Don’t Look Away From Netflix’s New Original Series

As Netflix original series’ go, they rarely disappoint and “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” is no different. Starring Neil Patrick Harris as the comedic yet threatening primary villain Count Olaf (no, not the snowman), this show provides a blend of strange, dark and gothic humor. While this series is classified as a comedy it still holds true to its title and what is left of the lives of the Baudelaire children after their parents and former wealthy lives are all lost to a fire, which is truly unfortunate and downright depressing.
The catchy theme song that introduces each episode has the same mysterious yet light-hearted quality like that of “Gravity Falls.” The narrator of the story, none other than Lemony Snicket himself (played by Patrick Warburton), gives the show a very “The Twilight Zone” feel. You can never guess what’s coming next and the mystery that follows around our main protagonists Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes), and Sunny Baudelaire (Presley Smith), keeps the watchers on their toes.

The world that this series is built around is both realistic and absurd, from hypnosis to deadly man-eating leeches;., there is no line that this series is not willing to cross. Despite some of the more unrealistic and comedic qualities of the plot, the show never fails to realistically deal with mature themes such as grief and disappointment.

This is the kind of show that while it greatly appeals to children it doesn’t dumb-down any aspect of the message that the story is trying to convey. It utilizes its world and characters to weave a story that is always changing, always interesting, and always honest. While the show has fun with its wacky villain and optimistic children, its characters can still make you sad as well as it can make you laugh.

Compared to its 2004 big screen predecessor, the TV series follows much of the same events; however, the show is much more complicated with misleading characters and plot twists. Unlike the movie the show picked a real fleshed out character to play Lemony Snicket and he not only provides narration to the story, but adds insight and dry humor to the Baudelaire children’s story. Not only is the TV show outstandingly diverse in its cast, its plot is more complex and mysterious and the characters are more memorable.

As this series progresses it seemed that more questions were asked rather than answered and this has left for more than enough room for a second season. This show was an artful mix of endearing and truly depressing, nevertheless, while this is a series of unfortunate events it is a series well worth the watch.