Critic Reviews

Unfortunate Events is not only binge-worthy, it’s binge-demanding.

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.

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.”

Just as the blunt-in-message and beautiful-to-behold production design works in the series’ favor by leaning into its allusions, A Series of Unfortunate Events proves as inspirational and endearing as it claims to be forlorn and heartbreaking.

The always imperiled, always plucky Baudelaire children are well cast, and everything works to create a resonant saga about heroism in a world made mad and near meaningless by adult mismanagement. [13 Jan 2017, p.56]

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

It doesn’t shy away from offering a meaningful moral to close out Season 3. This beautiful children’s program makes a strong case to be Netflix’s live-action crown jewel--fortune of delights no audience could rebuff.

What’s best of all about A Series of Unfortunate Events is how every element of it--from the performances and set pieces to the detailed production design and steady pacing--come together to form a complete, considered vision.

Somehow both literate and ludicrous, the fractured fable of the imperiled but resourceful Baudelaire children finds wit amid the weirdly grotesque. [16-29 Jan 2017, p.17]

While adult non-fans might find themselves out-quirked and frankly exhausted by the show’s tone, it’s deeply Snicket-y, unapologetically dark, and a fresh yet familiar adaptation that should charm grown fans and childhood bingers alike.