A Series of Unfortunate Events (season 2)

Season 2

Episodes

Main article: List of A Series of Unfortunate Events episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
9	1	"The Austere Academy: Part 1"	Barry Sonnenfeld	Daniel Handler	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The Baudelaires are introduced to life at Prufrock Preparatory School, an unpleasant and underfunded institution run by an unpleasant vice-principal named Nero and terrorized by an equally unpleasant student named Carmelita Spats. The school's only redeeming qualities are its friendly and highly intelligent librarian Olivia Caliban and the surviving Quagmire triplets Duncan and Isadora. During a lunch break, Klaus and Isadora discover that they are holding two halves of the same spyglass. The newfound friends quickly realize that they must track down a book on secret organizations to find the answers they seek: a book Jacquelyn sent Larry to give them, but which he carelessly misplaced. Meanwhile, Count Olaf and his troupe lurk around the grounds of the school, unable to enter the front doors due to an advanced computer system programmed by Nero to detect Olaf's presence. However, with Carmelita's help, Olaf finally gains entry and locks Larry in the cafeteria's walk-in refrigerator. He then dons his latest disguise: the school's new turban-wearing gym teacher named Coach Genghis.
10	2	"The Austere Academy: Part 2"	Barry Sonnenfeld	Joe Tracz	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Olaf is able to convince Nero to put the Baudelaires under a grueling exercise program, making the siblings run endless laps at night to prevent them from scheming against him, while also causing them to perform poorly in class from lack of sleep. Due to their slumping grades, Nero threatens to expel the Baudelaires if they fail a comprehensive exam to be given in front of the entire school, but because they must still exercise under Olaf's program, they know they will likely fail. The Quagmires offer to help, and that night take their place during exercises; however, their identity is discovered. While hiding in the library, they find the copy of the book on secret organizations and read up on the purpose of the spyglass before they are caught by the Hook-Handed Man. The next day, with Mr. Poe in attendance, the Baudelaires readily pass the exam, and through it reveal Olaf's identity. Olaf and his gang then escape with the Quagmires, who try to shout the initials "V.F.D." from the backseat of Olaf's car. Meanwhile, Larry is rescued from the refrigerator with the help of Lemony's brother, Jacques, while Olivia walks off with the book on secret organizations that the Quagmires left behind.
11	3	"The Ersatz Elevator: Part 1"	Bo Welch	Daniel Handler	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
While a citywide manhunt for Count Olaf is underway, Mr. Poe takes the Baudelaires to the penthouse of Jerome Squalor and his trendy financial advisor wife Esmé. While being introduced to the Squalors, they find Olaf has already arrived, posing as a foreign auctioneer named Gunther. The Baudelaires theorize that Olaf is trying to kill Jerome so that he can marry Esmé and become their legal guardian again. They search the penthouse for the Quagmires to no avail, but Klaus becomes suspicious of an extra elevator that only seems to serve the penthouse. Meanwhile, Olivia tries to convince Mr. Poe about Olaf's scheme, which leads Jacquelyn to contact Jacques, who enlists her into their society. Esmé suggests they go out for lunch at a fashionable salmon-themed restaurant Cafe Salmonella, where Larry works to prolong their visit, giving Jacques and Olivia time to search the Squalor's building for the Quagmires. When the Baudelaires manage to sneak away and examine the second elevator, they learn that it is merely an empty shaft. When Olaf convinces Esmé to go back to the penthouse, Jacquelyn and Larry hold him back by making him sing a song. With a makeshift parachute, the Baudelaires descend the shaft to find the Quagmires locked in a cage at its bottom.
12	4	"The Ersatz Elevator: Part 2"	Bo Welch	Daniel Handler	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The Baudelaires do not have the tools to free the Quagmires, so they ascend the shaft by turning the parachute into a hot-air balloon. They try to warn Esmé of Olaf's scheme, but learn too late that she is in cahoots with him and that they are planning to smuggle the Quagmires out of the city. Esmé pushes them down the elevator shaft, where they are caught in a net midway down. Sunny helps them to escape safely, and afterwards they find a secret passage that leads to the ashen ruins of their home. At the auction in Veblen Hall, the Baudelaires start a bidding war on a box labeled "V.F.D.", which they believe contains the Quagmires. Though they win the item, they find the box contains only doilies. In the aftermath, Olaf and his troupe escape with the Quagmires, who are hidden inside a red herring statue. The Baudelaires ask Jerome to help track down Olaf, but he is far too timid to do so, and gives up his guardianship of them. Mr. Poe tells the children that a village with the initials "V.F.D." is willing to raise them.
13	5	"The Vile Village: Part 1"	Barry Sonnenfeld	Sigrid Gilmer	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Mr. Poe drops the Baudelaires off at the Village of Fowl Devotees, where the whole community will care for them collectively if they promise to do the entire village's chores. The Baudelaires take up residence with Hector, a kindly handyman prone to fainting spells who is secretly building a self-sustaining hot-air mobile home. The Baudelaires soon begin finding clues written by the Quagmires. Olaf, Esmé, and the troupe also arrive at the village, with Esmé disguising herself as the town's new chief of police. Jacques and Olivia also arrive and detain Olaf at the local jailhouse; the next day, the villagers learn of Olaf's capture and hold a town hall meeting, where Olaf appears in the disguise of Detective Dupin, tricking everyone into believing Jacques is Olaf. Jacques is sentenced to death, but Olivia convinces Esmé to free her and Jacques in exchange for the location of the Sugar Bowl, an object with ties to Esmé's past. Jacques stays behind to confront Olaf; however, the villain is unfazed by Jacques' offer of a truce, and he and Esmé incapacitate and kill him. The next morning, as the Baudelaires try to break into the jail to rescue Jacques, they are informed that "Olaf" has been murdered.
14	6	"The Vile Village: Part 2"	Barry Sonnenfeld	Sigrid Gilmer	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The disguised Olaf and Esmé quickly convince Mr. Poe and the town that the Baudelaires murdered Jacques/"Olaf", and they are promptly condemned to be burned at the stake. While in jail, the children instruct Hector to prepare his hot-air mobile home to help them escape. Violet creates a battering ram to weaken the jail wall using a bench, a loaf of stale bread and a noose. Klaus deduces from clues that the Quagmires are hidden inside a crow fountain in the village square. Larry and Jacquelyn arrive on the scene to distract the villagers long enough for the children to escape via a fire truck and follow Hector. The Baudelaires cover for the Quagmires as they use the truck's ladder to climb aboard the mobile home. As they do so, Olaf, Esmé, and the villagers arrive, and Esmé begins damaging Hector's home with a harpoon gun. Realizing their danger, the Baudelaires tell Hector to escape with the Quagmires. In thanks, the Quagmires try to throw their friends their notes about the secrets of V.F.D., but Esmé shoots them with a harpoon, scattering the pages and harming a crow. While the villagers accost the disguised villains over the injured bird, the Baudelaires collect as many of the ruined pages as they can and make their escape.
15	7	"The Hostile Hospital: Part 1"	Allan Arkush	Joshua Conkel	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
The Baudelaires hitch a ride with volunteer singing candy stripers heading to Heimlich Hospital. They learn that there is a Library of Records that collects and stores esoterica. After sneaking past the hospital's administrator Babs, they meet Hal, the man who runs the library. He welcomes their help but forbids them to read the material in storage. While Hal shows them the ropes, a film reel labelled "Snicket" arrives and catches the children's attention. Meanwhile, believing the Sugar Bowl to be in the hospital, Olaf and his troupe infiltrate the building and take over it. Desperate for answers, the children are forced to steal Hal's keys to access the library, where they find the film. It contains a debriefing of Jacques by a V.F.D. volunteer, with Jacques informing the interviewer that someone has survived a fire, which may or may not be the one that killed the Baudelaire's parents. However, before they can watch any further, they are interrupted by Esmé, who thinks they have the Sugar Bowl; as they try to escape, the library is ruined. Violet is captured by Olaf while Klaus and Sunny hide in a chute, in possession of the film.
16	8	"The Hostile Hospital: Part 2"	Allan Arkush	Joshua Conkel	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Olaf and Esmé hide Violet under a false name; to find her, Klaus disguises himself as bearded and chubby "Dr. Faustus", with Sunny hidden in a sling underneath his coat. They eventually deduce which room Violet is in, but this is a trap laid by Olaf, who forces Klaus to operate craniectomy on Violet inside an operating theatre. Esmé promises to call off the scheme if Klaus can give her what he stole from the Library of Records, and he does so—only, it's not the Sugar Bowl that she has been searching for. Olaf, however, is interested in the Snicket film and dashes off to watch it to learn its secret. Furious at its revelations, he burns the film, which also starts a fire in the hospital. The Baudelaires successfully evacuate the hospital and realize that their only chance to escape safely is in the trunk of Olaf's car. Hal is left depressed over the loss of the Library of Records. Elsewhere, an unknown person recovers the Sugar Bowl from the burning hospital.
17	9	"Carnivorous Carnival: Part 1"	Loni Peristere	Joe Tracz	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
A flashback to a masked ball at the V.F.D. headquarters shows Lemony trying to warn Beatrice about Olaf. In the present, Olaf and his troupe arrive at the Caligari Carnival to speak with its fortune-teller, Madame Lulu, about the fire's survivor. Lulu, who is really Olivia in disguise, tells them to wait for the answer in the morning. The Baudelaires overhear this, and hoping to speak to Lulu as well, assume the identities of circus freaks, with Violet and Klaus as a two-headed person and Sunny as a wolf child. After calling V.F.D., Olivia is able to tell Olaf the next day that one of the Baudelaire parents did indeed survive the fire. Olaf then presents a freak show that proves disastrous, so he sets off to find a pack of roaming lions to help attract a larger crowd. This gives an opportunity for the children to sneak into Lulu's tent, where they discover films, books, and disguises belonging to the V.F.D. — the secret organization their parents and guardians belonged to. Olivia then appears and reveals her true identity to them.
18	10	"Carnivorous Carnival: Part 2"	Loni Peristere	Joe Tracz	March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Olivia explains to the Baudelaires that "Madame Lulu" is an alias used by V.F.D. agents to gather information. While Olivia admits she had to lie to Olaf about one of the children's parents surviving the fire, Jacques had asserted that there was a survivor, and they should head to the V.F.D. headquarters in the Mortmain Mountains to find them. Meanwhile, Olaf plans to throw one of the freaks into a pit filled with the hungry lions he has corralled, while Esmé connives to have Lulu killed. The next day, Olaf selects Violet and Klaus for the pit. When Olivia is told to push the children to the lions, she instead pushes them to safety but is sent tumbling into the pit by Olaf, who recognises her. As the children try to collect the V.F.D. materials from Lulu's tent, Olaf arrives and forces them to burn the tent down. Then, after placing Violet and Klaus in a towed caravan and taking Sunny in his car, Olaf has the other freaks cut the towing rope on a steep mountain path. At the same time, the previous operative to pose as Madame Lulu arrives at the burning carnival as Lemony Snicket claims that she is someone he knows.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of A Series of Unfortunate Events characters

Main

• Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf
• Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket
• Malina Weissman as Violet Baudelaire
• Louis Hynes as Klaus Baudelaire
• Presley Smith as Sunny Baudelaire
• K. Todd Freeman as Arthur Poe
• Lucy Punch as Esme Squalor
• Avi Lake as Isadora Quagmire
• Dylan Kingwell as Duncan Quagmire

Recurring

• Usman Ally as the Hook-Handed Man
• Matty Cardarople as the Person of Indeterminate Gender
• Cleo King as Eleanora Poe
• John DeSantis as the Bald Man
• Jacqueline and Joyce Robbins as the White-Faced Woman
• Sara Canning as Jacqueline Scieszka
• Patrick Breen as Larry Your-Waiter
• Sara Rue as Olivia Caliban
• Nathan Fillion as Jacques Snicket
• Kitana Turnbull as Carmelita Spats

Guest

• Roger Bart as Nero Feint
• Bronwen Smith as Miss Tench
• Malcolm Stewart as Mr. Remora
• BJ Harrison as Mrs. Bass
• Tony Hale as Jerome Squalor
• Sage Brocklebank as Doorman
• Ithamar Enriquez as Hector
• Mindy Sterling as Elder Anabelle
• Carol Mansell as Elder Jemma
• Ken Jenkins as Elder Sam
• Lossen Chambers as Mrs. Morrow
• Kevin Chamberlin as Mr. Lesko
• Serge Houde as Milt
• Gabe Khouth as Lou
• John Bobek as the bearded man
• Lauren McGibbon as the perky woman
• Kerri Kenney-Silver as Babs
• David Alan Grier as Hal
• Robbie Amell as Kevin
• Kevin Cahoon as Hugo
• Bonnie Morgan as Colette
• David Burtka as Mr. Willums
• Jill Morrison as Mrs. Willums
• Harper and Gideon Burtka-Harris as Trixie and Skip Willums

Production

Development

In March 2017, Netflix revealed the series had been renewed for a second season by releasing a video on their social media pointing to a viral marketing website, where a letter written by Snicket revealed the decision. A month later, the series was "quietly" renewed for a third season, which Harris confirmed would be the final one for the series.

Casting

Neil Patrick Harris, cast in January 2016, along with Patrick Warburton, Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, who was a last-minute choice for the show, Presley Smith, and K. Todd Freeman all reprise their roles of Count Olaf, Lemony Snicket, Violet Baudelaire, Klaus Baudelaire, Sunny Baudelaire, and Mr. Poe from the first season of the series. Joining the main cast for the season include Lucy Punch as Esme Squalor, Avi Lake as Isadora Quagmire, and Dylan Kingwell as Duncan Quagmire.

Filming

Filming for the second season began in April 2017.

Visual effects

Many of Sunny Baudelaire's actions are created as visual effects by Zoic Studios for the series.

Reception

As with the first season, the second season received critical acclaim. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the second season an approval rating of 94% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 7.81/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Season two of A Series of Unfortunate Events is as gothic, twisted and absurd as the first, to the delight of moody tweens of all ages." Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent praised the show as one that "essentially deals with thoughtful, intelligent young people battling to speak up against an illogical world." While observing that the "show may revel in the miserable", she opined "that the purpose of its own morbidity is to offer the assurance that hope lives in even the darkest of places." Loughrey also credited the show's expanded storyline for the Baudelaires' adult allies for "plumping up" the episodes' narrative arcs and deepening the show's emotional impact.

Tristram Fane Saunders of The Telegraph awarded the second season four out of five stars. He described the show as a "gothic treat [that] also offers a wicked line in absurdist humour, and the most gorgeously toybox-like set designs you'll find anywhere outside a Wes Anderson film". Radio Times reviewer Huw Fullerton praised the series for its faithfulness to the original novels. While praising the improved CGI used to make Presley Smith's character Sunny Baudelaire react better to situations, he criticized the addition of supporting "good" characters such as Nathan Fillion's Jacques Snicket and Sara Canning's Jacquelyn for "undercutting the bleakness and loneliness that characterized the novels".

Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times described A Series of Unfortunate Events as "one of the most lavish originals in Netflix's bottomless catalogue, created by fans, for fans". He also praised Neil Patrick Harris' performance as Count Olaf. The Den of Geek reviewer Michael Ahr praised tortoise-shell 'amphibiophones' and stone marimbas score for giving the television series its primal sound. IGN reviewer Jonathon Dornbush criticized the second season's formulaic plot structure and lack of the insightful observations compared to the first season. He also praised several of the second season's episodes particularly "The Ersatz Elevator", "The Hostile Hospital", and "The Carnivorous Carnival" for smartly twisting the story formula and deepening the novel series' mythology. Dornbush also praised the performance of Lucy Punch and Patrick Warburton and awarded the second season 7.2 stars.

External links

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