The Austere Academy: Part One - S2-E1
Trivia: Mr. Poe rhapsodizes over a saccharine sweet book called 'The Pony Party.' That was the title of the fake book printed on the reverse of the dust jacket of 'Lemony Snicket: An Unauthorized Autobiography.'
Trivia: Count Olaf notably has a tattoo of an eye on his ankle, which is often shown throughout the series. Actor Neil Patrick Harris actually ended up getting the tattoo done for real to celebrate after the series was picked up for a second season. So whenever the tattoo is visible in seasons two and three, it's not makeup... it's real.
The Hostile Hospital: Part Two - S2-E8
Trivia: When Olaf catches Klaus in the corridor while Klaus and Sunny are disguised as a doctor, he tells Klaus that he looks terribly young to be a doctor. This is a reference to the fact that Neil Patrick Harris, who plays Count Olaf, played the role of Doogie Howser, a teenage doctor, in "Doogie Howser: MD" in the late 80s to early 90s.
Trivia: Catherine O'Hara portrays the villainous Dr. Orwell in this series adaptations. Somewhat ironically, she also appeared in the prior 2004 film adaptation as the much kinder character Justice Strauss.
The Carnivorous Carnival: Part One - S2-E9
Trivia: When the orphans are disguised as freaks, Olaf and his troupe mock them by chanting 'Not one of us!' This is a homage to the 1932 film 'Freaks', where the freaks chant 'One of us!'.
The Austere Academy: Part Two - S2-E2
Trivia: While locked in the freezer, Larry recites the Jack London story, 'To Build a Fire'. Appropriately enough, this is about a man who freezes to death.
The Vile Village: Part One - S2-E5
Trivia: Mr. Poe suggests the villagers will draw lots to decide who will take care of the children 'Like in that delightful Shirley Jackson story.' He's referring to 'The Lottery', where the winner of the drawing is unceremoniously stoned to death.
The Carnivorous Carnival: Part One - S2-E9
Trivia: At one point, Esme asks Olaf why Madame Lulu is working at a carnival, and suggests she could "have a TV show in the city" if she were a real fortune teller. Olaf then casually mentions that he tried that for "nine years," but it didn't work out for him. This is a very subtle nod to the series "How I Met Your Mother," which was set in New York City and ran for nine seasons. Neil Patrick Harris, whom plays Olaf, was one of the co-stars of "HIMYM" from 2005-2014.
Trivia: A prior film adaptation of the book series was released in 2004. A sequel was in development for quite some time, and at one point, it was going to be a stop-motion animated follow-up to combat the fact the child actors grew up and looked physically older. It was eventually decided that rather than doing a sequel to the first film, the franchise would be rebooted into a Netflix series, so that each book could get a proper full adaptation over several episodes; as opposed to the film, which combined multiple books into a single narrative.
Trivia: Not only is the number "13" (a number associated with bad luck) quite important to the series, but it also keeps popping up in the overall franchise seemingly by coincidence. Ex. There were 13 books in the novel series, this television adaptation was released on Friday the 13th, January 2017, and it was released 13 years after the prior film adaptation.
Trivia: Major spoilers for both the books and series. The true meaning of the acronym "V.F.D." is actually openly stated by narrator Lemony Snicket early in season one, during a brief cutaway which he states that neither the regular fire department nor the volunteer fire department could figure out the source of the Baudelaire fire. Late in the books, it is revealed that "V.F.D." officially stands for "volunteer fire department."
The Hostile Hospital: Part Two - S2-E8
Trivia: Right before Klaus is to perform surgery on Violet, a diagram is pulled down showing an anatomical view of a head, including the brain. If you look closely at the portions of the face that are visible, the head is actually Barry Sonnenfeld - whom produced and co-directed this series, in addition to co-producing the prior 2004 film adaptation.
Trivia: Not a mistake, but a rather interesting coincidence: The series main composer is James Newton Howard, whom was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 for his musical work in the film "The Village." Somewhat coincidentally, another nominee that year was Thomas Newman. And the film Newman was nominated for? The prior 2004 film adaptation of "A Series of Unfortunate Events."
Trivia: Most of the episodes are written by franchise creator Daniel Handler, whom wrote all 13 of the original novels under the pen-name "Lemony Snicket." Handler also appears in a cameo in Season One as a fish-merchant, who quotes the song novelty comedy song "Fish Heads." ("Fish heads! Fish heads! Rolly-polly fish heads!").
Trivia: The series stars Neil Patrick Harris, with Cobie Smulders appearing in a recurring guest-role. The two had previously co-starred together in the long-running sitcom "How I Met Your Mother." In addition, Smulders and Will Arnet play a couple in this series, and coincidentally respectively voiced DC superheros Wonder Woman and Batman in the "Lego Movie" film series. Additionally, Nathan Fillion has a guest-spot in several season two episodes. Fillion co-starred with Harris in the web-series "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog."
The Reptile Room: Part One - S1-E3
Trivia: Count Olaf dismisses the movie theater, referring to it as a "god forsaken nickelodeon" and stating repeatedly that it's more convenient to watch entertainment from "the comfort of your own home." (Even once quickly glancing directly into the camera with a smirk as he says this.) This is a bit of a swipe at the prior 2004 film adaptation, which was released theatrically and distributed by Nickelodeon Films, as well as a clear reference to this series being released via Netflix for home viewing.
