The Unfortunate Blogger

The Reptile Room-Part One

Ah, blogging. The best way to get out one's emotions. <Ahem> Right! Moving on! So...what to say about the third episode of A series of Unfortunate events. Well, if you take out the annoying people, which was almost every single negative person I mentioned in the last review...this was actually pretty good!

Yep. Things are starting to look up a bit.

Now of course, this isn't the books, the movie, or the PlayStation game (which even then, the characters change a lot, surprisingly), so of course, new things take time to get used to. That I can understand and that's why I'm still here. Of course, that doesn't mean that there won't be small quirks that I can live with, but I can discuss those much later. For now, onto the review!

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Doctor Montgomery Montgomery- Talk about a great actor and a great character! In the movie, I liked how Uncle Monty was portrayed as a recent father since there wasn't much screen time with him. I didn't mind that since I thought the character in the book was a bit absent-minded, overly-excitable (thought that's kind of me in a nutshell, I find), and sometimes very negligent of the kids. And of course, he's as gullible as the rest of the adults. (Which, honestly, you would think that VFD would have much smarter people working there since they all know the same tricks). However, for this episode, the character was just as lovable as the movie version if not better. I love this guy! And my sister, who loves Montgomery herself, was also a huge fan of this guy, so you know he's good! I liked his calm demeanor, I love his simple door made complicated with the multiple levers, "samplers", and gears on it, (sounds like a door I'd like to have), and on top of it, while he's enthusiastic about his work, he's also very attentive to the Baudelaires. Everything about him was great! I just...I just loved it!!!!

2) The 'faking acceptance of Stephano' scene- The scene where Montgomery pretends to open the door in a complicated way and then the children pretend that his excuse of going up and down stairs with a knife is 'normal'...I couldn't help it. That was funny!

3) The Spyglasses decode movie messages- Spyglasses were never a thing in the book series. That was just the tattoo of the eye on everyone's ankle. So clearly this is paying homage to the movie. However, I love how the spyglasses were more than just club membership cards. They are actually used to spy on people, zoom in to read things, and in this movie, you can decode messages via movie subtitles! The scene where Monty tries to decode the message with the spy glass was awesome!!!!! And then with the ticket seller being part of VFD...HELLO awesome underground spy networking system!!!!

4) Doctor Montgomery's iguana clock- I love the reaction of people who see this clock. I mean, lets be real, that clock made me jump out of my freaking skin! Especially when Po screamed. Heh heh. Anyway, when Stephano and Mr. Poe were both startled by the clock, that was just hilarious!

5) They explain Montgomery's misnomer of The Incredibly Deadly Viper- In the book, they state that Montgomery was always made fun of because his last name was also his first name and he got sick and tired of his colleagues making fun of him for it. So he decided to play a practical joke. In the movie, he just wants to be funny, but here they actually explain why he isn't a fan of his other colleagues, which explains why he's so worried about there being spies lurking around his house.

6) Klaus' skepticism- I like how they added in here that Klaus is fairly skeptic of their new guardian given that his hedge looks like an eye. For anyone having to  deal with a guy with a tattoo of an eye on his ankle, seeing this would definitely raise eyebrows. Especially if that guy has recently plotted to kill you after marrying your sister. Klaus does eventually warm up to Uncle Monty, but I like how this episode gives him a bit of time to try and get over the mental hurdle of the last two episodes.

7) The children change clothes- I guess this is more in general, but I like that they have a much bigger wardrobe than the exact same frocks they wore on  the beach. (Or in the movie where they were the exact same dark clothing). You would have thought that someone would have them change clothes after the Count Olaf incident....

8) The parents and Montgomery were trapped in the piano- And then later Count Olaf said that he took that picture. That's it, really. It was funny.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Lemony Snicket appearing in the scene at the same time as the children- I'm sure this is something that I'll have to learn how to get used to, but to me, this is very distracting. It's one thing to be in the exact same spot explaining what happened there, but it's something else entirely to say exactly what the characters are doing as they're doing it. I'm sorry, but...as much as I like this Lemony Snicket, the way he appears can be a bit distracting at times, no matter what the critics say.

2) Montgomery mistaking Count Olaf as a rival scientist- Now, I already knew this was coming, so this wasn't something that I hated as much as it was something that just made me feel sad. Now, considering how much Montgomery is a part of VFD and how each member is well aware of secret codes, disguises, and suspicious activity, you would think that he would be suspicious that Gustave suddenly vanished and in steps this new assistant who chases children up and down the stairs with a knife. Even to me that doesn't sound like a rival spy. Especially considering that he was sent a message saying that he had to take the children to Peru to avoid danger, you would think he would be more wary of Count Olaf's schemes. Especially since Count Olaf was once a part of the organization himself! And is kind of an idiot! And a bad actor!

That's....actually all I can think about right now. I guess that shows how much better this stuff has gotten. But...we'll have to wait and see, hmm?