This was one of the weaker instalments for me in terms of atmosphere, but we do get a tiny bit of plot progression at last, primarily though the brief introduction of Jacques Snicket as a character, which helps to hint at a connection towards the role of Lemony Snicket in the story which I’m sure will come to light later on. More of this is hinted at in the show in these earlier instalments than the slim pickings we get in the books, but in either case not very much has been revealed so far (for clarity, I have been reading and watching concurrently as I go along). We also get the beginnings of a sense of development from the characters and of time passing: Klaus turns 13 and Sunny learns to walk, indicating that at least a few months have presumably passed since the beginning of the series, but less than a year.

Probably my favourite aspect was the code-cracking aspect via the poems they receive from Isidora, and the revelation as to how the Quagmire triplets were able to communicate with them under such difficult circumstances. It strikes me as odd, on the other hand, that the Quagmires always seem to emerge relatively unscathed from their adventures, whereas the Baudelaires seem to encounter misfortune no matter what they do.

We also finally start to see the formula of the instalments shift a little: the Baudelaires are relatively free to roam, since they are not given one guardian but are put under the guardianship of a whole village, under the principle that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. These villagers have no ostensible connection to the Baudelaire parents, Olaf, nor VFD, but are malicious in a more mundane way, obsessing over countless arbitrary rules and forcing the children to do all their chores on the demented principle that this is common for children in single households. In keeping with the previous instalment, The Ersatz Elevator, more social commentary is starting to emerge.

Furthermore, although I didn’t feel hugely engaged by the setting, I appreciate that the series is starting to become more mature. I really liked the increasing themes of moral ambiguity that are being introduced: Jacques Snicket was presumably working surreptitiously behind the scenes in some way until this point in a manner not so distinct from Olaf’s use of disguises, and the community turn on the Baudelaires as criminals, fundamentally shifting their role from that of helpless orphans to a group on the run from this point onwards, as well as showing how different perspectives might cause others to view the dynamics of their story very differently, and how desperate circumstances people face during times of hardship can lead to unfairly harsh judgements from those who don’t understand the bigger picture.