A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 3

So there are good things I'm going to say about this season I swear, but I'm gonna be honest, at this point I'm just more excited for Neil Patrick Harris to move onto something more interesting. The only times I really see him anymore are when he's wearing that Count Olaf make up and get up and I think think that this character has stayed its welcome. It's time for Neil to move onto something else.

A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 3 starts directly after the events of Season 2. The Baudelaire Orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny (played by Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, and Presley Smith respectively) are still on the run from the clutches of Count Olaf (played by Neil Patrick Harris) and his henchmen, including Esme Squalor (played by Lucy Punch) and Carmalita Spats (played by Kitana Turnbull).

Honestly, it's a little hard to do a recap of the last season because the second season was really all over the place. The Baudelaire orphans were slowly discovering secrets about their parents, the nature of their murder, and the secret organization they were apart of called VFD (Volunteer Fire Department) but the previous season was handcuffed by the fact that a lot of the reveals needed to come to light in the final few episodes and that's very much what happens in Season 3.

The third season really ditches the formula that was getting tiresome in Season 2 where the Baudelaires are put in the custody of a new often well meaning, but incompetent guardian, Count Olaf shows up but in a new disguise, shenanigans ensue, Olaf is foiled but the orphans need to find a new guardian for some reason. I mentioned in my review of Season 2 that that formula was getting really annoying and I'm really glad they ditched it. Instead, the show focuses on the orphans actually uncovering some of the mysteries behind VFD, actually taking action to help themselves instead of just enough to get them thrown into the custody of an incompetent guardian again, as well as delving into the history of Count Olaf and his background.

In some ways, this felt a little bit more like Count Olaf's season as we discover more about what brought him to where he is now, the mentorship he had under the woman with hair but no beard and the man with a beard and no hair (played by Beth Grant and Richard E Grant respectively).

They do quite a bit of villain redemption retconning in this season and some of it works while some of it seemed a little rushed or uncharacteristic. It's one of many things that I have to take a step back and remember that at the end of the day, this is a kids film. Whether it's accurate with the books or not (which I think it is but I haven't read the book so I have no idea), Count Olaf (and while we're at it, The Woman with Hair but no Beard and the Man with a beard and no hair) was never going to be the full blown villain you'd expect from a regular story. It's a kids story and I have to remember that. While these books came out while I was a kid, the show is aimed at kids and I need to recognize that more.

Another new character was Kit Snicket (played by Allison Williams).

This could be up for debate but Kit could potentially be the hovering adult character that is tailing the Baudelaire orphans who is the least worthless. In the first season it was Jacquelyn (played by Sara Canning) who disappeared from the show all together in this season. In season 2 it was Jaque Snicket (played by Nathan Fillion) who was fun but ultimately useless. And in this season it was Kit who I'm kind of mixed on.

On one hand, I think Allison Williams is a great actress and I have really enjoyed almost every role she's ever played. But on the other hand, these characters are very much like Gandalf in The Hobbit. They show up, they seem like they could be helpful but they're written out of the book in order to help the main character grow. But in a show like this, you need to fill up the time and the best way to do that is put them through some hijinxs that might be funny... but probably aren't. I'm not saying Allison Williams was bad or Kit Snicket wasn't a good character because we knew a lot more about her than any of the other characters I mentioned, but she was only just fine.

Once again, the show has a special guest of the episode where they have a relatively better known adult actor be the character the Baudelaires need to work through to solve their episodic issue. There are a few less than usual in this season but a lot of the living ones from the previous seasons come back and it's kind of fun to see all the characters from the previous episodes come back.

But by far the best character in this season, and possibly in the entire show was Max Greenfield as the Denouement Brothers.

I'm honestly a little baffled on why his character(s) worked for me so much but for some reason they did and that episode was the highlight of the show season for me. Without giving too much away, he plays a pair of twins named Earnest and Frank. One is good and one is wicked, the Baudelaires need to figure out which one is which. It was this moment that I was thoroughly entertained and I thought the show had finally hit the right chord. This show has always been ridiculous. In a way, it's kind of like Alice and Wonderland, it doesn't follow the logic of our world and you're doing yourself a disservice if you try and rationalize something like an organization putting their faith in a brother who could easily be mistaken for the wicked brother who is on the opposite side. I don't know, for everything that didn't work in this entire show, this really worked and I was invested in that episode in a way I hadn't been since the first season.

I also think Max Greenfield was having a ball with this role. I mentioned in my previous reviews that Neil Patrick Harris (and maybe Patrick Warburton) really seem like they know exactly what kind of show they're in and they go nuts with it. Max Greenfield knows exactly what kind of movie he's in and he milks the hell out of it.

The kids are pretty much the same as they were in the previous seasons. They're okay at delivering dead pan lines that utilize some kind of funny deadpan humor, but when there are super emotional moments or they're supposed to be happy, it really seems like they're trying really hard to act.

I was very happy that the Quagmires weren't in this show nearly at all. They really only have a presence in two sets of episodes and even then their exposure in this show is pretty limited. That was a drastic improvement over the last show.

But I also felt like the show had a little bit more of a purpose this time around and that was to uncover the mystery of VFD, the sugar bowl, their parents, and in a sense, Count Olaf's past. And unlike the other seasons where this was kind of the underlying goal, this season actually reaches that goal and it feels satisfying to see them reach the finish line... sort of.

The show felt more streamlined and delved more into the characters backstory because it finally gave itself the opportunity to do so. Neil Patrick Harris is a good actor but I felt like in the second season he needed to think up new creative characters and they were starting to get tired. In this he barely wears any costumes and he can focus more on being Count Olaf, which I actually think is where he shines the most.

I think at the end of the day I was confused on who the target audience of this show really was. On one hand, the story is pretty simplistic and feels very much like a Roald Dahl children's story. But on the other hand it's got a very black comedy feel with some dry comedy that might go over kids heads. The book series came out when people now in their twenties were in elementary school but the series doesn't go the whole 9 yards to make it mature enough for those who would know the subject material the best.

As I go farther in the show, I thought it was going to try and be similar to Doctor Horrible Singalong Blog, especially with the periodic song numbers that NPH would throw in. And to a certain extent it is very similar because both shows show absurd caricatures with the main protagonist playing it straight, unsure how they got into this mad world. But whereas Doctor Horrible Sing Along Blog was made for adults, this is trying to capture a dark comedic tone but maintain a very kid friendly environment and story.

I think as far as seasons go, I'd put the first season at the top of my list due to its unique formula that wasn't tired yet, and the larger than life feeling environments that they originally went to in each episode. The disguises that Olaf used hadn't overstayed their welcome, and it was still early enough that you rooted for the kids without it feeling formulaic. The third season comes in second because it ditched the tired formula and owned the fact that this is all absurd. And the second season is in last place because it just drifts between what worked in the first season but wants to reveal secrets but can't.

I think as far as it goes for the show overall, I'm just conflicted. I don't think this is a story that needed 13 books to be complete. But at the same time the ending of it and the message they have in the final episode actually kind of touched me. The whole lesson of the show is that a series of unfortunate events is all about perspective. Bad things are going to happen, they could happen very frequently that it feels like the world is against you, but staying in a safe place and not experiencing those bad things will never allow you to grow and I liked that message. Even though the series felt a little dragged out and I was really ready for the show to conclude by the end, I am glad I know the story that Daniel Handler started.

It is flawed for sure, but if you're looking for a PG adventure show that is a lot smarter than Fuller House, you won't really go wrong with A Series of Unfortunate Events. I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids and much older kids are going to think its lame, but there's a sweet spot in there I'm sure somewhere out there can find.

This was clearly a passion project of Neil Patrick Harris's and I'm glad he got to do it. I remember when I heard that this was going to happen and I heard NPH was going to be Count Olaf. It seemed weird at the time but I do think he did as good with this role as he could.

I really do hope he moves onto bigger and better things after this. I think he's been preoccupied with this show that he hasn't done other things and now he has that opportunity and I'm looking forward to whatever it is. He was consistently the best part of the show and if someone forced me to give an absolute plus of the show, it would be Harris.

But those are my thoughts on A Series of Unfortunate Events. I feel like I could have said more, but I'll be honest, I want to be done talking about this show. It's time. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!