Review of TV series A Series of Unfortunate Events

Written by: Nikola Foršek (FFOS)

Issue 3 (May 2018)

Hudis, Mark; Sonnenfeld, Barry (2017). Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Netflix.

Based on: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

When I had started reading through this particular series of children’s novels more than a decade ago, it seemed hardly possible that it would ever be adapted faithfully, either on the big or the small screen. And indeed, it was so; the atrocious 2004 version with Jim Carrey had come and gone, forgotten almost in an instance. One of the main problems it faced was that it simply could never physically fit a story comprised of thirteen novels into a single film – it only adapted the first three installments, where it came back full circle, and where it abruptly stopped (much like the Croatian translation of the novel series, which all of a sudden stopped at the seventh installment – but that’s a problem worthy of its own paper).

However, last year and the first few months of the current year saw a massive increase in the production of original content by Netflix. They saw a chance and took it, giving the people what they want and ever since, they have been churning out content like crazy – content which included finally adapting A Series of Unfortunate Events into a TV series. This, in turn, gave me the chance not only to remind myself again of the first seven books, but to also catch up with the remaining five novels which I had missed out on as a kid. The structure of the series is based in such a way that it takes two episodes to adapt a single novel, which creates more than enough time to spread the story out evenly, and adapt the series more than faithfully (with a few minor changes in details – a tad of artistic freedom is always permitted, of course) – and thus far, they have adapted the first eight novels in its two seasons on record.

There are a few features of the novels which the TV series managed to take on quite successfully and move it to the small screen – the first being its ambiguous setting, the second its ambiguous time frame, and the third its ambiguous genre. The general aura of the whole series could be described as having both the elements of the Victorian era and the modern times (with just a tad of steampunk). This becomes most evident in the finale of the second season, which adapted the Carnivorous Carnival. The neo-Victorian ambience of the obsession with carnivals and anything remotely freakish is prevalent, first and foremost, through the choice of the main theme, as well as the title. Furthermore, the ambiguity of time and place is emphasized even more through the choice of the outdated dress code, while at the same time using advanced technology to make the optical illusions, which serve as one of the main plot points, possible.

When reading the book series as a child, I have often felt like it was adult fiction, wrapped up inside child fiction, through the heavy cynicism, the often depressing outlook, and sardonic side-remarks of Lemony Snicket, its omnipotent narrator.

Patrick Warburton takes on the role of the fictional narrator, and having him there, in the flesh – with his deep voice and his more than appropriate blank expression – definitely helps the credibility of the show. This is how the TV series manages to stay truer to its source – through the choice of its cast. The film adaptation relied too much on Carrey’s comedic performance to properly capture the important morbid essence of the novels. This brings me to the very performances of the show’s main cast – the ever brilliant Neil Patrick Harris and the stars in raising that are Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes. Harris, as a well-rounded entertainer brings his own unique touch to the series, managing to, at the same time, capture all of the wickedness and nefariousness that is Count Olaf, while simultaneously brightening the show up with his musical acts. Weissman and Hynes, while still young, still manage to bring to their performances all the torment and agony which the Baudelaires have to go through.

So far, A Series of Unfortunate Events proves to be a perfect example of what a well-balanced and a splendidly executed adaptation of a literary template should look like.