Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017)

Could Netflix do justice to the books? The answer: “Yes, and then some” — an American idiom which here means, “Binge it; here’s something which goes above and beyond mere ‘goodness’ — and reaches into the realm of knockout profundity for kids and adults alike.”

Its heart and mind are persistently in the right place, and its entertainment value remains high.

By breaking the books into digestible chunks, it goes down smoothly and, yes, makes you want more.

The result is a show that’s likely to appeal to both adults and children with its layers of mystery, a weird sense of humor, and hyper-self-awareness--as long as viewers can accept the misery that lies ahead.

The former Doogie Howser knows how to expertly milk a laugh from a mugging glower, a sarcasm-tinged line reading, or an extended bit of physical comedy (there's some especially funny work with O'Hara in this regard). And none of that counteracts the slight twinges of pathos he allows to break through the cartoonish veneer whenever the series tantalizingly references Olaf and the Baudelaires's backstory.

It’s easy to forget that A Series Of Unfortunate Events is family entertainment. It treats mature themes like grief, loss, and disappointment with sardonic honesty, but that’s a world-weariness beyond the show’s reading level.

Book readers will undoubtedly find things to love in the twisting Gothic sets (thank you, Netflix’s generous budget!), its clear affection for the source material, and the generous runtime a movie adaptation could never allow. From the outside looking in, though, unraveling Lemony Snicket’s many strange-for-the-sake-of-it twists and scattershot storytelling feels like more trouble than it’s worth.

Season 1 Review: This is not just whistling Dixie. Although basically comic, and not without moments of beauty and relief, the series is a dream in which you escape one trap only to fall into another, elude your pursuer only to find him somehow before you, and where hope springs eternal only so it can be eternally snatched away. But you should watch it, anyway, and take your time.

Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' does justice to the books and does the best it can with the original material. Neil Patrick Harris and Patrick Warburton bring their own twist to old characters and put some soul into the characterful TV show.

This show starts out really good with its unique production design and only improves from there ending with one of the greatest television endings of all time.

Season 1 Review: This is not just whistling Dixie. Although basically comic, and not without moments of beauty and relief, the series is a dream in which you escape one trap only to fall into another, elude your pursuer only to find him somehow before you, and where hope springs eternal only so it can be eternally snatched away. But you should watch it, anyway, and take your time

The show is ok, actors and costumes appears really good and the plot is always evolving. If you are looking for something easy to see and follow could be the right choice.