A Fortunately Unfortunate Treat

It isn't everyday that a show goes out of its way to tell you to not watch it. In fact, even have its whole theme song dedicated to get you to look away from the show; yet, for the ones that stick around are in for an extremely depressing, surprisingly hilarious and often heart-warming experience. 

A Series of Unfortunate Events started as a children's book series by Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books were renowned for the odd narrative style, and the depressing tone for a children's book. But only when the TV show came out did the books' tone carry over to the visual media.

The series centres around three children: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, who have lost their parents in a house fire. They end up changing hands from guardian to guardian while also trying to escape the evil Count Olaf, who is after their fortune. The show stands out in its use of juxtaposition of the dark tones with often absurd jokes and humour. The acting and even the episodes themselves get better. Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf delivers a strong performance throughout. The screenplay is written by the writer himself, and shows that it not only works well as an adaptation but also a standalone TV show.

At this point it is not surprising for Netflix to be churning out one good television show after another. But A Series of Unfortunate Events is unique in the way that despite its themes seemingly not being for everyone, it does end up pleasing a larger audience. The whole series has always stuck to that child-like perspective of how adults do not understand anything, even going so far as to rarely show any competent adult in the show. And yet, it has remained a favourite even among adults. The sets are also lovely, along with the costumes which fully encapsulate the odd reality that the story exists in. There is an air of mystery to the show, and an overarching storyline comes into play much sooner in the TV show than it did in the book. 

The show also succeeds in the way it still has a lot to offer to the book readers. It's mostly difficult to impress the book readers with an adaptation, but A Series of Unfortunate Events does that too. Handler writing the screenplay, and Barry Sonnenfeld in direction, really manage to create a world that's true to the book and exciting for anyone tuning in for the first time, ever.

Fatimah Akhtar studies Anthropology and wishes she lived with a puppy. Redirect all your complaints, queries, and feedbacks to her at fatimahaakhtar@gmail.com