A Series Of Unfortunate Events Season 2 Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
(Don't) look away.
Netflix's take on A Series of Unfortunate Events has already managed what the big screen version couldn't: a second outing.
While the 2004 film adaptation of Daniel Handler/Lemony Snicket's beloved novels fell flat, Season 2 of the Netflix show hit the streaming service on Friday, after a stellar first season guaranteed that all of Handler/Snicket's works would be brought to life this time around (a seven-episode third season has already been confirmed).
The first run, which adapted the first four of the ASOUE books, made a number of very fine decisions not only in its casting department, with Neil Patrick Harris leading the way as Count Olaf, but also the devilish tone, wry humour, and above all else its faithfulness to the book.
Season 2, then, adapts the next five in the series: The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Horrible Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival. This is where Snicket really started to expand the scope of his world and its mythology, and the TV series captures that too, keeping a lot of the same strengths and also weaknesses from both the novels and Season 1. (This is a spoiler-free review based on all 10 episodes of Season 2.)