A Series of Unfortunate Events TV Review

This show is based on a dozen or so books. It was made into a movie, which used the first three books to build up a plot.

I read every single book. Every. Single. One. It’s a maze of mystery and intrigue that continues until the very end. Am I bitter over the lack of an ending? Absolutely.

Those books drove me crazy. I made the mistake of thinking they were adventure stories with a super cool mystery that would be resolved in the end.

No.

These books are, quite literally, a series of unfortunate events.

Which is why it took me a couple weeks to make myself watch the show, but I’m glad I did. I’m not going to lie, part of that decision was because Neil Patrick Harris is legendary. But I also liked how storybook it looked, like a wacky cartoon.

It was dramatic in a cartoon soap opera kind of way, which helped me watch it without getting too worked up over the never ending disasters.

It was fun to see Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders be in another show together, though their characters never crossed paths. I loved her little moments with her husband, her making things and getting them out of trouble…her husband enjoying the adventure. Seriously, he did nothing. And that moment when you realize they aren’t who you thought they were, deep betrayal. But then it comes together in the end and it’s okay, or at least clever.

The three kids were adorable and smart and sad. They were perfect. Klaus is so intelligent and Violet just wants to take care of her siblings, which no 14 year old should have to do. They look very similar to the movie siblings, especially Violet, but they are definitely different. And the slew of guardians are just as quirky and tragic. Violet and Klaus are just trying to keep everyone alive, but no one seems to believe that children would know more than an adult. They are given impossible circumstances.

The only thing left to do is join some secret society and become spies…