“It can’t be, it can’t be…it can’t be.”
On the whole, I find myself liking the second part of A Series of Unfortunate Events‘ two-parter episodes more than the first, because this show excels at resolution and setup. While “The Wide Window: Part Two” isn’t as good as “The Reptile Room: Part Two” (still my favorite episode), it stands on its own nicely, and we get to watch the Baudelaires solve a mystery, which I’m coming to enjoy quite a lot.
It’s nice, too, because Unfortunate Events gives the viewer credit for being just as clever as its protagonists; therefore, the mystery of Josephine’s obviously fake suicide note is solved pretty expediently. And the best part is, Klaus figures it out by using grammar, which is a nice nod not only to the character of Josephine but to the educational aims of the whole series. Not long after, they’re whisked off by Mr. Poe to have brunch with Captain Sham. Poe is growing on me because K. Todd Freeman has a nice touch with his lines, which require a lot of verbal dexterity, but he’s still a pretty one-note character. But he’s at his best here, dismissing Violet’s claims of malfeasance with a weary “Again with Count Olaf.”
Brunch is a surprisingly subdued affair, which is a bit of a shame because it’s a great opportunity for Olaf and Neil Patrick Harris to lay it on thick, but Harris still does a great job; I love when he tells the waiter “Cheer-up cheeseburgers for everyone!” and drops his fake voice before adding an exasperated “Larry.” Little flourishes like that are a testament to Harris as an actor; he knows Olaf well enough to pinpoint the exact moment at which he would get frustrated enough to drop the charade. (He also has a great way of pronouncing “fortune” – for-choon.)
The Baudelaires get out of brunch by giving themselves allergic reactions, and this is where I became very impressed with Louis Hynes, who as Klaus has to talk with a swollen tongue and does a damn fine job of it. He cracks the cipher in Josephine’s note, and they go to find her in Curdled Cave. I feel like we get less of Lake Lachrymose this time around, which was forgivable in “The Reptile Room: Part Two,” because that was structured like an Agatha Christie novel. But this is supposed to be more of an adventure story, and while Hynes and Malina Weissman acquit themselves nicely enough that you start to notice just how much they look like Will Arnett and Cobie Smulders, you never really get a good sense of the town or its geography. This is my long way of saying, why haven’t we heard of Curdled Cave before now? It’s a small complaint, but with a show as good at world-building as Unfortunate Events has proven itself to be, the complaints get pretty nit-picky.
Josephine, unfortunately, is back to her old ways, willing to hide out in the cave for the rest of her life rather than face Olaf. Alfre Woodard can do anything she wants, but I prefer the newfound resolve of the Josephine we saw last episode to this scaredy-cat screaming aboard a ship. When they’re finally rescued – by Olaf, obviously – we get a brief return of that Josephine, as she tells Olaf, “I am ready to be fierce and formidable again myself.” It’s a nice confrontation, and it affords us more insight into the past of the show’s most mysterious character, Olaf, who used to serve Josephine’s husband shredded beef tamales. He also gets a killer villain sign-off; after Josephine corrects his grammar, he says plainly, “I think I finally understand the lesson,” and pushes her overboard. It’s Olaf’s first on-screen kill, and moves Unfortunate Events ever closer to the line dividing children’s and adult entertainment. And again, it’s a great showcase for Harris as a villain. (After The Dark Knight blew all our minds, the entire Internet was convinced that Harris would play the Riddler, and now I’m starting to wonder what that would have looked like.)
A Series of Unfortunate Events should be dreadfully repetitive, following as it does the same basic pattern: Baudelaires get new home; Olaf arrives; caretaker dies; Olaf is found out and escapes. What amazes me most about this show is the hope it’s still able to instill in its audience, even with Lemony Snicket popping up and indicting the audience, asking us why we want to watch the Baudelaires suffer and imploring us to watch anything else.
To me, that isn’t what the show is about. “The Wide Window: Part Two” ultimately succeeds because of its lovely ending, which echoes a line Snicket had earlier in the episode: “All storms eventually break.” We watch not to see Violet, Klaus, and Sunny suffer, but for the moment of release that comes when they finally find happiness. It might be hard to hope in the midst of such unpleasantness, but, gosh, isn’t that clear blue sky beautiful?
A Few Thoughts
- “During damp weather I can hardly wink.” “Bring me another Navel!” “You can stop faking your death, and running away, and rescuing each other.”
- Harris sings the theme song in Captain Sham’s voice this time. I love it, and I bet Harris does too.
- The Baudelaires’ parents being so close to them just adds to the tragic irony.
- I’ll admit, I teared up when the reflection off of Mr. Baudelaire’s binoculars helped ignite the kids’ fire.
- I love that all the villains travel together crammed into the same car.
- I don’t know if you caught that sign, but the Anxious Clown is the “Home of the Custard Cheeseburger.”
- Malina Weissman has a wonderfully deadpan delivery.
- Snicket speaks to us from in front of a gravestone bearing the name Beatrice. The mystery deepens.
- No review tomorrow; tune in Monday and Tuesday for my reviews of parts one and two of “The Miserable Mill.”
4/5
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