A Series Of Unfortunate Events Season 2 Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

1. The Magnified Mystery

The Austere Academy represented something of a turning point for the book series, and so it proves for the show too: the overall structure does remain in place, but there's a conspiracy mystery that gives things a much stronger narrative thread.

To the show's credit, it started seeding this in Season 1, and has made the VFD even more pronounced than the book does.

The question of what VFD stands for, who was in it, and what they did is expertly woven into the plot, giving viewers something much bigger than a simple 'series of unfortunate events' to invest in, with clues littered about and various pieces started to be put together. Best of all it does us through the proper introduction of the Quagmire triplets (even if there's only two of them), who prove necessary companions for the orphans and help them connect to their past and pave their future.

Combine that with the little hints about Olaf's own past, that of the Baudelaire parents, and the inclusions of the infamous sugarbowl, and the show does a wonderful job of planting seeds that will have fully grown by Season 3.