Don’t Watch Netflix’s New ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’

True to Lemony Snicket’s advice, look away and don’t watch Netflix’s new series entitled A Series of Unfortunate Events—if you’re a boring adult, that is.

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is a 13-part novel written by Lemony Snicket (pen name of American author Daniel Handler), and tells the unfortunate story of the Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. The entire series focuses on how the Baudelaire orphans gets transferred from one guardian to another, all the while trying to escape the clutches of the evil Count Olaf, who is set on acquiring the Baudelaire’s immense fortune.

A Series of Unfortunate Events was first brought to the screen in 2004 in a film adaptation, featuring the stories of the first three books in the series, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window.

Unlike the 2004 movie of A Series of Unfortunate Events, however, is Netflix’s version of A Series of Unfortunate Events, according to the Independent. Having read the original A Series of Unfortunate Events books, Netflix’s version is literally every page of the book brought to life.

If you’ve yet to pick up any of the previous A Series of Unfortunate Events material, let us warn you, don’t watch A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Don’t watch A Series of Unfortunate Events if you’re not a fan of eccentric.

As we have pointed out earlier, Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is bringing to life the pages from Lemony Snicket’s original A Series of Unfortunate Events. This means that every weird bit, every eccentric storytelling, every cringe-worthy dialogue, and every unfortunate scenario will appear in the series, as Snicket has envisioned it.

While this writer personally is a fan of things weird, weird is not usually appealing to many people. We have been used to a certain kind of storytelling in the movies and series that we watch and A Series of Unfortunate Events will not, even an inch, compare to these very familiar types of storytelling. The events that will occur are absurd, the characters will be even more eccentric, and the narration is completely crazy.

Count Olaf brought to life by Neil Patrick Harris [Image by Netflix]

You will find a villain that is evil beyond measure, but somehow is able to fool everyone around him with a bit of costume. You will find three amazing children who will meet every possible (and impossible) misfortune known to man. You will find a narrator whose presence will overwhelm you at every turn, and whose snide comments will either make you snicker or roll you eyes.

And this kind of weird and crazy is, primarily, what made a lot of readers hooked to the original A Series of Unfortunate Events—and, hopefully, the watchers of Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Don’t watch A Series of Unfortunate Events if you have a predictable sense of humor.

A Series of Unfortunate Events employs straightforward dry humor, mostly delivered by the narrator, Lemony Snicket. Most of the punchlines will not sound like punchlines at all, and some will be very repetitive and painful.

So if you’re cup of tea is the kind of humor that you would normally see in sitcoms, the slapstick, in-your-face, kind of humor, then you should definitely, as the A Series of Unfortunate Events’ opening song says, “Look away.”

Don’t watch A Series of Unfortunate Events if you’re a stern supporter of the fallacy that adults know everything.

A Series of Unfortunate Events will heavily jab at the stupidity and the closed-mindedness of the adult and if you’re the kind of person that will take offense on that, it is highly recommended you, again, “Look away.”

Most, if not all, the adults that will surround the Baudelaire orphans throughout A Series of Unfortunate Events will fail miserably at giving them care and protection, as they are usually left to their own devices to unveil and thwart Count Olaf’s plans.

In a world where children are given little to no freedom in the decisions they make, A Series of Unfortunate Events tries to become the beacon of light. If you’re a parent who comes across the misfortune of watching A Series of Unfortunate Events, hopefully, that by witnessing how adults can sometimes tend to not to lend an ear to children, you may learn to tell yourself to listen when your child says that there’s this bully at school, or that there’s this teacher who’s doing things that he shouldn’t be doing, or that she has something to say about the divorce you’re planning.

Sometimes, as in A Series of Unfortunate Events, the adult may not know everything.

Don’t watch A Series of Unfortunate Events if you want happy stuff.

A Series of Unfortunate Events is basically that: a series of unfortunate events for the Baudelaire orphans. While tragic series are starting to find their niche nowadays, you’ll find that there’s nothing good or happy in an episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events. Ever.

Unlike in other tragic series, where you get a balance of good and bad events to keep you motivated and fueled to go through every bad event because you know there’s always the salvation at the end of it, in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there’s just no salvation. Every episode is just a string of misfortune for Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, and Lemony Snicket’s narration will not mislead you for one second. There’s no promise of rainbows at the end of the rain, or silver linings in the dark heavy clouds. It’s just an ever-ending rain of bad events and evil schemes. So if you’re unprepared for that sort of sappy tale, then might as well back away now.

Don’t watch A Series of Unfortunate Events if you want to miss out on one of the most creative and refreshing TV series on Netflix right now.

Having said all of that, A Series of Unfortunate Events is a refreshing and unique series in a sea of formulaic and usual series that you will encounter. Yes, Netflix has become the new home to some of the most amazing and inspired TV series as of recent, but A Series of Unfortunate Events will take unique to a whole new level.

So if you’re satisfied with the usual flicks, the usual drama, and the usual fast-paced series that television can offer you, stay away from A Series of Unfortunate Events. But if you’re ready to welcome the unknown, to greet the unfortunate, to embrace the eccentric, then welcome to Lemony Snicket’s world.

As Vox has outlined, there are outstanding differences between A Series of Unfortunate Events book and Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events series. But if you’ve thoroughly enjoyed the series, your next stop should most likely be the books, so as to appreciate the entirety of the story, and appreciate the writing of Daniel Handler.

A Series of Unfortunate Events is now streaming on Netflix and as we have previously covered, a season 2 is already in the works.

[Featured image by Netflix]