One thing I forgot to say before, and this isn't really a criticism, just something I would have liked to see, is that I missed the Déjà vu joke from the book, which I always loved. It would have been nice to include that -- but as I say, it's not really a criticism.
I really enjoyed this joke too. Perhaps nitpicky on my part, but I'm
quite disappointed that "Queen Debbie and her boyfriend Tony" was left out, I enjoyed that quite a lot in the book
even though including it serves little to no purpose in the Baudelaire story.Episode nine thoughts/observations:
Loved the masquerade flashback - the reappearance of so many characters in the one sequence was...
smashing.
Especially the root beer float references.
The Carnival design is fantastic, the neglected air of being unpopular makes Olaf's book plan look smart.
Lulu's tent with the insignia is visually spot on.
The Esme/Lulu jealousy established quite quickly.
Fernald's sister reference...
Lulu's "reading" of Olaf is well executed.
As a
Supernatural fan, the lights flickering creepily is a nice detail
even though we know she's bogus.
Olaf drinking cask wine because he's cheap.
The job interview monologue being included.
Patrick's portrayal of Lemony as the ever present narrator has been spot on.
The Baudelaires meeting the freaks is kind of heartwarming.
Their physical imperfections speeches about not fitting in could be relatable to other outcasts.
Olivia dropping her Lulu accent to enquire about Olaf's question.
She really has perfected her disguising skills - to me she really disappears beneath the surface of her disguise.
As opposed to Olaf being recognisable in comparison.
Esme's carnival outfit, oh my. Spot on. Very Gaga-ish.
Olaf's presentation/song introducing the freaks felt so unexpected and campy, I'm a little on the fence about it.
Nice of Lemony to give the Baudelaires some dignity and not display the corn eating reprisal.
The Lulu tent snoop was nicely done, using the visual medium to translate the archival library in the books to film reels to learn more about VFD.
Callbacks to
Zombies in the Snow, message decoding tutorials among other materials again well executed.
Olivia's reunion with the Baudelaires was very touching.
I have been very curious to see how this has played out since her expansion in the series and it's better than I expected.
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Episode ten thoughts/observations:
Lemony's post-Baudelaire research trip in the Hinterlands is faithfully adapted in the books.
His camping trip is a great foreshadowing of TSS, not to mention the inclusion of the "belly of the beast" monologue and the usage count throughout.
Olivia's recounting of her own events - I love the twist that "Madame Lulu" is a VFD placeholder.
It reminds me of the Dread Pirate Roberts arrangement in
The Princess Bride.
I do feel more and more that this adaptation feels like Handler's do-over: in a good way.
The continuity of the series feels much smoother. The schism, their guardians being volunteers...
The early beginnings of Sunny's culinary interest.
Esme's visit to the freaks played out as well as the book; taking advantage of the freaks by being friendly and be rid of Lulu all in one swoop.
The lion pit sequence has always felt sad, but even more so because of Olivia's expansion in the adaptation.
The bald man was spared; I get the impression that Olaf's troupe has been granted a longer shelf life.
AHHHHH the woman arriving in the taxi has to be Kit, like the physical taxi she uses in TGG/TPP is kind of a family heirloom, such a good tie in.
The mountains look genuinely scary and foreboding.
The caravan rope cut and cliffhanger again well executed.
Well...the next season has a lot of my favourite books in the series including TPP, I really look forward to seeing them adapted.
That being said, I'm quite pleased overall with Season 2 and its adaptation; they covered five books' worth of ASOUE content and arguably included more with the earlier defined presence of VFD in the Baudelaire story.