Erik Mauro
Contributor
If you were a reader as a kid, you may have come across the A Series of Unfortunate Events series. Penned by Lemony Snicket, the pen name of author Daniel Handler. The series contains 13 books, all centered around the Baudelaire orphans, their enormous fortune that their parents left behind after dying in a fire and one very sinister villain, Count Olaf, who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune.
The first three books in the series were already put into a movie, where Jim Carrey took on the role of Olaf, but that movie has nothing on the Netflix series.
Neil Patrick Harris now plays the role of Olaf, and he is award-worthy. A perfect blend of evil and humor, he shows the true sadistic nature of Olaf, playing multiple roles with finesse. Olaf shows up in disguise at every place the Baudelaire’s end up, fooling everybody in the process, all while hatching yet another plan to get his hands on that fortune. Watching the series, Harris adds in some subtle humor at just the right moments, keeping the character fresh and showing a little of Harris’ true comic personality.
Malina Weissman plays Violet, the eldest Baudelaire. An inventor who creates various machines and tools throughout the series to help get the orphans out of many trouble spots. Klaus, the middle child, played by Louis Hynes, is an avid reader who uses his knowledge of books to help Violet come up with ideas for inventions. Sunny, the youngest Baudelaire, is an infant with unusually sharp teeth which are used for biting routinely, as a good self defense mechanism or a way of helping the elder two with their inventions.
The series is going to be three seasons, with every book made up of two episodes. One book is about equivalent to a two-hour movie. If you read the books, there are numerous times throughout seasons 1 and 2 where you think ‘I remember that from the book!’
If you read every book, or even just one, then the series is a must-watch. Even if you didn’t read the books, the series is very entertaining from a story standpoint. Watching throughout and actively rooting for the Baudelaires to come out on top and defeat Count Olaf once again, A Series of Unfortunate Events is not an unfortunate watch.
