Season 3 of Netflix’s Lemony Snicket adaptation, A Series of Unfortunate Events, will be the series’ last, and from what the new trailer has to share, it looks as though it’s going to be an epic ride to the finish line. The television series is the second, arguably more successful adaptation of the novels by Lemony Snicket (or the author Daniel Handler, if you will), which came about more than a decade after the feature film version, starring Jim Carrey as the villainous Count Olaf, failed to launch a live-action blockbuster franchise.
The series kicked off in 2017, with Neil Patrick Harris in the role formerly filled by Carrey, and with Malina Weissmann, Louis Hynes, and Presley Smith occupying the roles of the Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, respectively. And though Netflix’s series doesn’t boast the presence of Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Timothy Spall, or Catherine O’Hara, it impresses nevertheless with appearances by Patrick Warburton, Nathan Fillion, Will Arnett, Cobie Smulders, and, strangely enough, Catherine O’Hara. The result has been a television series with the episode count, talent, and budget to give the Snicket story the space it needed to be told from start to finish.
More: The Gifted Fall Finale Review: The Series Delivers A Big Win For Mutankind
At under 10 episodes per season, A Series of Unfortunate Events is a rarity by Netflix standards, which, more often than not, features seasons with more episodes than the story can fill. That, thankfully, is not the case here, and since its budget is stretched across fewer episodes, the series has the look and feel of a more extravagant theatrical blockbuster. Take a look at the trailer below to see what’s in store for the Baudelaire kids as their fantastical journey prepares to come to an end.
Netflix packs a lot of information into a relatively small package here, as the trailer fashions itself as part recap and part advertisement for the final season. The end product is a twee fantasy adventure that looks at times as though it is made by Wes Anderson’s biggest fan, though it also secretly harbors great admiration for the early work of Tim Burton or Jean-Pierre Jeunet. That’s not exactly a bad combination for a program that dives headlong into a heightened world, blending steampunk-like anachronisms with a slew candy-colored contemporary elements.
Though it likely could have gone on for at least five seasons, the decision to end A Series of Unfortunate Events after three is probably for the best. Most television series tend to overstay their welcome, and as Netflix’s catalog of original titles increases every year, Lemony Snicket’s strange story may have found itself fading into obscurity. This way, it can go out on the high note it deserves.
Next: Counterpart Review: The Sci-Fi Spy Series Delivers A Superb Start To Season 2
A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3 will stream beginning Tuesday, January 1, 2019 on Netflix.
