Netflix's 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' proved to be anything but

If the world needs to know anything about me, it’s that I love “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”

Since second grade, I’ve read the complete series six times and watched the movie at least twice as many times. I’ve joined forums to discuss theories explaining the mysteries of V.F.D., and I’ve even considered getting a tattoo on my left ankle like the series antagonist, Count Olaf.

Needless to say, when I found out Netflix was turning the books into a TV series, I was euphoric — a word which here means “So excited I screamed before crying for an hour.” And in anticipation, I started planning a photo series to post on Instagram to count down to the premiere date of Friday, Jan. 13.

"Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do. But like most impolite things, it is excusable under certain circumstances. Stealing is not excusable if, for instance, you are in a museum and you decide that a certain painting would look better in your house, and you simply grab the painting and take it there. But if you were very, very hungry, and you had no way of obtaining money, it would be excusable to grab the painting, take it to your house, and eat it." —#TheWideWindow, Book the Third : @barronorthrup #netflixaseriesofunfortunateevents #netflixasoue

A photo posted by José Valle (@foxiegaspie) on Jan 11, 2017 at 8:04pm PST

Each photo represented one of the books, and some of my favorites were shot across campus: “The Ersatz Elevator” in Carmichael Residence Hall, “The Vile Village” in the quad and “The Wide Window” in Carolina Hall.

"Whenever we capture rulebreakers, we tie them to a wooden pole and light a fire underneath their feet. That's why I warned you about the number of nuts on my hot fudge sundae. It would be a shame to light you on fire." —#TheVileVillage, Book the Seventh : @lukeaaronb #netflixaseriesofunfortunateevents #netflixasoue

A photo posted by José Valle (@foxiegaspie) on Jan 7, 2017 at 4:57pm PST

I stayed up to watch the episodes when they went live at 3 a.m. And while I only made it to episode three while live-tweeting before passing out, I finished the series and am so, so happy with the amazing product Netflix has released. I would explain everything I love in detail, but I was told to keep my excitement relatively tame — a word which here means “Not the 50 million words I had originally planned.”

So I’ll stop here and say that season two has been officially confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Here’s a list of the moments I’m most looking forward to in the upcoming season, which will continue the series through the ninth book:

“The Austere Academy”

The casting for Carmelita Spats. While I had my doubts, every character so far has been portrayed so perfectly. Though I don’t think anyone will ever compare to Emily Browning as Violet Baudelaire, Joan Cusack as Justice Strauss overshadowed any sort of flaw I saw in terms of casting. I want to see the awful cakesniffer Carmelita come to life.

“The Ersatz Elevator”

The cinematography for the elevator scenes. I thought the collapse of Aunt Josephine’s house was simply too much. Despite this, the way the children’s arrival to both Briny Beach and Justice Strauss’ house were shot really gives me hope that the near-death experiences in the elevator shaft of 667 Dark Avenue will be a smashing success.

“The Vile Village”

The escape out of the Village of Fowl Devotees jail. After the complete rewrite of how the Baudelaires got to the Lucky Smells Lumbermill, I can’t imagine they’ll escape the V.F.D. jail the same way they did in the books. And whether that proves true or not — well, I can’t wait to find out.

“The Hostile Hospital”

The set for Heimlich Hospital. One of my favorite parts of season one was the set for Prufrock Preparatory School, which took the concepts of gravestone-like buildings to a lethal, new level I was not expecting. I can only imagine what the half-finished hospital will look like.

“The Carnivorous Carnival”

The costuming for the self-described carnies. I never imagined the Baudelaires dressed in modern clothes, but I can’t help but love the juxtaposition of the bright colors with the grim settings in most of the scenes. The possibilities are endless, and this is exactly why I’m excited to see Violet and Klaus become Beverly and Elliot and Sunny transform into Chabo the Wolf Baby.

It’s been almost 13 years since I saw my childhood companions portrayed in real life for the first time. And while the wait was unfortunate, Netflix’s much-anticipated rendition sure as hell is not.

Will they disappoint the second time around? I doubt it. But if they somehow do — well, the series is supposed to have an unfortunate end, after all.

@jmv0823

swerve@dailytarheel.com