A Series Of Unfortunate Events Review: The Bad Beginning (Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2)
The tale of the Baudelaire siblings gets off to its sorry (but stupendous) start on Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2, “The Bad Beginning.”
The book series upon which the show is based has a passionate fan base that has been eagerly awaiting a screen adaptation, since sequels to the 2004 movie never came to be, and the first two episodes of the Netflix series give fans an adaptation of the first book with enough new material and twists to keep them surprised.
A Series of Unfortunate Events isn’t exactly a comedy, but with Neil Patrick Harris starring, Count Olaf has his fair share of comical moments in “The Bad Beginning.”
Maybe too many comical moments.
Olaf can be a ridiculous character at times, yes, but he’s also a man who repeatedly threatens to kill a 14-year-old girl, a 12-year-old boy and an infant.
Perhaps it seemed necessary to give him humorous moments to counterbalance some of his more horrific acts — like when he strikes Klaus across the face.
But if that was the intention, it backfires.
Knowing the cruelty that Olaf is capable of just makes it harder to laugh at his jokes and one-liners, no matter how funny the writers try to make him.
When Olaf is in disguise in later episodes, the humor comes from how ridiculous his fake identities are and the fact that he’s able to fool everyone.
When he’s just being himself, most of the jokes come at the expense of the Baudelaires — he makes them do some outrageous chore or he says something blatantly villainous that goes over the head of another adult who could help.
Other jokes are a bit over-the-top. One scene involves Olaf singing about himself with his acting troupe backing him up. The whole song just seems to scream “Neil Patrick Harris is Count Olaf, so he’s going to sing because he can.”
That being said, his more sinister moments are truly sinister. The previously mentioned scene when he hits Klaus is hard to watch, but it’s one of the first scenes where he stops being “Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf” and just starts being Count Olaf.
Even though Harris dominates much of the first two hours, “The Bad Beginning” still gives the rest of the main cast a chance to shine, particularly Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket.
The use of Snicket speaking directly into the camera is one of the best things about the adaptation. Snicket isn’t just the narrator within the story. The way he addresses the viewer directly is one of the essential elements of A Series Of Unfortunate Events. The story simply isn’t the same without it.
While a simple voiceover could have sufficed, having him actually on the screen — near the Baudelaires, watching over them, but not really there — is a wonderful and heartbreaking way of bringing the character to life.
Warburton delivers his narration with just the right mix of a matter-of-fact attitude and a little bit of resigned sadness.
K. Todd Freeman, meanwhile, brings an unexpected warmth to Mr. Poe, who could have easily been played as incredibly dull.
And of course, the Baudelaires themselves — Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes have excellent chemistry as Violet and Klaus. It’s easy to believe both are extraordinarily clever and intelligent. The roles demand profound loss and fear, as well as determination to mask barely contained frustration.
Plus, their most common scene partner is Neil Patrick Harris himself, and they’re both more than able to hold their own opposite him. Hynes is particularly fantastic to watch, especially considering — according to IMDb — the young actor only has one other credit under his belt.
Plot-wise, “The Bad Beginning” is pretty faithful to the book, but with a few major additions.
The V.F.D. becomes a plot point later in the book series, but the Netflix adaptation has introduced the mysterious organization right off the bat, including the spyglass element that wasn’t featured in the books and was added for the 2004 movie.
It’s a welcome change, particularly since with it comes Jacquelyn, a completely new character who is secretly watching over the Baudelaires and fighting to keep Olaf at bay. It adds a little extra excitement for book fans who already know all of the other twists that are ahead.
Along with Jacquelyn, even if he isn’t around for very long, it’s a delight to get to actually meet Gustav, a man who is only mentioned and never seen in the books.
The episodes also feature brief surprise appearances by Cobie Smulders and Will Arnett, who are simply credited as Mother and Father — another new mystery for all viewers.
“The Bad Beginning” is sure to please book fans, as a wonderful adaptation with some adjustments to make things a little more engaging for television, and folks just discovering A Series of Unfortunate Events are likely to get hooked, despite the show’s insistence that you look away.
What did you think of “The Bad Beginning”? Do you have any theories on Jacquelyn? Share with us in the comments below!
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A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
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Katie Houlis
Katie is a recent college graduate who spent most of her free time at school binge-watching shows like Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fringe, and Hannibal. She has watched every single episode of Lost at least ten times each (yes, even “Stranger In A Strange Land”). Current favorites include a bunch of comedies, lots of superhero shows, and a few shows with quite a bit of murder in them.