A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Complete Season 2 Recap

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The Ersatz Elevator: Part One

After Duncan and Isadora are kidnapped by Count Olaf and co., the Baudelaires are determined to find out where they have been taken. They bid Prufrock farewell after the Coach Genghis debacle, and Poe takes them to the next guardian he was able to locate.

Instead of a gloomy shack or rat-infested single bedroom, this time their guardian is the sixth richest financial advisor in the city. That’s right, the Baudelaires are getting a massive upgrade. Not to mention, there is a citywide manhunt for Count Olaf.

As the orphans arrive in their new home, they realize they will be living on the top-floor penthouse with too many rooms to count. Their new guardians are Esme (Lucy Punch) and Jerome Squalor (Tony Hale). Esme exudes confidence, glamour, narcissism, and is only interested in things that are in “in.”

Seeing as how adopting orphans is so “in” right now, she has decided to do just that. Jerome seems to differ from his wife and seems like someone the orphans can befriend.

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As the Baudelaires try to settle and make sense of their lavish new home, the librarian from Prufrock, Olivia (Sara Rue), is concerned for their safety and pays Mr. Poe a visit. She catches the eye of Mr. Poe’s secretary, Jacquelyn (Sara Canning) who gives Jacques a call to inform him that they may have found another ally. As Olivia’s path crosses with Jacques’, the two team up to try and save the orphans from the wrath of Count Olaf.

Back at the penthouse, Count Olaf manages to make his way up to the penthouse under the disguise of a foreign man named Gunther, who is extremely close to Esme. Immediately, the three recognize him for who he is but, of course, no one listens. Esme, Jerome, the orphans, and “Gunther” head out to have a meal at the Herring Houdini, which of course, is “in.”

They are intentionally treated to a length multi-course meal while Jacques and Olivia stake out the penthouse building. A two-time restaurant change and Gunther’s singing performance later, the Baudelaires sneak away to the penthouse because they are convinced the Quagmires are hidden there.

And despite so many people trying to locate the Quagmires’, it is the dear orphans that find them locked away in the elevator shaft. Here they learn what the initials VFD stand for and that the spyglass they possess has many unique functions.

Cue, part two of the elevator chronicles.