Line #52 YMMV/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2017


1	!YMMV Tropes For ''Series/{{A Series of Unfortunate Events\|2017}}''
2	!!YMMV items with their own pages:
3	[[index]]
4	* [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/{{A Series of Unfortunate Events\|2017}} Alternative Character Interpretation]]
5	[[/index]]
6	-----
7	* AlternateAesopInterpretation: Various characters like Olaf and the Hook-Handed Man repeatedly make the case that BlackAndWhiteMorality is a childish way of looking at the world, citing the Baudelaires doing morally dubious things to survive (lying, stealing, property damage, etc) as proof. Thing is, the people making that case were the ones who pushed the Baudelaires into those situations in the first place for selfish reasons like greed and pettiness, so it comes across as them making AdHominem attacks on their victims to justify their malicious behavior just like any [[TheBully bully]] would. Not to mention that whenever the Baudelaires do play by the rules, the villains just cheat, the more morally upstanding adults and authority figures too stupid to do anything about it. So a case can be made that one can and should make moral decisions, but there will always be situations [[MortonsFork where there are no good options]].
8	* AssPull: The adaptation of "The End" [[spoiler:omits the scene in which the Incredibly Deadly Viper is shown to have traveled to the island on the raft along with Kit, meaning that its appearance in the climactic scene comes across as something of a DeusExMachina to those not familiar with the books.]]
9	* AwesomeMusic: [[https://youtu.be/0GeCPanRHU0?si=U6ExhhADX57Lqj_f The opening theme]] is quite a creepy tune that gives you the idea of what is to come in the show, the episodes themselves judging from the forward recaps, and that it would be best to just "look away" to spare yourself the torment and heartbreak.
10	** [[https://youtu.be/Rs96Ksod88M?si=VDEzmjh68ScYxAgp Not How The Story Goes]], a quite tear-jerking and melancholic melody that occurs in the season one finale, which tells just how this story of three orphan children who have a serious case of bad luck is not as light-hearted as the other tales witnessed. [[https://youtu.be/s83C2mROgzw?si=w-4ANs47hZTjXKsv The Season 3 version]] isn't any better as the mood and usage of more orchestral instruments is a lot more somber which gives you the message that this season is the last of the series, and the various pictures throughout the show symbolize how far the viewer has come into this various show and that it's all coming to an end soon.
11	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
12	** Count Olaf's henchmen. Some fans love them and feel they get the best lines. Some fans hate the changes made to them from the books, namely the white-faced women being so elderly, or the bald man being large and dim when in the book he was one of the more clever and meaner of the henchmen. A few fans were also disappointed with how much they changed the person of the indeterminate gender. On the other hand this may have been necessary considering that the portrayal can come across as offensive.
13	** Mr. Poe. Fans either LoveToHate him for how fathomlessly dim and incompetent he is, or just plain hate him as TheScrappy for being TooDumbToLive to the point of being horribly unlikable. How one feels about K. Todd Freeman's performance in the role tends to have a huge effect on how they view the character and his recurring presence on the show.
14	* BrokenBase:
15	** People seem to have very strong opinions on Violet's [[RealWomenDontWearDresses pink dress]], as the books explicitly stated that she hated the color pink.
16	** The CruelTwistEnding in [[spoiler:"The Miserable Mill Part 1"]] where we learn "Mother" and "Father" was actually [[spoiler: The Quagmire parents]] has upset some fans who felt they were falsely led on, while some found it brilliant considering one already knows [[spoiler: the Baudelaires' parents are dead]]. Some however see the twist as bringing the Baudelaires and [[spoiler: Quagmires]] closer regarding how well integrated the [[spoiler: VFD]] plot is.
17	** Which is better, this series, or the [[Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004 film]]? Or, do they each have some better aspects than the other?
18	** The songs. Some find them entertaining, whereas others think they are annoying distractions that are only there because of Neil Patrick Harris.
19	** The final season's resolution of many mysteries which were left ambiguous in the books. Some prefer the books' creepy sense of a vast mysterious conspiracy, while some are glad to finally get some answers.
20	* CatharsisFactor:
21	** As in the original books, [[spoiler:pretty much everyone who has made the Baudelaire children miserable perishing in the hotel fire.]]
22	** [[spoiler:Nearly twenty years after the series first began, the Baudelaires are ''finally'' confirmed to have gotten the happy ending they so badly deserve, traveling the world and having adventures, plus even Lemony gets his own closure when Beatrice II tracks him down.]]
23	** [[spoiler:Olaf [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech telling off Carmelita and Esmé]] is incredibly satisfying]], especially with the implication they [[TooDumbToLive go looking for the Sugar Bowl in the basement of the hotel while it's in flames]].
24	** [[spoiler:The Punctilio newspaper revealed to be going under at the end of the series and Ms. Poe shown arrested for false reporting. Considering how unsympathetic she was, it's nice to see some karma landing on her. Granted not so much with the implication her husband may have died in a fire but still...]]
25	* CompleteMonster: [[GreaterScopeVillain The Man with A Beard but No Hair and The Woman with Hair but No Beard]] are the [[PyroManiac arson loving]] heads of the dark side of V.F.D. who are the ones who orchestrated the schism from behind the scenes. Years before the events of the series, they [[TheCorrupter manipulated a vulnerable Olaf]] into becoming the arson-loving madman he is today so he can accomplish their goals. Years later, they would burn down V.F.D. Headquarters to prevent anyone from learning its secrets and to eliminate a potential survivor of a recent fire. After [[EstablishingCharacterMoment making an introduction]] by attempting to kill Kit Snicket and steal the Sugar Bowl from her, they would proceed to [[KickTheDog murder the Circus Freaks]] just so to see if Olaf would care. After criticizing Olaf for his antics and failures, they would then order him to [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten throw Sunny Baudelaire off of a cliff just to prove his villainy]]. They would then proceed to kidnap a group of Snow Scouts so they can force them to work for them and steal their fortunes, while also killing their parents by burning down their homes in a city-wide fire. They would later appear at Olaf and the Baudelaires' trial as judges where they try to have the Baudelaires declared guilty and have them arrested for the murder of Dewey Denouement. A pair of cruel, emotionally abusive arsonists whose [[TheDreaded aura of menace frightens even Olaf himself]], The Man with A Beard but No Hair, and The Woman with Hair but No Beard played a major role in Count Olaf's descent to villainy.
26	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
27	** How does Netflix promote the TV series? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF0dE5vliVU By preparing an elaborate cake of the Baudelaire Mansion, and then promptly burning it down!]]
28	** Eleanora Poe cheerfully showing off the Baudelaire Mansion fire getting the front page, all while blissfully oblivious to the upset looks on the Baudelaires' faces.
29	** The Hook-handed Man eating out of Uncle Montgomery's fridge, [[spoiler:who was just murdered by Count Olaf]], at the protest of Klaus.
30	--->'''Klaus:''' That's Uncle Monty's food. ''Stop eating his food!''\
31	'''Hook-handed Man:''' I just wanted a few peaches.
32	** The ending to "The Miserable Mill: Part 1" is both cruel and hilarious in how it crushes the audience's expectations. Especially given all the [[RedHerring Red Herrings]] leading up to it.
33	** When Klaus says to Charles that he is having a terrible childhood, all Charles does is say "Okay," and then slowly closes the door on him.
34	** This exchange:
35	--->'''Count Olaf:''' I hope I can prove myself to be the father you never had.\
36	'''Klaus:''' We had a father.\
37	'''Count Olaf:''' Yes, I know. And a mother. Remarkable woman. Flammable.
38	** And this one:
39	--->'''Klaus:''' You said to arrive at sundown. So we're not actually late.\
40	'''Count Olaf:''' That's curious. Someone just referred to you as the "late Baudelaires." Maybe they were talking about your parents.
41	** This exchange between Olaf and the Baudelaires:
42	--->'''Klaus:''' Our parents taught us how to survive!\
43	'''Olaf''': Well, I guess those who can't do, teach.
44	** In general, the remarkably cruel jokes about the Baudelaires being orphans.
45	** The Volunteers Fighting Disease cheerfully singing to patients who are clearly ill or in terrible pain, unaware that it's not doing anything to make them feel better at all.
46	* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Mr. Poe is often assumed by fans to have [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia prosopagnosia]] due to his point-blank failure to recognise Count Olaf, failure to realise that Jacques Snicket isn't Count Olaf, the fact that he can't name any of Count Olaf's identifying features other than his unibrow and ankle tattoo, and his failure to recognise Sunny in "The Penultimate Peril".
47	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
48	** Olaf's Theater Troupe gets some of the most hilarious lines in the series. With Matty Cardarople's Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender so much so that they were SparedByTheAdaptation in the Heimlich Hospital fire.
49	** Carmelita Spats is far more popular than in the books thanks to Kitana Turnbull's AffablyEvil and quasi-StepfordSmiler performance, with many fans looking forward to how her acting career could be built further after making such a big early splash.
50	** Larry Your-Waiter and Jacqueline were popular enough to be brought back in Season 2 and their involvement with VFD was expanded upon.
51	** Olivia Caliban and Jacques Snicket, due to them being genuinely noble people and more fleshed out than their book counterparts. [[spoiler: Fans were ''upset'' when the two died as well]].
52	** This version of Uncle Monty might be the most popular version of the already popular character given his wittiness and increased competence against Olaf and his troupe.
53	** Babs at the Heimlich Hospital has her fans for not being quite as useless as most of the non-VFD adults and being humorously neurotic.
54	* EpilepticTrees: Popular theories before the completion of the show included:
55	** Some book fans suspected that apparent CanonForeigner Jacquelyn was actually a GenderFlip of Jacques Snicket, a rename of Kit Snicket, or a CompositeCharacter of both. [[spoiler:{{Jossed}} in Season 2, where they both appear. Ironically, Season 3 reveals her to be another [[CanonCharacterAllAlong book character]], namely the Duchess of Winnipeg, which almost nobody predicted.]]
56	** Some people theorized the possible "[[spoiler:survivor of the fire]]" could ''actually'' be one of the Baudelaire parents considering the show's attempts to deviate from the books. [[spoiler: {{Jossed}} in the final season, where it turned out to be Quigley Quagmire like in the books]].
57	** The identity of the previous holder of the "Madame Lulu" position was debated. Some argued she was the same person as the book character Kit Snicket, while others argued she was another CanonForeigner because she was not evidently pregnant like Kit in the books. [[spoiler: The final season reveals that "Madame Lulu" is indeed Kit Snicket, and she is indeed pregnant though wearing a fairly baggy leather jacket]].
58	** A theory popular on Website/{{Tumblr}} is known as "Violet Snicket," and postulates that Violet is actually ''Lemony's'' biological daughter, and Beatrice was already pregnant with her when she got together with Betrand.
59	* FanDislikedExplanation: Some of the revelations of mysteries which went unresolved in the books fall into this for portions of the fandom (see BrokenBase). Of these, [[spoiler:the contents of the Sugar Bowl]] and the adaptational revelation that [[spoiler:Ishmael was the founder of VFD]] seem to be the most contentious. That the former reveal should get this reaction is especially interesting, as the show [[spoiler:simply confirmed what had always been the most popular fan theory, that the bowl contains a cure for the Medusoid Mycelium derived from the horseradish/apple hybrid tree on The Island]].
60	* FandomRivalry: A minor one with TheFilmOfTheBook. Fans of the franchise seem to be mainly split on the casting and whether there was too much humor and not enough darkness. MisaimedFandom plays part of a role in this.
61	* FanficFuel: The last two episodes provide many. Who survived the fire in the hotel and who didn't? What adventures did the Baudelaires have after leaving the island on board the Beatrice (we only know they encountered a group of female pirates)?
62	* {{Fanon}}: While just as in the books, fans have their own theories as to who did and didn't make it out of the [[spoiler:Hotel Denouement fire]], there's one character that most fans agree survived and that is [[spoiler:Carmelita. Fans tend to feel that, as bratty as she is, she's still a kid who could grow out of it, not to mention her parents being murdered by Beard But No Hair and Hair But No Beard, and as such she didn't deserve to die along with Esme]].
63	* GeniusBonus:
64	** Several of the names and words used are very obscure references. For example, "Mulctuary" is a very uncommon adjective that means "that punishes by fine"; i.e. "Money management that punishes by fine".
65	** Jacquelyne advises Larry to recite something by Jack London while locked in the freezer. He goes with ''Literature/ToBuildAFire'', which is about a man freezing to death.
66	** Mr. Poe mentions the story "Literature/TheLottery", by Shirley Jackson, believing it to be just a story about drawing lots. He is clearly not at all familiar with the story, in which the winner of the titular lottery is killed by the village, making up for a grim comedy.
67	* GrowingTheBeard: The first season was well-received, as the episodes that adapt the first 3 books in the series took cues from both the books and movie on what to keep and what could be changed, as well as incorporating the [=VFD=] subplot earlier than it was introduced in the books. However, some of the VFD stuff was either contrived or forced in rather than organically woven in better and some of the writing was hit or miss. The second season, now that it's no longer in the movie's shadow and adapted books that originally had the subplot in them, as well as having more interesting and intricate plots to adapt and improvements to the writing and some of the acting, is overall much better in its production than the first.
68	* HarsherInHindsight: The show directly acknowledges a case from the books, in which Josephine's fear of real estate agents was said to be irrational because nothing bad had ever come out of the industry. In the meantime, we'd gotten the 2007 housing bubble collapse, so in the show Snicket still says the line, but then gets a look on his face that says "Why did I just say that?"
69	* HePannedItNowHeSucks: Just like his reviews of ''Series/{{Fargo}}'', Zach Handlen of The AV Club got a lot of heat from fans for stubbornly clinging to his own preconceived notions of what the show should be, and refusing to engage with the kind of show it actually is. There's also his just plain bizarre insistence on acting like he has no idea where the story could be going, while also openly talking about how he's read the entire book series, which no one has any idea what to make of.
70	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Patrick Warburton's casting was met with a lot of skepticism, but he quickly won a lot of fans over with his ability to keep a perfect straight face during Daniel Handler's deliberately stuffy and overwrought dialogue, while injecting a tinge of melancholy that has raised interest in what he could do with a straight dramatic role.
71	* HesJustHiding: [[spoiler: Larry Your-Waiter's death]] was just ambiguous enough that many fans believe he survived, and many have pointed out that [[spoiler: scientifically speaking, he would've had plenty of time to escape before the chili killed him.]]
72	** There's a WMG tab speculating that Gustav survived his fall into the pond, although the fact that he never showed up again makes this doubtful.
73	* HilariousInHindsight:
74	** The [[spoiler: Quagmire]] parents are [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie Batman and Wonder Woman!]] Or if you prefer, Batman and [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Robin]].
75	** In "The Carnivorous Carnival," Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf takes on the guise of a circus ringmaster. About a year and a half later, Harris would [[https://pagesix.com/2019/10/21/neil-patrick-harris-joins-the-circus/ become an actual guest ringmaster for the Big Apple Circus]].
76	* HoYay:
77	** Between Jacques and Larry in "The Austere Academy Part 2". Jacques carries an almost frozen Larry to safety in a BridalCarry, when they run into Carmelita, Jacques gives her a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech for being mean to his friend and as they walk away, Larry calls Jacques "My hero". It's also quite clear that Jacques and Larry are close throughout the episode.
78	** A one sided example between the Hook Handed Man and Count Olaf. The former brings the latter coffee and offers to spend the night with him (as in, by his side while they make the orphans run) and even puts one of his hooks on the former's knee.
79	** Esmé gets [[LesYay very close]] to "Lulu's" face when threatening her.
80	** In the flashback to the opera, Esmé gazes adoringly at Beatrice while she's performing and later calls her "darling".
81	* IKnewIt: The series confirms the most popular fan theory about the contents of the Sugar Bowl: [[spoiler:the cure for [[SyntheticPlague the Medusoid Mycelium]]]].
82	* ImprovedSecondAttempt:
83	** A common criticism leveled at the book series is that the sheer amount of misery makes it a case of TooBleakStoppedCaring and some readers plain give up on it. While the show didn't completely escape accusations of this from some, others praised it for being whimsical/outlandish enough not to go too far with it.
84	** The first four books are extremely episodic, with the hints of a broader developing story only beginning in the fifth. The show integrates the VFD plot right from the start and the four stories are tied together much more tightly.
85	** Aunt Josephine was more or less considered a selfish character in ''The Wide Window'' due to her willingness to [[spoiler:give the kids to Count Olaf to save herself]]. In the series, however, [[spoiler:she stands up to Count Olaf and rips him a new one in a misguided way]], a far cry from her book counterpart.
86	** The series does away with the bit in "The Ersatz Elevator" that many fans found too horribly contrived even for this series, where Violet and Klaus actively stop the Quagmires from explaining the entire VFD mystery and then find them gone before they can follow up on it.
87	** Some people found the Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender in the book to be offensive when combined with FatBastard. The show reworks the Henchperson as a lethargic {{Cloudcuckoolander}} with several HiddenDepths, who was much better received by audiences.
88	** The show gives a much more believable but remaining misinformed reason for the villagers to believe that the Baudelaires are murderers. In the original book, Olaf gives rather flimsy evidence for the orphans being at the scene of the crime, despite them having solid alibis. In the TV series, however, the orphans use an invention to try and break Jacques, who was mistaken for Count Olaf, out of the jail cell. This gives Olaf a stronger case because not only were the orphans breaking the village's strict rules about technology, but it also made it look like they were trying to break into the cell to kill ''Count Olaf''.
89	** Season 3 also greatly tones down the Baudelaires' BlackAndWhiteInsanity, as many book fans had grown increasingly irritated at their acting like any action with the slightest hint of moral ambiguity instantly made them as bad as Olaf. It ends up going with a more nuanced view that there are no truly completely good ''or'' bad people in the world.
90	** The show removes the part in "The Slippery Slope" where the Baudelaires deliberately release the villain they just took hostage, an action which seemed a bit naive considering the circumstances.
91	** "The End" was criticized by some for leaving the fates of many characters vague and bleak. [[spoiler:The adaptation gives a more optimistic conclusion: Quigley is reunited with his siblings, Fernald and Fiona are reunited and have finally located their father, Count Olaf's henchpeople start their own acting troupe, the Incredibly Deadly Viper is strongly implied to have successfully reached Ishmael's boat to deliver the life-saving apple, and the Baudelaires take off on their boat and are implied to have gone on many more adventures with Beatrice the Second.]]
92	** The show finally goes into detail about Count Olaf's backstory, something that was only hinted at in the books.
93	** Kit's [[spoiler:death by poison when she refused the apple cure]] was widely panned as contrived and based on science that had been discredited by the time of The End's release. In the show, Kit ''does'' take the cure she needs... [[spoiler:but it only delays her symptoms long enough to give birth.]]
94	* IronWoobie: The entire series seems intent on putting the orphans through Hell, however, while they have moments of sadness, they keep finding the strength to go on, solve mysteries and fight Count Olaf while sticking together.
95	* LoveToHate:
96	** Count Olaf, as always. He's an absolutely ''awful'' person, and the entire fandom knows it, but he's so over-the-top and Neil Patrick Harris is clearly having such a good time playing him that it's hard not to love him anyway.
97	** Kitana Turnbull's FauxAffablyEvil Carmelita Spats takes an unbearable character on the page and makes her hilarious.
98	** Esmé Squalor. Lucy Punch is similarly having a ball in the role, balancing humor and wickedness to create a villain who can appropriately be described as the second coming of Cruella de Vil.
99	** Mr. Poe, oddly enough. While not an outright villain like any of the above, his condescending attitude and total incompetence can make him quite an unlikable character, though K. Todd Freeman's performance means he is not without his funny moments as well.
100	* MemeticMutation:
101	** Comparing Lemony Snicket to [[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove Kronk]] following Creator/PatrickWarburton's casting.
102	** "It's the Count" has taken its place among WesternAnimation/TheNutshack and Series/LazyTown for parody edit videos. Namely, they all have it where something happens whenever the word "count" is said, whether that be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y8jh_25TqM Klaus gets bitch slapped]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccTFK2CEZM4 the tempo speeds up]] ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P14vbpLwKdg until they're singing like chipmunks]]) or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPIThnVBYPc every "count" and letter is replaced with]] [[WesternAnimation/BeeMovie "bee"]].
103	** Joking that Count Olaf is really [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Barney Stinson]] doing an elaborate play out of The Playbook.
104	** Responding to something insignificant with "Wait until the readers of The Daily Punctilio hear about this!"
105	** Taking a picture of Neil Patrick Harris in any of his roles (or just a picture of him) and saying "It's Count Olaf in disguise!"
106	** Mr. Poe and the Baudelaires doing the "''Film/BirdBox'' Challenge", referencing another Netflix production that came out around the same time as Season 3 that involves main characters walking around with blindfolds.
107	* MisaimedFandom: People who complain that the series isn't as dark and gloomy as the books don't seem to realize that the books were supposed to be more of a dark comedy rather than a straight-up drama. In fact, some of the comedic moments were lifted directly from the book.
108	* {{Moe}}:
109	** Olivia, due to her utterly sweet nature and JumpedAtTheCall heroics being combined with moments where she seems to worry that she's in over her head. The way she's introduced balancing a bunch of books on her head also helps.
110	** All three of the Baudelaire children are cute, endearing, kind {{Woobie}}s, making it very easy for the viewers to root for them.
111	* MoralEventHorizon:
112	** Count Olaf [[spoiler:murdering Uncle Montgomery.]]
113	*** That is if he didn't cross it when he [[spoiler:ordered the Hook-Handed Man to drop Sunny even after Violet married him.]]
114	** The villagers effectively cross it in "The Vile Village: Part 2" when they [[spoiler:have the chance to ''not'' burn the Baudelaires]], but decide to go through with it anyways.
115	** Esmé does this in "The Vile Village: Part 2" when ''she'' attempts to [[spoiler:kill Hector and the Quagmires, both by having them burned and with her harpoon gun.]]
116	** The Carnival Freaks cross it when they [[spoiler:cut the caravan off the car, sending Klaus and Violet off a cliff.]]
117	** The Man with a Beard but No Hair and the Woman with Hair but No Beard cross it when they [[spoiler:kidnap the Snow Scouts and burn down their families' homes with their parents still in them.]]
118	** Carmelita crosses it when she [[spoiler:finds and gives up Klaus and Violet's location in "The Grim Grotto: Part 1".]]
119	* NarmCharm: The CGI in a lot of scenes looks rather cartoony. While it is distracting sometimes, some would argue that it fits the surreal, over-the-top feel of the show.
120	* NauseaFuel:
121	** Phil getting his leg cartoonishly crushed by the stamp machine at Lucky Smells.
122	** VFD's marathon of salmon-based dishes to delay Olaf.
123	** Mr. Poe's coughing, especially when he follows it up with a very loud swallowing sound.
124	** Whenever Colette the Contortionist bends her body, mostly due to the sickeningly disturbing sound effects.
125	** Esmé and Carmelita making sausage out of crows and then feeding it to everyone as "revenge".
126	* RewatchBonus:
127	** [[spoiler:The Quagmires never mention their children's names, only saying they have three. Also, when Klaus sees the photo of the Baudelaire and Quagmire parents at the mill, it just wasn't clear which pair got his attention. It also explains why the Quagmire parents were just listed as [[ExactWords "Mother" and "Father"]] in the end credits of every episode.]]
128	** Quigley's encounter with the Baudelaires in "The Grim Grotto, Part 1" is dripping with DramaticIrony on a rewatch. The Baudelaires are prevented from escaping the grotto and reuniting with Quigley by the Medusoid Mycelium, but unbeknownst to everyone [[spoiler:the Sugar Bowl, which Quigley has just retrieved, contains an immunisation to the fungus, so the children could easily have escaped there and then and avoided a lot of trouble, including Sunny almost dying]].
129	* ShipMates: Fans love mixing and matching the elder two Baudelaires, the Quagmires, Fiona, and sometimes Carmelita in every combination imaginable. Presley Smith (Sunny Baudelaire) and her [[CrossCastRole little boy stand-in Colby Cremers]] often get paired up in RealPersonFic ToyShip's as well. Colby is sometimes in these stories magically and physically transformed into a young lady that is Presley's age by a propriator of TheLittleShopThatWasntThereYesterday as the RPF writers wish to avoid the SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome that Colby would likely be bullied by some boys his age for having a close friendship with Presley.
130	* SpecialEffectFailure:
131	** Sunny is an incredibly obvious doll a lot, especially any time Violet hides her face in a shoulder and during the sequence of Josephine's house collapsing (the latter is understandable when she's hanging from the doorknob by her teeth, but not so much when Violet is simply carrying her afterwards). It makes sense since they only cast one baby instead of the standard twins, and you can't have babies on set for that long, but it's still pretty obvious. CGI Sunny can get a little... creepy, as well.
132	** On the whole, the CGI looks so conspicuous and gratuitous, it might as well have been a cartoon. The scene that stands out the most is the destruction of Aunt Josephine's house, which is thoroughly and shockingly unconvincing. It does end up adding to the overall surreal tone of the series, so it might very well be [[StylisticSuck intentional]].
133	** During "It's the Count" it's very obvious none of the troupe are actually playing their instruments which just makes the scene funnier.
134	* SpoiledByTheFormat: Even people unfamiliar with the books won't be surprised by Esmé's role if they noticed Lucy Punch is in the main cast credits.
135	* {{Squick}}:
136	** It's hard not to sympathize with Olaf during the regular bits where Poe coughs in his face. The worst comes when Poe gives his handkerchief a long lick before wiping Olaf's ankle.
137	** As in the book, everything to do with Olaf trying to marry Violet (who is ''fourteen'', and you know, legally his ''child'' for all intents and purposes). Especially "ewww"-worthy is when he informs Violet she will play his bride onstage... and forcing her to call him "Father" a couple lines later. Also his line of "I'll touch whatever I want" while clutching her shoulder has some very ominous implications.
138	** Klaus is quite unnervingly flustered by Isadora dressing up as his sister.
139	** Olaf's speech to Violet while she's tied up in The Hostile Hospital.
140	** Olaf telling the Baudelaires [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything "My first time was hard too"]] while forcing them to light the fire in The Carnivorous Carnival
141	** When Esmé and Carmelita make crow sausage.
142	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Considering that Olaf's henchpeople got significantly more characterization on the whole, [[spoiler:that the carnival freaks very unceremoniously suffered DeathByAdaptation not even a full episode after joining his troupe is especially disappointing. On top of them having stuck around in the books, the very next episode, Slippery Slope part 2, would see the entire rest of his troupe leaving. Certainly there could've been a place for them as the usual cast shrank while the season went on.]]
143	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: While not ''quite'' as bad as the [[Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents book series it's based on]], many still find the show far too depressing and bleak to really enjoy. Snicket ''did'' try to warn us. Made worse in Season 2 when two DoomedByCanon characters are [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters given far more screen time and development]] than they had in the books, letting the audience really get attached to them before their inevitable and exceptionally violent demises.
144	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: When the series was first released, it could be found on Netflix under the "Kids" section, despite containing characters burning to death, a character being killed by snake poison, and a character getting eaten alive by leeches, all in the first season!
145	* TheWoobie: Every non-horrible character (and even some of the irredeemably horrible ones) is this to some extent. What else did you expect from a show with the word "Unfortunate" in the title?
146	** The Baudelaire orphans, naturally. The entire series seems intent on [[BreakTheCutie putting them through absolute Hell]]. First, they lose their parents and home in a fire, and are met with no sympathy from those around them. They are forced to live with an abusive guardian who only wants them alive to get their fortune. Even after getting away from him, he chases them and proceeds to pick off their new legal guardians one-by-one. Not to mention, AdultsAreUseless is practically the law of the land in this world. No one ever believes them when they say that they are in serious danger. It's honestly a surprise they haven't been driven insane by the events that have occurred. (Lord knows the viewers almost have been.)
147	** Lemony Snicket. His LemonyNarrator tendencies show up as him being genuinely affected by everything that happens to the Baudelaires, and he seems to genuinely not want you to continue watching, not out of a joke, but because the events that he's chronicling have made him utterly miserable. And that's not even bringing up Beatrice, [[TheLostLenore the love of his life who turned down his proposal and died afterwards]]. Season 2 piles on that [[spoiler:he's wracked with guilt for stealing Esmé's sugar bowl, the inciting incident that led to the Baudelaire fire, and now seems to be forcing himself to investigate everything the children went through as some kind of self-flagellation in penance.]]
148	** Poor Justice Strauss who has always wanted to be an actress and have a family. Count Olaf tricks her into being in his "play" for his plan to succeed, and she's denied the chance to adopt the Baudelaire children.
149	** And after the first season finale, we now have the Quagmire children. They [[spoiler:find themselves in the exact same position as the Baudelaires, with their house being burnt down and their parents dying, while being separated from one of their siblings and thinking he died.]]
150	** Aunt Josephine. She used to be a badass VFD agent, but after the death of her husband, she became a neurotic shut-in who's terrified of everything. Despite this, she tries to make a safe and happy home for the children, and is kind to them, even if she isn't very useful. And when push comes to shove, her heart was in the right place and she tries to help them, [[AdaptationalHeroism eventually even being willing to stand up to Count Olaf for them]]. [[spoiler:It doesn't save her, however, and she dies]]. Lemony even lampshades this, pointing out that while she wasn't a great guardian, she wasn't a bad ''person'', and she didn't deserve what happened to her.
151	** Before her, Uncle Monty, who welcomed the Baudelaires into his home right after Olaf. [[spoiler:He doesn't last long either.]]
152	** Hal, the archivist at Hemilich Hospital. After devoting his life to creating a massive library with all kinds of information, he's betrayed by the Baudelaires when they need his keys after befriending them, which gets his library destroyed. He then bitterly turns them in to the authorities, and when the hospital burns down he's last seen wandering away wailing "It's all gone!"
153	** Poor Olivia Caliban, the librarian at Prufrock Prep. She's treated like dirt by Vice-Principal Nero, sees the students she's befriended mistreated and kidnapped, falls in love with a man who gets murdered, and finally [[spoiler:gets thrown to the lions]]. Oh yeah, and she's also an orphan.
154	** Larry Your-Waiter, a genuinely helpful and dedicated VFD agent, spends most of the series being captured by Count Olaf's troupe and subjected to various indignities, while always arriving just too late to make a difference. The fact that his final appearance includes [[spoiler:his apparent death]] puts the icing on the cake.
155	* {{Woolseyism}}: Obviously, the "Yessica Haircut" bit from the second episode only works well with an English-speaking audience. Other dubs change the name to a suitable substitute, keeping with the "[Feminine Name] Haircut" format.
156	** In Spanish, the name becomes Sylvía Cortedepelo (first name pronounced "sí-lvia").
157	** In French, it's Winnifred Coiffeur (first name pronounced "oui-nifred").
158	** The German gives us Jannika Haarschnitt (first name sounds like "ja-nika").

Context YMMV / ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2017