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Post by ryantrimble457 on Apr 1, 2018 22:12:32 GMT -5
lanayru,it was def a romance novel and featured two dudes on the front. More fun LGBT stuff!
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lanayru
Catastrophic Captain
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Post by lanayru on Apr 1, 2018 22:56:32 GMT -5
Oh cool, that’s what I thought! It’s a nice detail.
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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Apr 1, 2018 23:12:33 GMT -5
I thought the reason they kept Babs alive in this was so that she could help them with the paperwork aspect. Doesn't she mention that herself at one point? In any case, Olaf walks a fine line between frightening and absurd, and casually murdering people who stand in his way is one way to help illustrate his ruthless side, so I was initially disappointed in his lack of murder. However, Olaf managed to be more frightening in these episodes than in any of the others with the possible exception of TBB. Further, the show they put on to scare her before tying her up and making her do their bidding, while not as vicious as the quick, stealthy murders in some of the other episodes (and in the book version of this story), worked better for this particular set of episodes and its corresponding stylistic horror elements.
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lanayru
Catastrophic Captain
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Post by lanayru on Apr 1, 2018 23:18:15 GMT -5
Actually, you’re probably right about the paperwork thing, I guess that might have slipped past me. I do agree that Olaf came off as a lot more frightening in these episodes than any other.
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Post by gliquey on Apr 2, 2018 16:26:57 GMT -5
These episodes were truly amazing, easily the best of the series (so far), and gave me genuine feelings of anxiety, heartbreak and catharsis. I was surprised at how scary they went, considering the younger end of its target demographic. And as others have mentioned, the emphasis on Hal's kindness makes the Baudelaires' betrayal—already one of the saddest scenes in the books—truly devastating. The episode made quite a few big changes, but as always is still true to the style of the books. In THH, Olaf doesn't even appear until Chapter Thirteen, but of course here he gets plenty of screentime. I like the extra interaction between Olaf and Klaus/Sunny (with the patient list), and combined with Esme later trapping Klaus this gave a real cat-and-mouse game feel to the episodes. The volunteers (Larry, Jacquelyn and Olivia) were startlingly absent from these episodes, which is something I really welcome. It gave the show time to really focus on Hal, and the Baudelaires' perspectives. Book THH has, in my opinion, some of the least plausible moments in ASOUE. In particular, how Sunny passed as one of the white-faced women is beyond the stupidity even adults in the Snicketverse display. It's good to get this replaced with Klaus just hiding Sunny and having his disguise seen through by the troupe. However, they did keep in the Dr. Sirin anecdote, which I am and always have been in two minds about; I'm not sure whether the impossibility of it is justified by its hilarity. A topic that often came up following the release of season 1 was how the show would now deal with the survivor of the fire storyline. It looks like they're still going through with it, and have averted the dodgy retcon in the books by not showing a misleading photograph, and this is something I thought would be an okay solution. Good moments: - The Last Chance General Store rule of three: "out of gas", "out of order", "out of luck".
- "We're child actors", said by Klaus, is perhaps my favourite fourth wall break of the entire show. I think it's quite clever.
- Hal's glasses look excellent.
- Babs gets an interesting and unexpected characterisation (though I wanted her to use the paper bag a little bit more often).
- The easter eggs: ones we saw in promotional material (signs for "Hit By A Bus", "Pee Into Cup" and "Accidentally Swallowed Something You Shouldn't Have") and files in the Library of Records ("Slippery Slopes" and "Sniffers, Cake").
- Sunny actually audibly says "V.F.D." to match her subtitles; her speaking skills are developing.
- Babs offers, "Take my eyeballs! Take my feet!", rather than having her clipboard taken away.
- The white-faced women's bizarre use of aphorism, "the hunter becomes the hunted" and "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar", and Olaf's confused reaction.
Bad moments: - Klaus mentions the Quagmires' notes (when talking about anagrams) but this seems a little bit dodgy as they are not mentioned before this in the episodes. I would have liked a moment of them looking through the notes somewhere in THH.
- Sunny recommends echinacea as medicine, but this is pseudoscience. Scientific studies show it does not work (for colds or cancer), and it is not FDA approved.
- The music playing when Snicket interrupts the Violet/Esme chase scene is too upbeat.
- I would have liked for Klaus to show off a bit more knowledge when stalling. I love all of Violet's chances to save the day but I fear Klaus hasn't been getting enough this season.
Stray notes: - I assume Olaf was already in the Last Chance General Store when the Baudelaires arrived. How did he get there faster than them? I thought at the end of TVV the troupe sped off in the opposite direction to the Baudelaires.
- The tattoo reveal of Lemony is no surprise for fans of the books, but I imagine this is an important moment for people who haven't read the books (or have forgotten most of their content).
-The scene with Violet and Olaf was incredibly creepy. I felt like Olaf in these two episodes comes off as a better, scarier villain and less silly than in any of the previous episodes. My one reservation is that he kept Babs alive for some reason. Did they give a reason why? I wonder if she has any sort of importance later on and that’s why the show didn’t kill her off. It just seems odd to me because he never seems to hesitate to murder anyone who gets in his way. I wondered at the time if this was a compromise on the dark tone of the episodes. Babs' capture is much scarier than I anticipated, and to imply on top of this that she was violently murdered by Olaf's knife or drill would have been too far for younger viewers.
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Post by ryantrimble457 on Apr 2, 2018 16:48:56 GMT -5
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lanayru
Catastrophic Captain
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Post by lanayru on Apr 2, 2018 16:54:06 GMT -5
Wrt the Quagmire’s notes- if I’m not mistaken I think it shows Klaus looking through them a little in the beginning of THH part 1 and making a remark that they’re too damaged to glean very much information from them, but it’s a pretty quick moment. I don’t think there’s any other mention besides that and the anagram scene.
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Post by Grace on Apr 2, 2018 16:57:54 GMT -5
I basically agree with everything Dante said. I want to add that I particularly liked seeing Babs and Hal come to life, this book was one of my least favorites because of how cartoonish it felt from start to finish. The Last Chance General Store scene was also a joy to watch, way better than how I imagined it in the books.
I could've done without Olaf's creepy speech when Violet is unconscious (incl. the Sleeping Beauty reference). We get it, he's gross.
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Post by Violent BUN Fortuna on Apr 2, 2018 17:55:58 GMT -5
I totally forgot to mention how much I loved seeing the Dr Sirin part!! I always loved that little story in the books (although it's a sad thought, too -- what an existence, living in someone's stomach), an I liked how they showed it here.
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Post by veryfakedonkey on Apr 2, 2018 23:26:04 GMT -5
Because Babe didn't die, why didn't she explain the truth to everyone at any time? Wasn't she shown running from the fire, or am I mistaken.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Apr 3, 2018 11:51:16 GMT -5
I really liked these episodes, which was a good pick-me-up after being let down by TVV. I especially loved the Esmé/Library of records scene (Lucy Punch shouting "Give it to me" gave me chills!). I agree with most of what Dante and gliquey have said already. lanayru,it was def a romance novel and featured two dudes on the front. More fun LGBT stuff! Not only that, but the author picture on that romance novel is most definitely Daniel Handler in disguise! Here's a picture, though you can see it more clearly in full HD on the Netflix app (it doesn't let you take screenshots, I had to use Netflix in a browser), at 18:20 in the episode: Also, the right guy on the cover--even though it's likely not him--looks a lot like Pete Serafinowicz, who I just realized would make a great addition to the cast! (Maybe as the Man With Beard But No Hair... he's voiced Darth Maul after all.)
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Post by mizbizsav on Apr 3, 2018 14:39:44 GMT -5
I watched Part 1 and Part 2 of THH on two different nights. To express to you how much I loved these episodes... after I finished watching Part 1 the first night, I immediately watched it again. And on the second night, as the ending scenes of Part 2 played, I had tears in my eyes. THESE WERE SO GOOD!!!
I love everything they did here. All of the choices they made felt seamless and enhanced the storytelling. I did really like the other episodes (seasons 1 and 2), but it wasn't until I watched these that I realized that this is what I wanted all along. Of course, leaning into the horror vibes gave the episodes a more serious tone, but it wasn't just that. The tension existed because they cut out the unnecessary silly scenes and just focused on the characters - their goals, their strife. The emotions felt more alive here than at any other point in the show thus far. This one captured the spirit of the books so well - that's what brought the tears to my eyes!
The Baudelaires felt like they were in actual danger here! My gripe with the tone of the show was that it didn't strike that delicate balance the books did well - ridiculous stuff happened, but it always posed a very real threat to the Baudelaires. In the show, the silliness is acknowledged as silliness (if that makes sense) so it feels more like watching the Baudelaires escape a wacky situation rather than a dangerous one. Here, everyone was on edge - the Baudelaires, the villains - and I really felt the frustration bubbling on both sides, each threatening to topple the other. Count Olaf had his humor (I don't think that should go away), but he was still scary. His henchpeople were still around, but with fewer scenes - I prefer them in smaller doses. (Plus their quips were pretty darn good these episodes. That Nurse Lucafont/The Shining reference at the end had me in stitches.) And Esmé Squalor... that Library of Records scene... I don't think any scene in the show is going to top that for me. Lucy Punch was so brilliant!!! She was terrifying and funny and gahhh, I'm not even done with the series yet I've watched that scene three times. Easily the scariest scene in the show thus far!
The Baudelaires felt like anchors of their own story here - in the earlier episodes of this season, it sometimes felt like they were getting lost amidst all of the scenes with the adults. (Very pleased that Larry and Jacquelyn didn't make an appearance here.) I've always liked Malina, Louis, and Presley's acting, but they were excellent here. The story served them well - they had a desperate agency that fueled their scenes, but also had some touching moments - like with Hal in the unfinished wing of the hospital. And Hal... oh man, the betrayal by the Baudelaires really hurt, way worse than in the books.
I'm so unbelievably happy with these episodes! The balance of everything - the scary, the funny, the emotional, the mystery - felt pitch-perfect. Joshua Conkel did a fantastic job! He also wrote The Grim Grotto episodes for season 3. The Grim Grotto is not one of my favorite books, especially when compared to the other books in season 3 - but now I'm super excited to see what he comes up with.
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Post by Invisible on Apr 3, 2018 17:04:42 GMT -5
I really liked these episodes, which was a good pick-me-up after being let down by TVV. I especially loved the Esmé/Library of records scene (Lucy Punch shouting "Give it to me" gave me chills!). I agree with most of what Dante and gliquey have said already. lanayru,it was def a romance novel and featured two dudes on the front. More fun LGBT stuff! Not only that, but the author picture on that romance novel is most definitely Daniel Handler in disguise! Here's a picture, though you can see it more clearly in full HD on the Netflix app (it doesn't let you take screenshots, I had to use Netflix in a browser), at 18:20 in the episode: Also, the right guy on the cover--even though it's likely not him--looks a lot like Pete Serafinowicz, who I just realized would make a great addition to the cast! (Maybe as the Man With Beard But No Hair... he's voiced Darth Maul after all.) How did I not spot that? I feel like such a bad Person of Indeterminate Gender fan.
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sᴍᴏᴋᴇ sɪɢɴᴀʟs
Reptile Researcher
be cunning and full of tricks
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Post by sᴍᴏᴋᴇ sɪɢɴᴀʟs on Apr 3, 2018 19:26:13 GMT -5
ill make edits to this post when im done watching the episodes. but in the first few minutes: - out of gas, out of order, out of luck. that could be the motto for my life. - "i could have gone to medical school! i love cadavers!" YES.............big mood esme! - all the 70s costumes of the volunteers on the bus are great! and the singalong captions - the shot of count olaf smashing the lights in the hallway was terrifying, and perfect. same with the shot of him leaving after they grab babs. - the scene with hal was sad, and powerful. same with the lemony narration after. this show needs to take its own advice and learn to be subtle sometimes, because it certainly works. -funny that they choose "stealing" as the moral dilemma, and not lockpicking which i would consider "breaking and entering". - who told these kids good acting was "saying lines as fast as possible". the kids are great anyway, but still. - this show SHINES when the setting is nasty and grimy -was THH the book with esme's fire dress? if it is, i am so disappointed they didnt include it. despite the dress, esme chase scene + the score is great. GREAT shot composition
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coolcat667
Catastrophic Captain
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Post by coolcat667 on Apr 3, 2018 23:08:16 GMT -5
I figured it'd be best to group these by book. Here, discuss eps 5 & 5 . It will be assumed you have seen episodes 1-6, as well. Feel free to discuss your knowledge what happens beyond these eps (as far as the TV show and the book series are concerned), but please put that in a spoiler tag. 5 and 5? What the heck?
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