(Warning: this post contains unfortunate spoilers from Episode 1.) If you were already thrilled with the fact that Cobie Smulders was case in the role of Mother, then odds are the revelation that Will Arnett plays Father on Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events probably put your excitement over the top. Because really, could there have been a more perfect pair to play these surprise roles? (That was a rhetorical question, by the way, since the answer, of course, is no.) Granted, we were only able to catch a quick glimpse of both he and Smulders in their parental role during the final few moments of the first episode, but that was enough to really put an interesting twist on the whole entire season.
You see, initially, the narrator Lemony Snicket revealed that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny's parents had died in a house fire. So throughout the majority of the episode, many of us took that statement as fact. But now it seems as though we've been misled in the best way possible. Their parents still appear to be very much alive, which is strange since the narrator is supposed to be all-knowing, so how can he still be unaware of this? Either way, I'm never not thrilled to see Arnett up on my screen, so no complaints from over here.
However, that doesn't mean that they aren't still in grave danger nonetheless. Because while they may not have been killed, they have been kidnapped by someone (we don't know who yet) and are currently being driven to an unknown location — though, I seriously doubt it's to someplace nice like Disney World or a nice bed and breakfast. (Hey, don't judge. I love a good B&B.)
Up until now, most of what I've seen Arnett in has leaned more in the direction of comedy than anything else. His role as Gob on Arrested Development is probably one of his best parts yet. That being said, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing him in a more dramatic role, even if it only ends up being for a few minutes at a time throughout the entire season. After all, we can't expect these characters to escape their captors that quickly. The story has only just begun and as the narrator has made abundantly clear — these events are unfortunate and in no way happy.
Still, it's nice to know that the children aren't actually orphans and that it's completely possible they could still reunite with their parents at some point down the line. I'm tentative to get too hopeful about it, given the very title of the show, but this twist certainly adds an extra level of intrigue to the storyline as we try to figure what's really going on here. Who abducted them and why? Where are they going? And does this have anything to do with that mysterious eye symbol that keeps popping up everywhere like on Count Olaf's ankle tattoo and that rusty, broken telescope Klaus has? I suppose only time will tell.
