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I vaguely recall there was a film of this a good few years back now, with Jim Carrey I think, and I know this is based on a set of 13 children's books by the author Daniel Handler using the pen name of Lemony Snicket but I haven't read them at all, so I've no idea how closely the 2 series, so far, of this TV show mirrors them.
The story is narrated by Lemony Snicket himself he provides exposition and links the 'events' together telling from a historical stand point. Along the way he promises that the outcome and fate of our young stars is one of perpetual doom. It follows the 3 talented Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus and toddler Sunny who are orphaned due to a terrible fire that guts their family home. They are adopted at 1st by their evil distant relative Count Olaf a hammy actor and all round terrible human being who has a gang of strange followers in his theatrical entourage. He is aware of a sizable inheritance soon to come the children's way and plans to seize it for himself. The children manage to get away from him and are passed on to be fostered by a procession of quirky relatives all the while being pursued by Olaf and his cronies.
This is a world where the children are smart and capable and most of the adults are daft as brushes who can't see through the ever improbable disguises of the Count. For two seasons they've travelled around passed between friends of their parents and unlocking some secrets about their parents lives and a secret society they belonged to called The V.F.D., some agents of whom try to assist them whenever they can.
Along the way they also meet the two surviving Quagmire triplets Duncan and Isadora whose lives seem to strangely parallel their own in many aspects, they lost a sibling as well as their parents in a fire. They become allies helping each other out of terrible situations of the Count's making.
The tone of the show is very dark and comic but very strange, I am probably not at the right age to get it, it kind of seems too dark for me I am surprised kids like it but then Grimm's fairy tales of old were a lot darker than we eventually watered them down to. So it seems kids can deal with darkness, discomfort and even death in their entertainment a lot more than I would've suspected!
The 1st two seasons of the show have aired on Netflix so far and have covered the tales from the 1st 9 books of the series. It's seen them visiting an outlandish set of scenarios and characters such as the world's most prestigious snake expert, a house tottering precariously on the edge of a cliff, a wood mill staffed by hypnotised workers, a frankly horrendous orphanage, the penthouse of a pair of trend obsessed millionaires, a village full of bird loving loons, a hideous hospital and a failing carnival that decides to hold a raffle to decide which one of their freaks to feed to the lions to boost trade!
At every step they are hounded by Olaf with the situation they are in seemingly getting grimmer and grimmer. They certainly are 'unfortunate' that's for sure. Season two ends with an almost literal cliffhanger which may well leave you gasping to see the 3rd and I assume final series as this is set to cover the last 4 books of the set.
For me it's not compulsive viewing really, it's something to have on but the wackiness of the characters and situations doesn't really tickle my funny bone. I suppose it must entertain on some level or I wouldn't have continued watching it. I will certainly watch the last season just to see what happens to the children, Narrator Snicket always suggests that their final fate will not be a happy one, with even the title music suggesting we 'look away' as the story is not a pretty one. I assume they'll be a happy conclusion after all their hardship but who knows what these crazy kids are into nowadays and how it will end!!
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