Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events"

[Benji]

Okay, watching episode one now and I'm only about half way through, but this is everything I hoped for. Delightful stuff. It reminds me a lot of Pushing Daisies with it's presentation, which is ace by me.

[Henderson]

This isn't a branch off of Lemony Snicket is it?

[Benji]

5 minutes ago, Henderson said:

This isn't a branch off of Lemony Snicket is it?

It's an adaptation, not a branch off (assuming you mean that like a spin-off).

[Henderson]

Yeah, that's pretty much what I meant. I'll have to check it out, sounds interesting.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

Please tell me it's amazing because I haven't watched it yet and really want it to be amazing.

[Benji]

Finished Episode 4 last night...

Spoiler

Uncle Monty

I really love the two episode per story format, it breaks it down into good chunks so you can watch it and enjoy the episode, but not feel like you have to take some real time out for it.

I also realised why it feels so "Pushing Daisies"-like. Because one of the developers was also an exec and director on Pushing Daisies. So yeah, for anyone who loved PD, this is absolutely the show for you.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

I've watched the first two and I love it. NPH is a fantastic Olaf.

[Benji]

Oh, I also just realised that Violet is the actress who plays the younger version of Kara in Supergirl. She's awesome.

[Jimmy]

Uncle Monty was so brilliantly cast. 

I'm currently five episodes in and really enjoying the nostalgia of watching it brought to life - so many lovely details have survived the adaptation and there's a real joy in seeing the story realised. With that said, I don't feel like it's really hit a particularly strong stride yet - it's definitely enjoyable watching but I think it struggles with the tone slightly, mostly that I don't think the child actors are quite good enough to convincingly ride the so-good-its-bad vibe or play the serious foil to all the ridiculousness, but they're improving with each episode. It quite obviously contrasts with someone like NPH, who has a perfect understanding of the tone: his Olaf perfectly balances ridiculous and creepy. I'm really enjoying it so far though, even already, I feel like future series have a lot of big potential. 

Ep 1 - 4(?) film / sort-of book spoiler. I think this is basically a spoiler from Episode One, but just to be safe. 

 

Got to say I don't like the addition of being shown that the parents are alive - I always loved the mystery of not knowing and that each little clue meant so much more because we were really blind to the backstory. I think it makes their plight slightly less sympathetic (in a way) and just ruins some of the tension. I know it has the author's backing - so interested to see what comes of it - but it's an odd decision in my opinion.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Jimmy

[Benji]

RE: your spoiler Jimmy (episode 1-4 again).

Spoiler

As someone going in blind I can give another view point on that - I find knowing about the parents actually adds to it for me, because it adds extra stakes to the story. Snickett tells you over and over that this is a sad tale with no happy ending, so is he lying to the viewer? Is he telling the truth as he knows it, but doesn't know what truly became of them and they all got a happy ending? Does he know the horrid truth along which includes what truly happened to their parents and that makes their survival so far all the more tragic that they will not get their happy ending?

Either way I'd be expecting their parents to return since we never saw bodies, because that is the rule - unless you see it, don't believe it, and even if you saw it, don't believe it (and even more so in something as fantastical as this and with the family being as clever and inventive as they are supposed to be).

 

[LittleDaniel]

If I didn't really care for the books, should I just pass this on then?

[Your Mom]

The theme song told me I should turn away and rational good people wont want to see this so I complied and turned it off  

[MalaCloudy Black]

I have no emotional attachment to the source or anything, but why does this show seem to be so divisive? Like half the posts I see around the internet are "NPH was a terrible decision, this show sucks, I hate it" and the other half are like "great casting decision, love the show". It seems like there's an equal amount of people on both sides who are fans of the books too, which makes it even more puzzling to me.

[Jimmy]

I think people will struggle with the tone of the show, which is hard to put into words - ridiculous seems apt, but also a disservice to some of the nuanced moments - it's a very big show that I think will continue to go either way for people. Having finished the sixth episode, I'm still in the same place, it's a really fun watch, but still lacking the magic spark for me. 

I wasn't a big fan of the casting of Aunt Josephine, or potentially how she was played. I think this kind of material is incredibly hard to handle and I don't think a lot of actors can ham it up without losing all of their believability. NPH can do it, the actor playing Uncle Monty could do it, but Aunt Josephine grated in that last episode. 

10 hours ago, LittleDaniel said:

If I didn't really care for the books, should I just pass this on then?

I'd save give it a go - I think you'll quickly know whether it's for you or not. As Benji said, he hadn't read the books and is a big fan. 

[Monkey D. Lars]

How is my main man NPH in this one? 

[Jimmy]

Ep 7 spoiler

Ha, they got me with the misdirection of the parents. Nice.

[Tigerstyle]

Finished it, was great, would watch a second series

[I Don't Mind]

I watched the first episode and definitely struggled with it. The tone was certainly a hurdle for me, as it just kept getting increasingly dark and no longer felt like a show aimed at kids like I expected. I never saw the film or read the books, so I don't know if I'm missing the benefit of nostalgia.

Tone aside, I really didn't like it for being so true to it's title.

Olaf tortures the kids from start to finish until he's slapping them around. And there's no comeuppance. No even tease of comeuppance. The parents scene at the very end didn't even provide me any hope. I'm not expecting any stories to be resolved in one episode, but there wasn't even any character growth, arc, anything. It didn't feel like an episode, it felt like the first part to a very, very, very long movie. I don't have the resolve to watch kids get tortured for 4+ hours before they start putting their brilliance to work to start at least Dennis The Menacing Olaf.

Outside of the story, I sympathized with the girl playing Violet. I hope she knew ahead of time how much she'd have to carry that baby, who is adorable, but a chubby little thing. Not bodyshaming it, but Violet's a whispy girl. That's got to be taxing

[Jimmy]

 

I mean, within fifty minutes, the siblings lose their parents and have to start being resourceful out of necessity instead of for pleasure, that's a pretty huge change and character development right off the bat. I didn't read the episode that way at all - devoid of hope etc - although it's worth noting that episodes are always two-parters, so a lot more understandably happens in the second half of this story. 

Edited January 20, 2017 by Jimmy

[Jimmy]

Finally finished it a couple of days ago and was completely satisfied - it still never hit soaring heights for me, but it was reliably entertaining and everyone in front of the camera seemed to improve as the series went on and they nailed down the kind of tone they wanted. I'd happily watch more & hopefully they can take the whole thing to the next level.