7 reasons to watch ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ season 2

“Look away, look away…” goes the first line of A Series of Unfortunate Events’ opening song. But between that and Patrick Warburton as Lemony Snicket’s constant reminder to the faint of heart to stop watching because a series of unfortunate events is about to unfold, anyone watching would want to stick around ’til each episode’s unfortunate end. Unfortunate schmunfortunate.

When last we saw the Baudelaire orphans, they had just been dropped off by Mr. Poe at boarding school, their future bright and hopeful because Count Olaf was finally behind bars. But as we’ve seen in the trailer for the second season, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny’s misadventures with the mysterious count are far from over.

This long weekend, binge watch A Series of Unfortunate Events, currently streaming on Netflix, with 10 new episodes set to premiere on March 30, Friday. Below are the Top 7 things to look forward to in season 2.

Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf (and his many disguises!) The costumes, the wigs, the accents — watching Neil Patrick Harris play a different character every two episodes never gets old. He’s so good at playing Count Olaf play new characters that we almost understand why the grown-ups in the series believe him to be a different person each time.

Kids in control. Having escaped Count Olaf four times in the past season, the Baudelaires (Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, and Presley Smith, as Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, respectively) are much wiser and more courageous this time around. And because they’ve had to listen to grown-ups shoot down their it’s-Count-Olaf-in-disguise theories far too many times, they’re also much more proactive and creative, taking matters into their own hands.

The Quagmire orphans. Why do the Quagmires have the same spyglass? Where is the third Quagmire? And why are their past and present so eerily similar with the Baudelaires?

The sense of humor. A Series of Unfortunate Events is based on reality, but it’s an over-the-top version of reality. If some characters (the grown-ups mostly) seem to overact, don’t roll your eyes — it’s intentional! But the best humor is in the dialogue. There’s plenty of silliness and sarcasm to go around in this darkly comedic mystery that almost everyone gets to be funny — yes, even the (not so) little (anymore) Sunny Baudelaire.

The new sets. “I love pushing the boundaries of reality,” says showrunner Barry Sonnenfeld, whose past projects include the film franchises Addams Family and Men in Black, and the critical darling Pushing Daisies, a TV show known as much for its fantastical sets as it is for its unique story, much like A Series of Unfortunate Events. “All of this show is filmed on soundstages and the sets that they build are uniformly incredible. They’re fully realized,” says Harris. “It’s as if you are in the greatest queue for a theme park attraction where every texture, every book, every lamp is exactly appropriate.”

The guest stars. As seen in the trailer, Roger Bart (pictured) plays the vice-principal, a.k.a. Sunny’s boss, in the Baudelaires’ new school. Is he going to help the Baudelaires, or will he be like most grown-ups on the show and not see Count Olaf for who he truly is? Other guest stars this season include (but are not limited to) Lucy Punch, Sara Rue, Tony Hale, Robbie Amell, David Alan Grier, and Nathan Fillion.

The new adventures. Now that the Baudelaires are smarter and more experienced in Count Olaf’s ways, the action is more suspenseful and intense. The new season is based on books five through nine of the novel series: The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival.