There are uplifting shows out there that you could watch instead.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The episode opens with a scene showing Count Olaf making a makeshift disguise and going into the bank to convince Mr. Poe to give him the Baudelaires', since, rather surprisingly, Poe was actually going to give the children to Dr. Montgomery before Yessica Haircut convinces him of the "true" meaning of "closest living relative".
- Adults Are Useless: Mr. Poe brushes off the Baudelaires' complaints about living with Count Olaf. Jacquelyn tries to avert this trope, to little overall success.
- Artistic License – Law: Klaus reasons that Violet's signature in the marriage is invalid because she wrote with her left hand when she is right-handed, with Justice Strauss validating his claim. A real lawyer would tell you that they are both Right for the Wrong Reasons, as a contract written under duress and/or coercion (like dangling your baby sister up a tall tower with threats of killing her if she does not sign it) are invalid. As useless as the adults here are, the fact that Olaf admitted to this in front of an audience can be counted as evidence to this claim.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The acting during the play is clunky and awful from all involved, and the audience clearly dislikes it.
- Blatant Lies: On return to his mansion, Count Olaf presents a batch of cupcakes which he claims he made for the Baudelaires. Sunny instantly calls him on the fact that they're obviously store-bought.
- Chekhov's Gag: Back in the previous episode, Olaf claimed he is occasionally a consultant. Here we see he pretended to be a consultant in order to fool Mr. Poe into making him the Baudelaire's legal guardian.
- Chekhov's Skill: The Hook-Handed Man is the only person besides Klaus and Violet who can comprehend Sunny's gibberish. When Count Olaf leaves him standing guard over her, he gets bored and challenges her to poker - leading to a series of increasingly absurd bets that end in him delivering her to her siblings unharmed.Hook-Handed Man: (Tied to a chair) Okay, if I win the next round, you give me a backrub. If you win, I put the tape over my mouth.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Olaf's hook-handed goon is far and away the most competent member of the troupe - which is somewhat undercut every time he tries to slam a door or pull out a walkie-talkie menacingly only to fumble it.
- Foreshadowing:
- Dr. Montgomery is mentioned as being the Baudelaire children's actual closest living relative.
- Olaf wonders where his sugarbowl has gotten to.
- Heh Heh, You Said "X": Count Olaf chides Klaus for using the word 'titular', and then snickers to himself after saying it.
- Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue": Count Olaf's play seems to consist entirely of him declaring how handsome he is and other people fawning over him in various time periods.
- Lawful Stupid: Rather than drop Sunny to her death, the Hook-Handed Henchman delivers her to the theater after she trounces him at poker.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall:
- During his narration for the "Yessica Haircut" flashback Lemony mentions "television executives" among the groups who wondered how the Baudelaires ended up with Count Olaf.
- "I prefer the theater more than other mediums, such as streaming television."
- Line-of-Sight Name: When trying to get into Mister Poe's office in the prologue Olaf bluffs when Jacquelyn asks for his name and says he has an appointment under the name, Haircut. Yessica Haircut. Poe of course is dumb enough to buy this excuse.
- Mugged for Disguise: In the episodes opening scene Olaf is forced to make a makeshift disguise for himself when he finds out that none of his Troupe members remembered to bring the costumes with them. We are then treated to a scene of Olaf snatching various items of clothing from random passerby's on order to make his "Yessica Haircut" disguise.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Olaf repeatedly gets in Violet's space: stroking her hair, squeezing her shoulder, and attempting to stroke her face.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder:Olaf: You know what question I'm asked most often?Hook-Handed Henchman: "Will you please leave the premises"?
- Running Gag: Olaf mixing up literally and figuratively.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: As Klaus gives his apparently very eloquent and well-reasoned argument, Lemony states it contained the "apocryphal wisdom of Thurgood Marshall", a statement Justice Strauss repeats moments later.
- Take That!: "Who would trust a consultant?"
- Wham Shot: Lemony Snicket escaping through a window after hearing knocking on his door, indicating that he's been on the run the entire time. It will be revealed why in later installments of the series.
