Dear reader,
we are thankfully nearing the end of the suffering of the Baudelaires. But there is no reason you have to suffer with them. Press alt and F4 and shut down your computer so your pain can stop as well.
As you might expect from the penultimate episode, this installment was bigger and better than anything we've seen before. The narrative is complicated and there are a lot of characters - quite a few we know. There's a lot to unpack so le'ts just jump into it.
What was most interesting about this episode was what it revealed about the backstory of not just the Baudelaires but Count Olaf and Lemony Snicket. In a series of flashbacks, we seet Count Olaf, Lemony and Kit Snicket and Esme Squalor at the opera. They're friends and Kit and Olaf are lovers. After the opera finishes, the female protagonist joins them and is revealed to be Beatrice (Morena Baccarin.) The same Beatrice that Lemony Snicket dedicates every episode to.
Beatrice and Esme then have a heated discussion about the sugar bowl. Esme wants it for herself but Beatrice says that something that powerful shouldn't be in the hands of one person. She and Lemony plan to sneak it away, but Esme and Olaf catch them. They prepare to throw poison darts just as Beatrice and Lemony do the same. But then stepping into the crossfire is Olaf's father. He dies as a poison dart hits him - a poison dart thrown by Beatrice and Lemony, triggering Olaf's hatred for them.
Although it was Beatrice's dart that killed Olaf's father, Lemony takes the blame sending him on the run. We learned some very important backstory and we've had some big questions answered.
From here, we'll back to the main narrative. After surfacing at Briny Beach, the Baudelaires are approached by a heavily pregnant Kit Snicket. She offers to drive them to the Hotel Denoument and they accept. On the taxi ride there, they deduce she is Jacques Snickets' sister and reveal the sad news that he has been murdered. Kit drops them off at the hotel Denouement. She tells the Baudelaires to disguise themselves as concierges. VFD are meeting on Thursday and Kit wants to know if it still safe for them to do so. If it is not, the Baudelaires should send a signal warning others to stay away. Aiding in their quest is hotel manager Frank, but working against is his identical twin brother Ernest.
Meanwhile, Kit leaves to take care of her own business. And who should be waiting for her in the back of her taxi? But her brother, and our narrator, Lemony Snicket. Or a far younger version I should say. Considering we've only seen Lemony in flashbacks on in 4th wall breaks, it was interesting seeing him directly inserted into the show. He and Kit share a tender moment, before promising to rejoin the fight by watching over the Baudelaires.
Next we cut to Olaf, Esme and Carmelita. The three of them are on land figuring out their next move, when Fernald and Fiona betray him by stealing his submarine. With little other choice, they go to the Hotel Denouement to stop VFD's meeting.
Can I just say the Hotel Denouement looked spectacular? Full props to the art department who always knock the neo-gothic settings out of the park. The Hotel Denouement looked like a Victorian or Edwardian 5 star hotel.
And lurking within it are the many questions, the Baudelaires have. Is the Last Safe Place really safe? How do they tell Frank and Ernest apart? And who is the JS who invited them here? Through a clever sequence, we see the Baudelaires carry out separate tasks. Violet goes to the rooftop salon, where she sees Esme, Carmelita and the very disgruntled Count Olaf. For the past few episodes, we have seen cracks in their relationship. There is also an amusing cameo from Vice Principal Nero who was last seen terrorising the Baudelaires at Prufrock Prep school. This marked the first of many cameos.
Esme orders Violet to collect a harpoon gun for Carmelita who is being her usual bratty self. Violet tries to eavesdrop on Esme and Nero's scheming, but to no avail. She has to go back to the reception and discuss the request with Frank or is it Ernest? next we follow Klaus who has to go to the sauna where he sees none other than Babs - the administrator of Heimlich Hospital and his previous guardian Jerome Squalor. SPOILER ALERT
In the book, Jerome Squalor is one of the identities of JS and it's revealed that after failing the Baudelaires, he resolved to help them in anyway possible. But here, his role is very much reduced to a cameo. This was a disappointment. Rather than being in another well-intentioned, but ineffectual authority figure, he could have become something more. But anyway, Babs and Jerome are pretending to be a couple, but before Klaus can determine why or why they're here, he is called away by Ernest or is it Frank? He has to hang a role of flypaper out the window.
Finally, we go to Sunny who has been called to help mr Poe. The two go to the hotel resutarant where they are served by none other than Larry Your Waiter. I completely forgot about this character and even looking at my previous reviews, I cannot remember what happened to him. After exchanging cryptic messages with Sunny, he leaves for the kitchen. Count Olaf turns up disguised as Jacques Snicket. He reveals that he contacted Mr Poe for a dossier containing all of the information pertaining to the Baudelaires and the crimes of Count Olaf.
While they're speaking, Sunny sneaks into the kitchen where Larry-Your-Waiter is talking with Frank or is it Ernest? They are discussing the upcoming VFD meeting. but before Sunny can hear anymore, Frank or is it Ernest spots her and requests that she help him put a special lock on the Laundry Room door. While they're doing this, Olaf confronts Larry. The two of them tousle, but Olaf wins and drowns Larry in a pot of curry sauce. This was a disappointing end to a disappointing character. Larry was built up to be an important person, but he just didn't amount to anything.
Anyway later that night, the Baudelaires try and fail to make sense of everything they've found out. Just as they are about to give up on the mystery of JS, Justice Strauss enters or JS. She explains that after failing the Baudelaires, she has followed the children, gathering together every report and scrap of evidence, compiling it all into a massive dossier. From here, she has invited every member of VFD and every person who has ever known the Baudelaires to the Hotel Denouement for a trial with the High Court. She intends to bring Count Olaf to justice. A laudable goal I'm sure, but not the most logical. As we have learned, Olaf is not the only villain in the world and wouldn't it make more sense to bring everybody else to justice as well. If they had the chance, why would they try not to imprison Esme Squalor, Carmelita Spats, the Man with a Beard but no Hair and the Woman with Hair but no Beard.
Anyway, Justice Strauss leaves the children. Although they know who JS is, they don't know why Frank or was it Ernest asked them to perform their own respective tasks. Klaus deduces there is a hidden section to the hotel, which is revealed to be a sub-basement. They discover an anteroom and Frank or is it Ernest? But Klaus realises that the brothers are not twins, but triplets. They are speaking to the third brother Dewey. Dewey explains that VFD have compiled together every single document possible into a huge hidden library. He announces that he and kit Snicket will leave together after Olaf's trial. he invites the Baudelaires to become the library's next librarians after he leaves.
Having all of their questions answered but one, the Baudelaires ask "what is in the sugar bowl?" Just before Dewey can answer, Olaf, Esme and Carmelita join them. Olaf orders Carmelita to shoot Dewey with her harpoon gun, but she refuses until he teaches her how to spit. Sensing tension between the three, the Baudelaires and Dewey taunt Olaf and Esme, causing an argument so big that Olaf breaks up with Esme. Esme swears her revenge.
Olaf now has the harpoon gun and threatens to shoot Dewey. The Baudelaires step in the line of fire and tell Olaf that he doesn't need to do this. With a poignant "it's all I know how to do," he relinquishes the harpoon gun to the children. Mr Poe appears and in shock, the Baudelaires drop the gun, triggering it and harpooning Dewey. He dies saying Kit's name. This is followed by a gorgeous shot of the camera panning upward through the submerged library to Dewey's body floating on the pond on top.
With Mr Poe and the others decrying them as murderers who should appear but Lemony Snicket in a taxi. He promises to drive the children away explaining that he is Kit's brother. This was an interesting deviation from the source material. In the book, the stranger remains unnamed, although it is is implied that it is Lemony.
The Baudelaires consider leaving with Lemony, but decide they cannot run away from their crimes nor give up a chance to put Olaf in jail. They stay with Justice Strauss while Lemony leaves. Olaf is caught trying to sneak away and the trial is held the next day. However, the High court chooses to literally interpret the statement "justice is blind." And thus everybody must be blindfolded while taking their seats. What follows is an amusing but dawn-out physical comedy sequences where we see many familiar faces from the Baudelaire's past.
After this Justice Strauss calls the Baudelaires to the stand. They give an impassioned testimony which is followed by a round of applause. And that was a bit of cheese I could have done without. Anyway Justice Strauss think that she has enough to convince the High Court to convict Count Olaf. But the Baudelaires disagree. Knowing that nobody has ever believed them before, they call Count Olaf to the stand, betting that his narcissism will betray him.
This was a silly decision which quickly backfires when Olaf tells the court of the crimes that the Baudelaires have committed in particular the murder of Dewey Denouement. Why would Olaf incriminate himself when he could incriminate other people? Things only get worse when the other High Court judges wants to know how the Baudelaires plead. To the charge of murdering Dewey Denouement, they plead innocent mostly.
Everybody puts their blindfolds back on to await the verdict. But sensing something is amiss, the Baudelaires peek to see Olaf is kidnapping Justice Strauss and the other two High Court Judges are the Man with a Beard but no Hair and the Woman with Hair, but no beard.
The Baudelaires try to warn everybody but as usual nobody listens. They chase Olaf and Strauss downstairs to the Laundry Room. Here they realise that Carmelita wanted a harpoon gun to shoot down the carrier crow carrying the sugar bowl. The crow will stick to the flypaper that Klaus hung up and the sugar bowl would fall into the Laundry Room.
However, Klaus deduces this to be a decoy and he helps Olaf override the lock. He is proven right when the sugar bowl is nowhere to be found. Not beaten yet, Olaf vows to unleash the Medusoid Mycelium, poisoning everybody in the hotel. He will escape by pushing the boat on the rooftop salon into the sea below. knowing the world is safer without Olaf, Violet volunteers to help him. lastly, Sunny suggests burning the hotel down. She knows that this might be enough to convince everybody that something is amiss. She also knows it can be a signal for other volunteers to stay away.
Olaf wrestles away Justice Strauss' dossier and uses it to start the fire. But Strauss rescues a picture of the Baudelaires. As they take the lift upstairs, the children stop at every floor to warn as many people as possible. They reach the top where Olaf collects the Medusoid Mycelium and he and the children escape the roof via the boat. But Justice Strauss decides to stay behind. They sail away into the sunset, but their story is not at its end yet.
But here we jump back to Justice Strauss who has escaped the fire. She's approached by Lemony Snicket and laments on the fate of the children Lemony takes the photo of the Baudelaires kicking off his own quest to find the children once again.
VFD and Cultural references
1. Lemony Snicket references the humanist John Godfrey Saxe.
2. The famous author Richard Wright is also referenced.
3. Count Olaf claims that Dewey Denouement is a mythical figure like the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi.
4. "Do you expect me to talk?"
"No, Larry Your Waiter, I expect you to boil.
5. In an ultimately pointless and stupid plan, Esme vows to get her revenge on everybody at the trial by tricking them into eating meatballs made from crows. She cries out "let them eat crow," referencing Marie Antoinette's famous "let them eat cake."
6. Dewey's name is a reference to the Dewey Decimal system which is the standard system libraries are run by.
