The Wide Window: Part 1
As we’re halfway through the series the past episodes are recapped on a news channel. Snickets narrative then has clever metaphors of the Baudelaire story using hurricane Herman. Mr Poe leaves the children in the town, allowing them to find their own way to Aunt Josephine’s when a Taxi seems to appear in a weird coincidence.
Did anyone else think that Aunt Josephine’s house and the cliffs and lake have been beautifully made? It really caught my attention, it wasn’t as colourful as Uncle Monty’s house but it was much prettier and serene that Olaf’s. As soon as Violet says they’re sitting on the end of a precipice with no idea what lies below I thought what a perfect description of Aunt Josephines house. Which is exactly what Snicket says in his narration.
Scared of her own reflection Aunt Josephine is far different to the formidable women Jacquelyn had told the Baudelaire’s about. Aunt Josephine doesn’t talk about her past with the Baudelaire parents and so the Baudelaire’s are unsure on how much they could really learn from her.
Fellow volunteer Larry finds Olaf in the town and lets slip that the Baudelaires are being trained by Josephine. Count Olaf is ready to hatch another dastardly plan. My favourite parts of this series are gradually becoming the parents at the end. As characters who were barely touched on in the books i’m enjoying the insight into their relationship and their skills as volunteers.
The Wide Window: Part 2
As usual no one believes that Olaf is really Olaf and Mr Poe decides that letting Captain Sham adopt them would really be the best thing for them. When in the Anxious Clown we meet Larry who is serving the Baudelaires, Mr Poe and Count Olaf, Larry is in fact a VFD agent and uses the code ‘I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion’. Now this bothered me because although I love seeing that the Baudelaires did in fact have people looking out for them, I’m annoyed that Violet didn’t get to come up with the peppermint plan herself.
Larry gets a call from someone saying they’re alive, this is implied to be from the parents who in the next scene are flying a plane through the hurricane. Klaus finds a photo of their parents and the Antwhistles and other volunteers outside the Lucky Smells Lumber mill, which is where they’ll be heading next. This was a big jump from the books as the Baudelaires didn’t receive this photo, and also Mr Poe is the one who decides where they are to go.
The Baudelaires are saved by the parents as they help them create a fire while on the boat, I think this is great as it linked them to the main plot line simply. As the decide to leave the people in distress, they dont realise its the Baudelaire’s, their engine cuts out and again they have a very bad ass moment.
As Josephine stands up to Count Olaf we finally see her formidable and ferocious side, a side we unfortunately never saw in the film. This is short lived as she’s pushed overboard where the leeches devour her. I found this version of Aunt Jospehine fairly like-able as she did try to be braver to protect the children, she just wasn’t quite quick enough to outsmart Olaf.
As the Baudelaire’s see the Lucky Smells Lumber Mill from afar, they realise that this is where they need to go to get some answers. As Sunny saves the day by revealing Olaf’s fake peg leg, they escape onto a truck which deviates from the books once again.
The taxi driver is called Ishmael. Is this just a play on the Herman Melville references or is it a link to the Ishmael in the final book? There’s also birds flying in a V shaped formation over the head of the children as they travel away. This could be foreshadowing of the village of fowl devotees.