The Events in the Series are Unfortunate

In the Netflix Original A Series of Unfortunate Events, by Mark Hudis, is a black drama comedy about the lives of three orphans. Their parents died in a house fire, or so we think, leaving them to travel to live with wacky relatives. The first relative they move in with is Count Olaf, who strictly wants to be their guardian to gain their fortune. Eventually they escape from Count Olaf, but he is persistent in obtaining their fortune.

The series was made based off of the book series. The books were always entertaining to read, mostly due to the events in each book being so wild. Having something from your childhood remade as an adult is exciting because you can relive through the good old times. I read these books in middle school and everyone in my class, including the grades both above and below mine, loved them. It was written by Lemony Snicket, who absolutely brought the characters to life. The three children each have a special quality that helps them in each book, or in this case episode. Violet is a distinguished inventor, Klaus is an intellectual prodigy, and baby Sunny has teeth that can chew through anything. Each of their talents comes in handy at different points in episodes. They are incredibly gifted and work their way out of a great deal of delicate situations.

 Besides the children, just about every single character had some foolish trait or interest that made everything so interesting. The way that people would die in the books were also wacky. The best parts of the series however are all the different figures that Count Olaf disguises himself as. The entire time watching we, the audience, can tell Count Olaf when we see him. Sometimes the disguises are ingenious and other times they are so unmistakable that you think to yourself, "Oh, come on!" The children also catch on to him awfully fast, the best giveaway being his tattoo of an eye on his ankle. However the adults in the series never catch onto it and do not believe the children. This leads to massive entertainment on how the children are going to expose him and save the day.

One of the overarching themes in the series is to keep pushing on, no matter how much life tries to keep you down, you can drive through it. The children go through a giant, life-changing tragedy, yet they do not sit around and grieve. At any point they could decide to give in to Count Olaf but they fight through it. Granted, it is a fictional book it gives a source of inspiration. There are times where life can be quite difficult and as more piles on the harder it can be. But keeping your head up and knowing that it will eventually be better is the best way to endure life.

If you have not read the book series watching this might be a little confusing at first. I would fully recommend reading the books; then, watching the series. The books are not terribly long and given enough time you could finish a book in a couple of days. If you have time, I would suggest giving it a chance and doing it soon because the next season comes out in March.