The Unfortunate Blogger

The Austere Academy, part two

The second half of this episode was...about the same as the previous one. There were some really good updates and there were some really bad ones. I think as a whole it was a decent episode, but still not really my favorite. On the bright side though, I did get a few more laughs out of it. But that's all I can say.

Oh boy. I really hope all of the season premieres aren't like this.....

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Coach Genghis- I think this disguise was very well done. From the turban, to the clothes, to the voice. For a guy who cannot act for his life, he is very good at putting on a false front. He gets along with Nero, similar to the book, (though within some limits which I'm glad were in place), and his disguise is pretty believable. He really goes along with the whole gym teacher disguise. There is one aspect of the disguise I don't like, but I'll get into that later.

2) Jacques Snicket versus Carmelita- The conversation between Carmelita and Jacques was just hilarious. I'm actually curious as to how he knows Carmelita's parents. Her parents are mentioned in The Slippery Slope because Count Olaf plans to steal their fortune, but she's not mentioned any other time besides that. Her last name is seen in one of the tunnels at the beginning of the series, but that's about it. So I'm actually kind of curious now. Plus I like how he called her a cakesniffer. And then he's just carrying out poor frozen Larry and Larry's like, "My hero." I liked that scene. A lot. Can I just watch it again?

3) Carmelita's cake addiction- Speaking of cakesniffer, I thought it was hilarious when Carmelita snuck into the kitchen and just plopped her nose in the cake to sniff the powdered sugar. I see now what Jacques meant by 'cakesniffer'. Plus the Baudelaires and Quagmires were having a blast with watching her too which was so much fun.

4) The Quagmires hiding out in the library- In terms of book logic, Count Olaf was able to catch the Quagmires pretty easily since they were kids (and new to S.O.R.E) and Count Olaf was an adult and has legs that can outrun them. However, it's established pretty early on in the episode that Count Olaf is pretty out of shape, so the Quagmires getting away from him was pretty reasonable. And then they hid in the library which is off-limits and has several hiding spots. It was a pretty cleverly done scene.

5) Lemony Snicket and Jacques Snicket in the car- As much as I don't like it when Lemony appears in the scene along with the characters, I liked this one particular cut with his brother. I liked how he was talking about wanting more time with him and another chance to speak, and then he just goes silent and listens to Jacques whistle. (I think it was the theme song from the end of the previous season). And then they're both whistling together as the car drives away into the dark. And that's it. End of scene.

6) The homeschooling scene- I liked it when the kids were brought into the office and it was said that Coach Genghis suggested homeschooling to take them out of the educational environment to prevent them from spoiling the minds of the other kids. It was well-done, well-timed, and it flowed together nicely.

7) Better disguises for the Quagmire triplets- The scene where the Quagmires disguise themselves as the Baudelaires was done much better than the book series. As I mentioned in my movie critical review, I was always confused as to why Violet has her hair up in a ribbon when she wasn't inventing something. Her regular design is always a ribbon in her hair even though she doesn't wear it up except to think. So I thought this change was well needed. The cake pan fringe Isadora wear imitates Violet's bangs and since Count Olaf confused them for the Baudelaires earlier, this was all the change they really needed. I also liked that they made glasses instead of giving Duncan Klaus'. I know they're returned later, but this seemed better since they needed to help him read everyone's notes.