A Series Of Unfortunate Events is a series that thrives on misery. The Baudelaire children consistently are placed in peril and less than ideal situations throughout the first two seasons of the Netflix adaptation, and Nathan Fillion loves that. Specifically, the actor loves how the series treats its audience, which he explained to fans at WonderCon. CinemaBlend was there to capture his words, which detailed the beauty and brilliance of the television adaptation:
I'll tell you what attracted me to it. The visual nature of this program is so beautiful in its ugliness. When it's ugly it's so gorgeous. I wanted to be part of something so cinematic. It's so beautiful. It's words are eloquent and there's rhythms that are fantastic. So often it drives me crazy when people talk to kids in a high voice. 'Hey! Are you good!?' It's like a way of telling kids 'I think you're stupid.' This show doesn't dumb it down alot for kids. It is dark and it is dramatic in a way. I think it's a fantastic for a young audience to the fact that bad things happen in life. Sometimes things shake out and it's awful. Sometimes it does. I think the show caters well to a younger audience but it doesn't pander to them. It doesn't insult their intelligence.
Nathan Fillion's love of A Series Of Unfortunate Events lies primarily in the fact that it doesn't pander to young children. Things don't often work out for the Baudelaire children, and while it's tragic sometimes to the point of ridiculousness and humor, Fillion still thinks its important for a young audience to see. Bad things happen in the world and life doesn't always work out. Some children might already know that, but the ones that don't can learn that lesson from the Netflix series.
A Series of Unfortunate Events is indeed a show that thrives on bad things happening to children, but it shows tragedy within reason. Nathan Fillion's character Jacques Snicket is a prime example of that, as he experienced something rather unfortunate in Season 2 that the show opted not to show on screen to any potential young eyes. While Fillion seems to appreciate the fact that the series doesn't talk down to kids, he also enjoys the fact that the series does so while still keeping things light enough, to not scar any delicate minds for life.
Nathan Fillion's appreciation for A Series of Unfortunate Events narrative may not be enough to sway executives of children's shows to start churning out depressing content for children, but his thoughts on the series do warrant some digestion. More programs that showcase the harsh reality of life might just toughen up a generation, and prepare them for the bad things that inevitably happen to everyone. That said, it probably won't quite prepare them for the level of harshness the Baudelaire children undergo in Season 2, but any kids capable of suffering through even half of the things those characters go through are probably plenty tough without the help of Netflix.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 2 is currently streaming on Netflix. For a list of other things that are popping up on the platform each and every day, visit our Netflix premiere guide. Those looking to see what's coming to television in general in the near future can find out by visiting our midseason premiere guide and summer premiere guide.
