A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series)

A Series of Unfortunate Events is an American black comedy drama television series based on the book series of the same name by Lemony Snicket (the pen name of American author Daniel Handler) for Netflix. It stars Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, K. Todd Freeman, and Presley Smith. Dylan Kingwell, Avi Lake, Sara Rue and Lucy Punch join the cast in the second season.

Similar to the book series, A Series of Unfortunate Events follows the misadventures of the three Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, following the deaths of their parents and the destruction of their home. While the children are shuffled between various foster homes, they are pursued by Count Olaf, who desires to gain control of the vast Baudelaire inheritance before Violet comes of age. Along the way, the Baudelaires discover their parents' connections to an elusive secret society called the Volunteer Fire Department (often abbreviated to V.F.D.).

The first season, which premiered on January 13, 2017, consists of eight episodes and adapts the first four books of the series. The second season was ordered in March 2017 and released on March 30, 2018, consisting of ten episodes and adapting the fifth through the ninth books. The third and final season, which was announced in April 2017 and released on January 1, 2019, consists of seven episodes and adapts the remaining four books.

Throughout its run, the series received critical acclaim, with praise towards its production values, writing, faithfulness to the novels, and acting, particularly that of Harris as Count Olaf.

Premise

When a mysterious fire destroys their home and kills their parents, the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny, are placed in the care of their distant 'relative' Count Olaf, an actor who is determined to claim the family fortune for himself. Following Olaf's failed attempt at getting the Baudelaires' fortune and his plot being exposed, the Baudelaires are placed in the custody of a series of mostly inept or unsympathetic guardians, as they try to elude Olaf and his followers and uncover the mystery behind a secret society from their parents' past. The deadpan, mysterious, and melancholic Lemony Snicket narrates the Baudelaires' adventures for the audience.

Cast and characters

Main

• Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf, a failing actor who is determined to claim the Baudelaire fortune for himself. He is a member of the fire-starting side of the secret organization VFD (Volunteer Fire Department). He has a unibrow and a tattoo resembling an eye on his left ankle, which is frequently used to identify him when he is disguised.
• Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket, the deadpan narrator and member of VFD who is tasked with explaining the events during the lives of the Baudelaires
• Malina Weissman as Violet Baudelaire, the eldest Baudelaire sibling, an inventor and talented mechanic
• Louis Hynes as Klaus Baudelaire, the middle Baudelaire child, interested in literature and books
• K. Todd Freeman as Arthur Poe, the family banker at Mulctuary Money Management and executor of the Baudelaire parents' estate, who is in charge of placing the Baudelaires in the care of a suitable guardian. He is often seen to be oblivious to the crimes around him despite the Baudelaire siblings telling him.
• Presley Smith as Sunny Baudelaire, the infant Baudelaire child with unnaturally strong teeth and eventually a love for cooking. Tara Strong provides Sunny's babbling sound effects, the meaning of which is often translated in subtitles. Smith's own voice was also used within the third season.
• Lucy Punch as Esmé Squalor (seasons 2–3), a glamorous, wealthy financial advisor, who becomes an ally and love interest for Count Olaf
• Dylan Kingwell as Duncan and Quigley Quagmire (main seasons 2–3; guest season 1), Isadora's brothers. Duncan is a keen journalist, while Quigley is Isadora and Duncan's long-lost sibling who was thought dead in the fire at the Quagmire home.
• Avi Lake as Isadora Quagmire (main season 2; guest seasons 1 & 3), Duncan and Quigley's sister who loves writing poetry

Recurring

• Will Arnett as the Quagmires' father, a man associated with VFD who is trying to return home to his children
• Cobie Smulders as the Quagmires' mother, a woman associated with VFD who is trying to return home to her children
• Usman Ally as Fernald the Hook-Handed Man, a member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe with hooks instead of hands
• Matty Cardarople as the Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender, a member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe who does not have a specific gender
• Cleo King as Eleanora Poe, Arthur Poe's wife and the editor-in-chief of The Daily Punctilio who loves pursuing sensationalist headlines
• John DeSantis as the Bald Man, a tall bald-headed man who is another member of Count Olaf's theatre troupe
• Jacqueline and Joyce Robbins as the White-Faced Women, two elderly twins who are members of Count Olaf's theatre troupe
• Sara Canning as Jacquelyn Scieszka, Mr. Poe's standoffish secretary and a member of VFD. She possesses a spyglass.
• Patrick Breen as Larry Your-Waiter, a member of VFD who is seen working as a waiter at various establishments the Baudelaires visit including the Anxious Clown, Prufrock Preparatory's cafeteria, Café Salmonella, and the Hotel Denouement's Indian restaurant
• Sara Rue as Olivia Caliban, a librarian at Prufrock Preparatory School who later enlists as a member of VFD when she becomes invested in the Baudelaires' plight and even becomes the latest Madame Lulu
• Nathan Fillion as Jacques Snicket, the dashing adventurer brother of Lemony Snicket and member of VFD who enlists Olivia Caliban to help the Baudelaires
• Kitana Turnbull as Carmelita Spats, an obnoxious, tutu-wearing student at Prufrock Preparatory School. She later becomes Olaf and Esmé's adoptive daughter.
• Allison Williams as Kit Snicket, the sister of Lemony and Jacques Snicket, member of VFD, and Count Olaf's former fiancée

Guest

Introduced in season 1

Daniel Handler cameos as a fish salesperson at Lake Lachrymose.

Introduced in season 2

Introduced in season 3

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

The first season adapts the first four books of the novel series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window and The Miserable Mill.

Season 2 (2018)

The second season adapts books five through nine of the novel series: The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival.

Season 3 (2019)

The third and final season adapts the final four books of the novel series in seven episodes: The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, and The End, with the final book being adapted as a single episode.

Production

Development

The thirteen A Series of Unfortunate Events novels, written by Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket from 1999 to 2006, achieved success in young adult fiction around the same time as the Harry Potter novels. As such, the Snicket books had been optioned to be filmed before they were published. This led to the development of a 2004 feature film, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which covered the narratives of the first three novels in the series. Barry Sonnenfeld, who has expressed his love for the series, was originally slated to direct the feature film and had hired Handler to write the screenplay. About 10 months into production, shortly after the casting of Jim Carrey as Olaf, there was a "big crisis", according to Handler, which caused producer Scott Rudin to walk away and Sonnenfeld left the production under unclear terms. With the film's completion in flux, its producing studios Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks fired Handler. While the film was eventually completed and released, sequels which would adapt the other novels in the series became unlikely due to "corporate shakeups" within DreamWorks, according to Handler, and the child actors that portrayed the Baudelaire children grew too old to star in a sequel.