Binge-worthy: ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events,’ season 2

The first season was already pretty over the top (gotta love those Lachrymose Leeches), but season two, doubles down on the macabre themes. At various points in the season, which is based on books 5 to 9 of the book series, the Baudelaire orphans are publicly humiliated, face a burning at the stake, or risk having one’s head surgically removed. All of this transpires as the Baudelaires bounce from one guardian to another, without any hope of regaining normalcy.

If all this sounds too, well, grimdark, the show gleefully agrees. Each episode features an introduction and commentary from Lemony Snicket (played by Patrick Warburton, in a role that recalls The Twilight Zone’s Rod Serling) which often implores viewers to turn away from the tale of woe and misery that is about to follow. Fortunately, the show also features delightfully hammy performances (Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf is a gift that keeps on giving) and surreal, macabre humor that owes a debt to Edward Gorey and Chas Addams. 

Even with the increased grimdark, season two follows familiar story beats: Count Olaf dons a disguise; infiltrates the Baudelaire’s life; hatches a plan; gets foiled by the Baudelaires. The children are moved to a new caretaker, after which the process is repeated. And then repeated again. 

The Austere Academy – The Ersatz Elevator

This formula is most apparent in the first half the season. The show kicks off with the Baudelaires entering Prufrock Preparatory School, a gloomy institution that would make Tim Burton grin. (The school’s motto is “Memento Mori” and its mascot a dead horse.) When Count Olaf shows up disguised as Coach Genghis, the new gym teacher, only the Baudelaires see past the ruse. Olaf subjects the kids to nightly Special Orphan Running Exercises (S.O.R.E.), to make them flunk out of school due to sheer exhaustion, at which point he would take custody of the children. 

After the Baudelaires foil Olaf’s plan and reveal his identity, Scooby-Doo style, they are transferred to the care of Esmé and Jerome Squalor, a wealthy couple despite their name. The Baudelaires have scarcely had the chance to settle down when Olaf once again appears, disguised as Karl Lagerfeld-esque auctioneer Gunther. This time, Olaf plans to kill Jerome and mary Esmé, becoming the Baudelaire’s legal guardian.

Even the members of the V.F.D, a secret organization that seems to be tasked with protecting the Baudelaires and hunting down Olaf, are goofy at times and outright incompetent in others. V.F.D volunteer Jacques Snicket (played to great effect by Nathan Fillion) offers a ray of hope and salvation for the kids. But in the end all is lost.There are some great moments in these two settings. Prufrock is delightfully gothic, and Esmé’s obsession with what’s “in” is a great commentary on consumerism and status. But the repetitive formula can get a bit, well, repetitive, and it’s only exacerbated by the total cluelessness of the adults charged with caring for the Baudelaires.

The Ville Village – The Hostile Hospital

After the Baudelaires foil Olaf yet again, Mr Poe, the oblivious executor of the Baudelaire estate, puts the children under the collective care of the Village of Fowl Devotees. Perpetually bathed in amber sunlight, the dusty town is one of the greatest set pieces in the show. The scene where a murder of crows sweeps across the sky to roost in the Nevermore Tree is just breathtaking. 

The authoritarian Council of Elders enforces the village’s strange, often arbitrary rules (note the flags in the village courthouse, which look vaguely fascist) and forces the children to do menial tasks. Olaf reappears as a jive-talking detective, and in a cruel twist, manages to convince the village that the Baudelaires were responsible for a murder. A lynch mob forms, wanting to burn the kids at the stake.

The Baudelaires inevitably escape, and take shelter in Heimlich Hospital. They meet Hal, caretaker of the Hospital’s Library of Records, which the Baudelaires learn contains files on their parents and the V.F.D. Along with Jerome Quagmire, Hal is one of the few benevolent characters in the show. This presents a moral crisis to the Baudelaires, who have to betray Hal’s trust to access the files. The show’s repetitive formula can sometimes undermine one’s emotional attachment, but Hal’s laments after the betrayal was truly heart-wrenching.

Olaf, disguised as Dr Mattathias Medical School, tracks down the kids and kidnaps Violet. He forces Klaus (who was also disguised as a doctor) into performing a craniectomy on his sedated sister, and somehow dupes the hospital into watching the entire procedure. Klaus manages to stop the operation from proceeding, but the entire premise was nonetheless disturbing. Olaf sets fire to the Library of Records and, as a result, the entire hospital. To escape, the Baudelaires decide to hide in the trunk of Olaf’s car.

The latter half of the show, with its lynch mob and packed medical theater, is a harrowing study in mob rule, and how easy it is to turn a crowd against innocent people. Unfortunately, this theme continues to the last chapter of the show. 

The Carnivorous Carnival

Olaf and his troupe (and the Baudelaires) end up in the Caligari Carnival, run by the psychic Madame Lulu. This time it’s the Baudelaires who don disguises. Violet and Klaus wear a patched-together jacket and pretend to be a two-headed freak, while Sunny pretends to be a feral child. Count Olaf is Count Olaf for a change, and becomes ringmaster of the freak show.

Olaf learns that Madame Lulu is actually a V.F.D volunteer, and plans a show where throwing her into a lion pit is the main attraction. The show attracts a large crowd (including Mr Poe, and residents of the Village of Fowl Devotees) who, despite their veneer of normalcy, are excited to see someone eaten by the cats.

With Madame Lulu dead, Olaf sets fire to her archives, and takes the Baudelaires up the Mortmain Mountains, the supposed location of the V.F.D. headquarters. Near the top of the mountain, Olaf cuts loose the trailer containing the kids.

It’s a literal cliffhanger ending to a mostly entertaining, beautifully-designed show. The show’s consciously absurdist premise can only go so far, and with only 4 more books to cover in season 3, there is at least little risk of the show overstaying its welcome. – Rappler.com