The Unfortunate Blogger

The Bad Beginning: Part One

The beginning of this series, book, film, or Netflix, this is the opening chapter that introduces us to the nefarious Count Olaf, a word which in this context means a person who is so terrible that you would rather sleep outside with wolves than spend an evening with them. Now, in the words of Lemony Snicket, "First impressions are oftentimes entirely wrong." And considering that this is only the first episode and we're just diving into this series, I'll be lenient. However, I will say that so far, I'm not that impressed. That's not to say that the entire episode was bad, but it didn't leave me wanting more of the series, that's for sure.

This series, as you can tell, divides each book into two parts. Since there are eight episodes, that means that we stop at book number four, the Miserable Mill. This, of course, gives time for the actors to develop parts of the book that could have been overlooked in the movie or even it's sequel. Now, the easiest way to go over this series, for me, is to actually list and explain the things I liked and didn't like, and then summarize which outweighed the other. Again, if you haven't seen this series, please don't read this. I don't want to spoil anything. Besides, I need somewhere to write before I go crazy. Someone has to have liked the movie!!! Right?

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Lemony Snicket and the underground system- The series starts off, as like the movie and the books, with Lemony Snicket telling the tale. Because, how in the world can you talk about the Baudelaires without mentioning Lemony Snicket himself? That was actually something I liked. The story shows the author in his natural habitat, alone and hiding, like he says so in his books. Was he a bit more professional than I imagined, yes, but the way that they did it...I loved that!

2) They explain why the children are in gloomy settings- Unlike the movie, I love that it's explained why the kids are placed or visit places that are dark and gloomy. For example, they love Briny Beach on a cloudy day because there's no one there to hog the sand. Count Olaf's house is in complete shambles because, as an actor, he doesn't get enough money to rebuild his enormous house and make sure it's taken care of. If a setting needs to be gloomy, there's a reason for it, and that I like.

3) The kids don't wear dark colors- As much as I love the outfits for the Baudelaire children in the movie, they seemed to stand out in their brightly colored mansion with their parents wearing bright colors. In this series, not only is it modernized with the times in a rather nice fashion, but it also features the children wearing normal looking clothes. Initially I thought I wouldn't like it, but I find I enjoy it a lot more. It just seems to make more sense.

4) The Poe Kids- In the original books, it mentions that the children live with Mr. Poe before being sent to Count Olaf, though they were too miserable to really do much. I liked how they brought this back in, as short as it was. Were there quirks, yes, but I liked the whole concept of it.

5) Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf- I was nervous to see this guy as Count Olaf because, honestly, this guy doesn't seem like Count Olaf. Plus, it's kind of hard to top Jim Carey as the ever sinister and clever count. But oh my GOSH did he do a good job! Again, there were some things that were off, but it wasn't the acting as much as it was the character. Neil Patrick Harris did a perfect job of making Count Olaf appear terrible but also amusing at the same time. Like, you could clearly tell he had no interest in the kids and on top of that, he treated them terribly. But he also would make simple noises of irritation or ask a random question, or just casually talk about something, and it was actually kind of funny. Like, I actually laughed in a couple scenes because I was like, "That's a casual way of explaining to them to avoid rats."

6) The man who played Mr. Poe- I like who they cast as Mr. Poe. Why don't I know his name and I know Neil Patrick Harris? Because the trailer made a huge stink out of it, that's why. But this guy did a great job. he was the perfect balance of a clueless banker who is just trying to do his job and take care of these kids who are always stuck in these terrible circumstances beyond his control. Plus, I like that the episode showed that he's a bit dimwitted which is why he put the kids with Count Olaf in the first place, starting the whole Olaf problem.