PBTD
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Posts: 44
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Post by PBTD on May 15, 2018 17:01:48 GMT -8
I didn't enjoy the second season as much as the first. I can't put my finger on it, but perhaps it's more a problem with the source material then the series itself. I'm not completely familiar with the books, but as Jeremy points out they become darker in tone and it may be that they clash with the series's over-the-top interpretation. In a weird way I preferred the very simple formula - orphans get sent somewhere, bad stuff happens, get sent somewhere else - over them being fugitives and having no guardian to develop, become attached to, then have him/her die or chicken out. It also doesn't help that Olaf's plans seem to not make any sense anymore, going from wanting them alive and in his care to inherit their fortune to suddenly wanting them dead and... inheriting it anyway...? I must have missed something.
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Post by Jeremy on May 15, 2018 18:52:56 GMT -8
He only needs one of the orphans alive to get their fortune. That's why he takes Sunny in the car at the end of "The Carnivorous Carnival," while Violet and Klaus get sent down the slope. Not sure if the show clarified that, but it's how the books explained it.
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Post by Zarnium on May 15, 2018 21:02:31 GMT -8
To be honest, I never entirely understood Olaf's plan from the books, either... let's say he does manage to capture one of the Baudelaires and keep them imprisoned somewhere until they turn 18, how does that actually give him the money?
I kind of just roll with it and don't bother thinking about it too much.
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Post by ThirdMan on Aug 4, 2018 21:31:47 GMT -8
Just started watching this this past week. I'll start episode seven tomorrow. I think my favourite bits are when Olaf, in disguise, randomly breaks character re: his plans, and has a sort of "F*** it" attitude after slipping up. K. Todd Freeman's character is getting a bit tiresome in his current state, so I hope his implementation evolves somewhat going forward, as it's just too formulaic.
I just skimmed over this thread, and I'm glad to see that the upcoming episodes (for me) are among the best.
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Post by Zarnium on Aug 5, 2018 6:07:36 GMT -8
Mr. Poe does get a bit tiresome in the TV show... since he's billed as a series regular they give him a lot of screentime, but he's actually a very small part of the books. He usually just shows up at the very beginning and end of the first seven books, and then disappears almost entirely after that point, being absent from most of the rest. Neil Patrick Harris is the best part of show, though.
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Post by ThirdMan on Aug 12, 2018 11:24:33 GMT -8
Yeah, after watching The Austere Academy, I can definitely see how much more confident the show is in its overall execution in Season 2. Even Mr. Poe's making me laugh at this point. Also, I was trying to place where I'd previously seen the actress who plays Violet Baudelaire, but then realized she plays a young Kara Danvers in flashbacks in the Supergirl series.
On a side note, the Carmelita character is certainly effectively annoying, but I notice she'll be in a handful of episodes in Season 3: that...might be pushing it.
So, would you guys say "cakesniffer"=~"muggle"?
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Post by Zarnium on Aug 12, 2018 17:03:32 GMT -8
Carmelita does actually appear a couple times in the later books, albeit sparingly. So they're not just making that up for the show, the way they did with Mr. Poe's extra appearances.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 13, 2018 16:16:51 GMT -8
The third and final season drops in 2019!
Unless you're in Alaska, in which case it drops in 2018!
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 2, 2019 19:09:41 GMT -8
The show's third and final season has some pacing issues (particularly with the series finale), but I was overall quite satisfied with it. It adapts the last four books quite well ( The Penultimate Peril is particularly good), and most of the differences and deviations are for the better. The season also does quite a good job of resolving the show's various mysteries - unlike the books, which just kind of left most of them hanging. More detailed thoughts once others have finished the series. But for now I'll just say: Hopefully the whole "sugar bowl" thing has a bit more substance to it in the Netflix show. It does!
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 2, 2019 19:27:52 GMT -8
I've only watched half of the S3 premiere, but I'll try to go through the rest by the weekend.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 14, 2019 0:03:41 GMT -8
Finished the series last night. I don't know that I've ever seen a show where so much of its plot is dictated by whatever silly joke the writer dreams up ("justice is blind", etc). It's just one ridiculous contrivance after another, and these things start piling up so much that you may find yourself wondering why exactly this character is doing this thing, because the motives are often so convoluted, unconvincing and silly.
And this isn't related to humour, but what reasoning did they offer at to why Allison Williams' character couldn't eat the apple, because it could "hurt the baby"? Some of the exposition is so long-winded that I zone out from time-to-time. They didn't really finesse that well.
Anyways, this possibly sounds like I don't like the show, which isn't the case.
It ultimately has more moral complexity than I initially realized, the cast is solid across the board, the production design is strong, and there's a lot of clever wordplay and narration. It's strong on callback humour, as well. And that S1 finale song that's reprised in the penultimate episode is very effective, and quite poignant. And Daniel Handler had the good sense to have Olaf be every bit as annoyed by Carmelita as everyone else.
It's a B+ show, I'd say.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 14, 2019 7:10:00 GMT -8
B+ sounds about right. The show's character development isn't perfect, but as a series which tries to balance quirky humor and increasingly dark drama, and appease both fans of the books and newcomers, it did a remarkable job. In terms of visual design, the show remained impeccable throughout, bringing all of the books' strange, almost dreamlike descriptions to life. Barry Sonnenfeld and Bo Derek were at the top pf their game, perfectly complementing the show's offbeat writing. I never read Snicket's prequel series, so I can't say for certain that he never resolved some of the other mysteries, but I think the show's flashbacks did so commendably. Too bad "The End" was a little rushed (since the writers probably didn't want to draw out the coda of the series), as it meant that the climax felt a bit contrived. (They don't even bother with the explanation of how the Incredibly Deadly Viper got to the island.) And this isn't related to humour, but what reasoning did they offer at to why Allison Williams' character couldn't eat the apple, because it could "hurt the baby"? Some of the exposition is so long-winded that I zone out from time-to-time. They didn't really finesse that well. The apple contained a form of medication which could potentially be harmful to pregnant women. The episode mostly glosses over that. Again, this is why you shouldn't rush your final episode.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 14, 2019 17:02:58 GMT -8
Haha, it's Bo Welch who did the production design on the series. The first time I took note of his work was on Batman Returns.
I wasn't thrilled with the look of the finale, either. The show's stagebound nature came off a little cheap-looking with the island setting. Otherwise, yeah, it was a sharp-looking series.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 14, 2019 18:33:19 GMT -8
Haha, it's Bo Welch who did the production design on the series. The first time I took note of his work was on Batman Returns. No, Bo Welch is the lady from Tommy Boy. I feel quite strongly about this. (On a more serious note, I always associate Welch's distinctive work with the Cat in the Hat movie. Awful film on a script level, but the look was pretty impressive.)
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Post by Zarnium on Mar 27, 2019 15:32:15 GMT -8
I watched season 3 some time ago, but haven't commented on it yet because I don't really have anything new to say about it that I didn't already say about season 2.
Season 3 was really good, and the plot was held together a bit better than in the books, all things considered. The series as a whole is a top-notch adaptation of the books, and also wholly entertaining as its own product.
My only real complaints this season are that Mr. Poe continues to be awkwardly stuck in places where his presence doesn't make any sense, the final episode is a bit rushed due to being crammed into only one episode for some reason, and it seemed really pointless for the circus freaks to leave with Count Olaf only for them to be written out of the show in the next episode. They did join Olaf in the books and continued to appear for the rest of the series, but since the writers clearly didn't want them around after their debut in the show, I'm not sure why they had them leave with him in the first place.
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