The Baudelaires find themselves onboard a VFD submarine, captained by the young VFD agent Fiona Widdershins, in the absence of her father. The trio must discover the secrets surrounding VFD, as well as the mysterious Sugar Bowl Esmé keeps mentioning. Olaf, Esmé, Hookie and their new assistant Carmelita Spats pursue the team in their own octopus-shaped submarine.
Tropes:
- Adapted Out: Captain Widdershins is not present on the submarine. Only his picture appears. He is supposed to have answered a distress call from a manatee and never came back, leaving his stepdaughter Fiona in charge.
- Adaptational Name Change: Fiona is officially "Fiona Widdershins" in this version, rather than only giving her first name.
-
Adorkable: Klaus is quite taken with Fiona and, as a result, much less eloquent than he usually is.Klaus: You're both pretty smart, pretty strong-willed, pretty...pretty. - The Bus Came Back: Phil returns, after having last been seen in "The Miserable Mill - Part 2".
- Cool Boat: The submarine that Olaf's mentors rented for Esmé; it is basically a mechanical octopus, complete with tentacles.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Count Olaf references this trope when he excuses himself to get away from Esmé and Carmelita.
- Evil Laugh: A subplot in this episode resolves around Olaf trying to regain his laugh, since he lost it due to all the setbacks he suffered lately.
- Oh, Crap!: The episode ends with the Baudelaires realizing that Sunny's diving suit has been contaminated with the Medusoid Mycelium.
- The Mutiny: Esmé is put in charge of the submarine Olaf's mentors rented, and is focused solely on finding the sugar bowl. When they see the VFD submarine on the sonar however, Olaf takes the captain's hat from her and sets a course for the sub first, hoping to find Captain Widdershins there (who owes him money), and hopefully learn about the location of the Baudelaires.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Carmelita uses Olaf's disguises to dress up as a tap-dancing ballerina fairy princess veterinarian.
- Sea Monster: The Great Unknown, though we don't get to see more of it than just its eye.
- Sub Story: The story is set almost entirely on board the VFD submarine, Olaf's submarine, or otherwise under water.
- The Un-Favourite: Olaf has clearly become this towards his mentors, who favor Esmé over him.
