A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Complete Season 2 Recap

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The Vile Village: Part One

Once again the Baudelaires are sitting in Mr. Poe’s car as he takes them to their newest guardian. While previous guardians have been a single person, a couple, or even an entire boarding school, this episode mixes thing up a bit and hands them over to an entire village called VFD — Village of Fowl Devotees.

Unfortunately, it is not exactly the VFD the orphans were seeking out, but this episode does shed some light on the connection between Count Olaf and Jacques Snicket.

Quite a bit more miserable than Prufrock Prep, the children quickly realize VFD isn’t exactly rainbows and sunshine. They are handed over to the care of Hector, a nervous, sickly handyman that lives a mile away from the village. They are also tasked with doing the chores for the entire village. Seriously, can these kids catch a break already?

The village is run on the idea that no one is allowed to do anything that results in discomfort. When the orphans first arrive, a group of elders, known as the Council of Elders, refuse to let Violet and Klaus speak. But not everything is as horrible as it may seem as they strike up a friendship with Hector, who has plans to escape the village one day with his self-sustaining electric hot air balloon.

Related Story: Neil Patrick Harris talks about playing Count Olaf

Later in the episode, an encounter between Jacques and Count Olaf helps viewers understand that Count Olaf didn’t always live the life of a villain. In fact, he and Jacques used to be friends. And the tattoo on Jacques’ ankle is not that of an eye but spells out the letters VFD. There is a mention of something happening the night of the opera, where it seems Count Olaf went over to the dark side. What happened that night remains to be seen.

Despite being caught, Count Olaf manages to escape and in turn frames Jacques for being Count Olaf, while he pretends to be a detective. Esme is playing the guise of the chief of police and aids him in the “capture”. The Council of Elders decides to punish “Count Olaf” by agreeing to burn him at the stake.

Jacques tells the children about the tattoo and tells them it is not of an eye, but rather spells out VFD, and tells them their families are long-time friends. Sadly, this is the last time Jacques and the Baudelaires speak because he dies at the hands of Count Olaf. While trying to rescue him, the Baudelaires hear the news that “Count Olaf” is dead.

Jacques is dead and the future of the Baudelaire children looks as grim as ever. What will become of them now that the world thinks Count Olaf is dead? Read on to find out!