With a friendly face aiding them, the Baudelaires do everything they can to disappear, but their plan is foiled by Olaf's latest plot - to have one of the carnival freaks fed to a pit of lions for entertainment. The Baudelaires have a choice to make, and it is not an easy one.
Tropes:
- Arc Words: "The Belly of the Beast".
- Bilingual Bonus: At one point, Sunny exclaims "Merde" upon hearing Olaf, a phrase which here in French means "shit".
- Cliffhanger: Literally and figuratively. Klaus and Violet are stuck in a carnival wagon just as it's about to go over the edge of a cliff, while Olaf and his troupe drive off with Sunny in their clutches.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Olivia gets eaten alive by starving lions.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Olaf's troop (with the exception of Esmé) is clearly disturbed after watching Olivia get eaten by the lions. Even Olaf looks like he would have preferred not to actually watch it transpire, despite throwing her in there in the first place. The Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender is clearly conflicted about it even beforehand.
- Fed to the Beast: To increase the succes of Caligari Carnival, Olaf brings in two starving lions and promises his audience that one of the freak will be fed to them. Olivia eventually suffers this fate.
- Gravemarking Scene: While walking through the remains of the carnival Lemony stops to place a stone
next to the lion pit where Olivia died. - Kick the Dog: Olaf burns down the carnival For the Evulz, and forces Klaus and Violet to do so, destroying Olivia's equipment.
- Rule of Three: As Lemony Snicket points out, the phrase "belly of the beast" is said three times, not counting Lemony's explanation of the phrase. There's an on-screen counter for this.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In the book, the bald man also falls into the lion pit and is likewise eaten. In this episode, he survives and continues to travel with Olaf.
