Everyone has heard the saying “the book is always better,” but the new show “A Series of Unfortunate Events” challenges this idea.

Netflix’ newest series, “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” released on January 13, managed to do a great job of covering a total of 13 books; a pretty hefty job. The show follows the Baudelaire orphans, who are to inherit a load of money once Violet, the main character, comes of age. The Baudelaire children consist of a 12-year-old boy, 14-year-old girl, and and an infant. Upon the death of their parents, Klaus, Sunny, and Violet head to live with their evil “uncle” Count Olaf, played by Neil Patrick Harris. The show also features two rather unknown actors, Malina Weissman and Louis Hynes, portraying the two main characters, Violet and Klaus. While Netflix has only produced one season so far, more are expected because the first season only covers four out of the 13 books.

When I first watched the show, I couldn’t help but search for flaws and deviations between the books and the show. Fortunately, I couldn’t find many. Barry Sonnenfeld, director of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” recently told “Yahoo TV” in an interview that he believes it is extremely important to make the show and book as similar as possible. Sonnenfeld stated that his daughter’s favorite bedtime story was “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” and he feels that it would be a “let-down” to his daughter if he didn’t mimic the old bedtime stories he used to tell. It’s essential for a movie or a TV show to be based on the book, without it, the show would become an entirely new story with little relation to the many books.  

While “A Series of Unfortunate Events” is fairly plausible, the producers added some iffy elements. Constantly throughout the episodes, the narrator (who is supposed to be playing Lemony Snicket), makes surprise appearances to help further the show’s rather spooky element. The narrator can be a good addition, as he explains certain features, but can be an unnecessary one, like when he gives out spoilers. I hope they don’t do as much of it in season 2

Throughout the show, cliffhangers were present, but there weren’t so many that the show becomes a series of mysteries. In every episode, a new challenge confronted the Baudelaire children, normally taking the form of Count Olaf. This element is one of the many elements that makes the show so good. The character development was phenomenal, and the producers managed to add new characters every other episode that I felt I already knew. Every character has some type of trait that connects them to the Baudelaire children, there was never an unnecessary addition.

I am sure I will watch the other seasons and hopefully all of the 13 “A Series of Unfortunate Events” books will be covered.

“A Series of Unfortunate Events” is only available on Netflix.