge watching her recent addiction, Game of Thrones. Music is a large part of her life, and her favorite genre is difficult to describe because she listens to many different bands. Some of her favorites include twenty one pilots, All Time Low, and Halsey, more alternative bands such as Issues and SWMRS, pop artists including Carly Rae Jepsen (“she’s so much more than “Call Me Maybe””), and Little Mix, and various songs by Spanish singers.

She is more than ready for graduation, and aspires to be attending college in Chicago by this time next year. Bettis knows that she wants to double major in journalism and foreign languages, with a potential minor in music, though she is undecided on what specific occupation she wants after college. Her best advice to someone who does not know what they are interested in is to simply join different activities and see what happens from there. “Eventually, sometime during sophomore year, journalism became the only class I wanted to go to, and even now I love it more than I used to love band, so that’s when it hit me that this was what I wanted to be involved in for most of my life,” she said. Another somewhat undecided goal of hers is to join the Peace Corps either during or after college, and she hopes that an experience in a different country with complete strangers might help her figure out what exactly she wants to do with her life.