The Snicket Sleuth (Theories & Analyses)

[thedoctororwell]

I don't see enough theories about ATWQ compared to ASOUE, which is a crying shame. Let's try to remedy that!

Who runs Black Cat Coffee?

I also wrote the second part of my theory about the sugar bowl being empty:

"I want a little sugar in my bowl": narrative deconstruction in "A Series Of Unfortunate Events"

[Hermes]

Very interesting. There is certainly something mysterious about the mail in Stain'd; the claim that the Delivery is Very Fast is surely significant. And you are right that the motivation of the mailperson is rather mysterious.

But I fear there is a flaw in your argument (which is not to say you conclusion is wrong). The Bellerophons did - ostensibly at least - find out about BCC from Lemony. 'Take it, along with those papers in the desk, to Black Cat Cafe and put it in the attic. There's a cupboard there that's larger that it looks' (WDYSHL 258). (I've commented before on Lemony's rashness in sending the brothers up a collapsing tower.)

[thedoctororwell]

Curses! You're right, Hermes. I've updated the article with your research (you're credited, obviously). Thanks!

I do wonder why Lemony doesn't tell them how to get to the secret attic, though. Does he assume the Bellerophon brothers will figure it out on their own, or does he believe they already know the attic because these taxi drivers know most of Stain'd-by-the-Sea's locations anyway?

[thedoctororwell]

So, who's up for another review?

All The Dirty Parts

[thedoctororwell]

Oh, it's on, guys. We're doing this. The big one. Let's settle the score.

Who burned down the Baudelaire mansion?

[gliquey]

Feb 12, 2018 17:27:03 GMT -5 thedoctororwell said:

Oh, it's on, guys. We're doing this. The big one. Let's settle the score.

Who burned down the Baudelaire mansion?

Fascinating. I don't agree with a lot of your theory because I don't like the idea that the real sugar bowl was in the Baudelaire mansion at the time, and am reticent to make so many assumptions based on your previous theories, but it is some real food for thought. However, I concede that your interpretation makes sense and does not contradict anything, as far as I can see.

My previous interpretation was that Olaf's discussion between Klaus could make sense under either of the following circumstances:

• Olaf did set the fire, but he views this as irrelevant - the point is that Klaus does not have sufficient reason to be confident about knowing this. Klaus doesn't understand Olaf's position or motives, and Olaf wants to make it clear that his perspective is far too simplistic and naive. Perhaps Olaf finds it amusing that Klaus is not asking what his parents did at the opera - something that Olaf was getting revenge for by killing the Baudelaire parents.
• Olaf didn't set the fire, and is amused by Klaus' false accusation. Rather than outwardly deny it, he makes Klaus question his assumptions - he doesn't really care if he gets credit for the murder, and they probably wouldn't believe it if he started vehemently denying it. But he thinks it's funny to toy with them.

Your post introduced me to the idea that the fire and the murder are two separate things - I think this is a really good explanation of why Olaf's response is not just a simple "yes" or "no". If he did one but not the other, then his reply to Klaus makes perfect sense to me: Olaf knows that Klaus is half-correct in his beliefs but things are a lot more complicated than he realises. If the two are distinct events though, I would prefer to think that the murder happened before the fire - the idea that one or both parents survived the fire revives this whole Snicket File p.13 storyline that I would prefer to end conclusively with the introduction of Quigley in TSS.

I think Olaf's eyes shine when he experiences dramatic irony i.e. he knows something the person he's talking to doesn't. With the Ishmael example, I'm convinced Olaf is telling the truth, but he finds it quite funny that Ishmael is wrong in his accusation.

[Grace]

I'm now wholly convinced that the parents set the fire themselves with the brandy bottle, which is why they got the kids out of the house, but something went wrong that involved the other side of the schism. One of the parents may have even escaped successfully, but was later killed. Olaf wasn't directly responsible for the fire, but probably had something to do with their deaths. Am baffled on the bodies though.

[Uncle Algernon]

…does anyone know what happened to the good Snicket Sleuth? Not a post in two months!

[thedoctororwell]

I'm back! I haven't been very productive these last few months as far as Snicket Sleuth goes, and I apologize if I worried some people. Nothing too dramatic happened: life gets in the way (basically lots of work hours mean less time to write articles or answers Q&As on the blog). Plus news these days tend to be more focused on the ongoing Netflix series, and that's a little out-of-focus for my blog.

If you so desire, you can read a few reviews I've made on my blog:

Slackin' with the Sleuth: reviewing Netflix's...

The Austere Academy

The Ersatz Elevator

The Vile Village

The Hostile Hospital

The Carnivorous Carnival

[thedoctororwell]

And on we go! I plan to review the entire season.

The Slippery Slope

[thedoctororwell]

Another Netflix review on the way!

The Grim Grotto

[thedoctororwell]

Almost done!

The Penultimate Peril

[takatoguil]

Thank goodness, when you cruelly (a word which here means "failing to provide a free entertainment as quickly as I perhaps unrealistically hoped") left your site un-updated for a couple of days, I began to fear the worst. I love your work!

EDIT: Alas, your Tracz interview link isn't present. The first one, not the one in the update.

[thedoctororwell]

Thank you for your continued support, takatoguil! I fixed the link you talked about, good catch.

[thedoctororwell]

And that's it for the reviews! Back to business (I hope).

The End