Series of Unfortunate Event (A Bad Beginning)

With some free time this week, I decided to dive into the Netflix interpretation of the great Lemony Snickett books. When these books came out, I devoured the first six or seven before abandoning it because it got even a little too depressing for me, someone who loves depressing art. I did watch the movie when it came out fourteen years ago, and while I found it entertaining, it was disappointing, as would be expected when you try to cram so much material into one film. So I was intrigued to see how it would play out in longer serial television format.
The first two episodes cover the first novel. I will admit that I nearly gave up on it after the first episode, because it was so horribly dark. The Baudelaire siblings live through the most abusive situation in this book and it's a little difficult to adjust to the twisted humor of the story. But thankfully, by the second episode, they were able to figure out how to portray the lighter, loving aspects of the story in a way that made it much more enjoyable to watch. 
The cast of this show is phenomenal. Neil Patrick Harris is practically mesmerizing and the kids are perfect. The look of the show is like something out of a Wes Anderson film and very effectively captures the mood of the stories. 
I love how the show has the meta element of being aware of itself. Along these lines, the addition of Lemony Snickett as a character and a framer of the story is brilliantly done. This show once again proves that television is currently the better format to capture the complexities and breadth of series publishing.