The Reptile Room: Part 1
Wow Montgomery Montgomery’s estate is gorgeous. The stark contrast of greens and colour to the greys of Count Olaf immediately shows Monty as a friendlier and a safer guardian.
Uncle Monty reveals that Sebald has left him quite suddenly, as the audience we know he’s been killed in the previous episode and we immediately know that Count Olaf is still after the Baudelaires. A problem of being a book reader is that often the ‘scary’ moments dont come across well as we already know the outcomes. In this case the Incredibly Deadly Viper jump-scare just isn’t effective as we know its a misnomer.
I may be misremembering, but Klaus distrusts Uncle Monty a lot more than in the books. When discussing that the maze outside the mansion is in the shape of Count Olaf’s Eye Tattoo, Olaf dressed as Stefano is walking through it towards the house. I think this is wonderfully shot as it blends seamlessly from the blueprint to the actual maze. I thought the fourth wall break by Count Olaf talking about how TV was better than film was a nice bit of comic relief in between threats.
Jacquelyn being the actress in Zombies in the Snow and the secret messages in the subtitles was thoughtfully shot throughout. I enjoyed how they showed how the secret message was depicted. The parents are shown to have escaped their prison and are in a tunnel in Peru. Assuming Monty managed to get the children to Peru, would they have been reunited?
The Reptile Room: Part 2
Mr Poe came to the rescue for once… although it was an accident, and he’s still as oblivious as ever. As Count Olaf is trying to get rid of Poe, the theatrical troupe quickly appears to help his nefarious plot. I enjoyed the back and fourth with this episode between the separated children as we got to see all aspects of the plan.
Mr Poe seemed to grow a bit of a backbone and revealed Olaf’s eye tattoo on his ankle, although this doesn’t do much use as the authorities are no where to be found.
The Baudelaires chase Olaf into the maze where he then escapes through a trap door, which the children dont see but are disappointed that they lost him. I’m pretty sure this is also something new. Jacquelyn we find out has been playing the statue in the middle of the maze and although she wasn’t very informative she tells the Baudelaires of their Aunt Josephine, who of course we know is their next guardian. Jacquelyn seems to definitely be one of the good guys.
This episode gave me another piece of evidence as to why Jacquelyn is in fact Kit Snicket. When Olaf and Jacquelyn come face to face they act like they’ve met before. It’s been implied that Kit and Olaf were in a relationship at some point within the books and so have a history together.
The episode ends on the parents trying to ring Uncle Monty but they cant get through. The whole bar that they’re in goes silent and they then ask where they could find a plane. The parents seem to be badasses as they create a weapon as if they’re to fight their way out.