At long last, I got the chance to watch this episode. As like the previous ones, there were things I liked, and things I didn't like about it. In general, I think it was a decent episode. I wouldn't put it up there with my absolute favorite...I think episodes 3 and 4 are still my favorite ones. However, it wasn't as bad as the very original episodes, so there's some good that comes from that.

Now that I have my general opinion, allow me to get down to the specifics of what I liked and didn't like.

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) The addition of the broom closet- Though it was mentioned subtly, (so much so I didn't even catch it until now) that the Quagmires no longer live in the orphan shack, they never say where they are sleeping in the book. This episode makes it a little more clear. The broom closet addition was also one of the small spoilers I found and was confused by, but then was cleared up with the correct order of the episodes. I like it. I think it fits with the complexity of Nero's ridiculous rules from the book, such as making kids eat without their hands, eating without their utensils, and so on. Though maybe it was a rule, and Daniel Handler didn't make it clear enough....

2) The librarian- I know the name of the librarian because of the spoilers I got from one of the later episodes, but her name isn't mentioned here, so I'm not bringing it up. I love her! She balances large stacks of books on her head, throws them expertly into each spot on the shelf, she's caring, well-versed, determined, feisty, cute, and a ton of fun to watch on the screen. And she goes through those cards at lightning speed! Like...that is totally my goal in life!

3) Larry- Larry's back! I love Larry! I was nervous knowing that he lost the book, but I love him as a character. He's kind of like the Baudelaires; all of these terrible things keep happening to him no matter how hard he tries. Despite this, he's still pretty clever. He sneaks onto the bus and then when Count Olaf shows up, he manages to sneak outside onto the end of the vehicles without being noticed. Like...dude! That is so cool!! Plus the showdown with Count Olaf was pretty funny.

Larry: <Threatens Count Olaf with the sink sprayer>

Count Olaf: "<Gasp> You wouldn't! This is dry-clean only!"

<Larry says something, but sprayer doesn't work, so he and Olaf put their fists up>

That was hilarious!!!

4) The Pony Book- Mr. Poe has a book that apparently was a goof book Lemony Snicket refers to at some point. (Apparently is was a cover gaff for another book...or something), but they made it an actual book that Mr. Poe loves and it's just such a fun scene.

5) The library only opens for ten minutes a day- Similar to the Broom Closet, I liked this because of the ridiculousness of the rules Nero gives out. It matches, it's funny, and it leads to some pretty good scenes throughout the episode between the librarian and the rest of the school.

6) Carmelita Spats- Whoever did the casting job for this character was spot on, and I mean that in every sense. I see an actual Carmelita Spats. I see a spoiled child doted on by pretty much everybody throughout the episode, except for the librarian and the orphans. I see a selfish, vicious, and nasty girl with unlimited power and no moral conscience what-so-ever. She's actually a lot of fun to watch on screen despite being so nasty. It was the perfect casting!

7) Count Olaf mistakes the Quagmires for the Baudelaires- Initially, I actually didn't like this when I first saw it. I was actually thinking, Are you seriously that stupid?! You recognize Larry whom you only saw once who-knows-how-long back, but you confuse two kids who look nothing like the Baudelaires and who sound, as you said, like Mrs. Quagmire...you confuse them for the Baudelaires?! There's only two of them! And then he recognizes that they're Quagmires. I didn't like it at first. I thought it was a bit stupid. But then...I kind of liked it. Once he realizes they're not the Baudelaires, he's able to connect them to other people from the past. The reason why I liked this addition is because of one tiny little thing...the laps. In the book later on, the children will run laps outside. To foil Count Olaf (if you haven't read the books, then spoilers), the Quagmires pretend to be the Baudelaires and run laps in place of them. I don't know how dark it's going to be when this scene comes up, but this sounds like the perfect set-up for this eventual scene. Though if this doesn't come up, then I'll have to take this back. We'll see how this goes. Plus, Olaf's previous knowledge of the Quagmire parents also helps to explain how the heck he knew about the Quagmire fortune.

8) Vice Principal Nero- I actually didn't mind his violin playing. I thought it was kind of nice. Plus it was kind of funny to see him waving a shredded violin bow around. As someone who's sister played the violin, he should have replaced that bow ages ago. I mean, this guy wants to be a violinist, but knows nothing about violins except where the notes are. Kind of interesting.

9) The Orphan's Shack- I like the design. I like the layout. I like the way it was done up in the show. Nothing else needs to be said. There's no bright green wallpaper or bright pink hearts, but...I like this a bit better. There seems to be no effort in it at all. It matches.

10) Count Olaf on the bus- I was actually a bit creeped out when Count Olaf started walking on the bus to thoroughly inspect it. Not only does the scene demonstrate, again, that Count Olaf knows what he needs in order to make his sneaky entrance, but he was actually pretty intimidating looking while walking and scanning each aisle. It was kind of ruined by the pom-poms, but once you see Larry had moved out of the bus, it helps it. But yeah..I was actually like...YIKES! There's the scary Count Olaf from the books!

11) Carmelita and Count Olaf- Considering that Count Olaf and Carmelita join forces, more or less, towards the end of the series, this set up is actually pretty cool. They have a connection pretty early on-wards which I hope will better help tie into The Slippery Slope. They seem pretty in sync minus Carmelita accidentally stealing Count Olaf's line.

12) Carmelita randomly showing up to bully someone when Lemony Snicket mentions it- That's pretty much it. I just liked that scene. It was random and funny.

13) The advanced computer- I like the update to this thing. Instead of a picture, it's now a scanner. I like that. This is pretty cool.

And that was it for this section. I think for this episode, once you get past the...what the heck is happening? scenes, things start to make more sense. There are scenes where it's like what?, but then you're like oh! and that helps. However, there are some things that went down that even now I'm still like: really?

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) The title card placement- The intro changed ever-so-slightly with it's visuals, which is nice since we're going into a completely different territory than the previous eight episodes. A little shake-up is necessary, I believe. However, unlike the previous eight episodes which had the title card after the introduction and the poem to Beatrice, it was oddly inserted in the middle of the theme song. It isn't a complete eye sore, but it's definitely odd and weird and threw me off and i don't know what to think about it at the moment.

2) The Incomplete Book of Secret Organizations getting misplaced- I get it. Honest librarian mistake. But considering the skill level of this librarian, I think she would notice if a completely random book she's never seen before winds up in her pile of books. Granted, maybe she was too busy picking them up, but as a librarian as observant as her, I think she would have at least noticed that Larry had a book and dropped it. Or maybe not. I don't know. I was just surprised she didn't notice the new random book on the floor.

3) The device Violet makes- I love Violet's inventions. But this one seemed...too complicated. Sunny...shreds an opening? I'm not even sure what to say about that at this point; I've complained on that too many times already. (Thankfully this is the only scene). Plus...this thing made less noise than the forks on the shoes. The light is what scares the crabs away from how I'm looking at it. And where did she get all those tools from?! She's in a school, not a utility closet! And I doubt Prufrock Prep's budget would even allow for gears and pulleys! Seriously!!!

4) Sunny as a secretary- This was Sunny's job in the book as well, but in the book, Sunny had trouble with doing all the secretarial tasks assigned to her. She couldn't speak, she couldn't write, and she could barely work the typewriter. Plus she couldn't spell. The episode makes it look like she was an expert at moving all the keys. I don't know. I didn't really like it that much.

5) The scene where the Quagmires try to warn the Baudelaires- While I did like how this scene was executed, it seemed unnecessary. The Baudelaires, as we know, are already going to recognize Count Olaf. So this hyped scene for trying to warn them doesn't seem to make much sense. I like it, but it seems...pointless. In fact, I think the Quagmires didn't recognize him in the original book. They thought he seemed sneaky and odd, but they didn't know who he was. They're trying to be good friends; I get it. But it just seems...odd.

6) The jab at Sunny's change in appearance- While I did find this little joke mildly amusing, it seemed odd and a bit forced. I guess I don't really hate it more than I'm not really sure if it was necessary to add......I'm torn on that one....

7) Jacquelyn sneaking under the desk to talk on the phone- First of all...wasn't her office outside? She wasn't promoted; she was just rehired. I find it weird she's right across from Mr. Poe all of a sudden. Second, why does she just go under her desk to talk on the phone? Why not turn around and act all goo-goo eyed like she was doing after pretending to pick the pen up? And third...why does she just up and leave her office when she feels like it? You know, for a VFD agent, she's the least subtle person I've ever seen.....

8) Lemony Snicket at the academy- I've mentioned this many times before, but Lemony Snicket being in the scenes is very distracting. When he's hiding out, like at the beginning, or in the spot where it used to be, that's fine. But during the scene is distracting to me. Very distracting. And I hate it.

9) Nero's toe nail clippings- I'm actually not annoyed at this scene than I'm still waiting for something to happen. He caught the kids in the library after closing time. Are they going to trim his nails or not? There was no mention of it. No one even bothered hiding? I don't know. For such a big threat, there seemed to be no hint of it when that timer went off....

10) The phone in the ice room- This one isn't a complaint either more than it's simply an observation. Why was there a phone in the ice room? The freezer? That seems like an odd placement for a phone. I mean, unless Larry had a spare phone, but I'm pretty sure one was already in there. Why? It shouldn't work in there. The wires would freeze and break and completely loose connection from the circuit. I just find that strange....

11) Count Olaf's stupidity- As mentioned many times before, the biggest change in this series is the fact that Count Olaf is less intelligent and more stupid. However, in the very beginning, the one thing I mentioned that he has going for him is his knowledge of VFD secrets and codes, hence why his henchmen follow him all the time. Initially, he seems to be knowledgeable, such as going through secret tunnels and knowing when there aren't enough disguises. However, as the episode went on, he just got more and more stupid. By the time he fights Larry, he's forgotten what a plan is. He acknowledges that Larry knows more codes and VFD secrets. Why? That's been the one thing Count Olaf has been good at throughout the whole series. Understanding where these secrets are being hidden and when to decode something. What, now he wants to be stupid in that area? For crying out loud, directors! MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!!!

12) The time line of the Quagmire triplets- In the previous episode, The Miserable Mill, the Quagmire parents perished. In the book, they've clearly been at Prufrock Prepatory for a while, which is something that is carried into the episode. But...what I find weird is that the triplets seem to be recently orphaned. The fire seems to coincide with the timing of the events during The Miserable Mill, so...what gives? They were even passed around from family to family before being sent to the academy for a while. And all of this plus their time there took place within a long period of time before the Baudelaires showed up. How quick was all of this? Or was that fire long before the events of The Miserable Mill and that door was just a coincidence? I don't know, but this lack of clear chronology really bugs me. In fact, little known fun fact, if you so much as cast a shred of doubt or small slip in terms of chronological order, I will not like it. This is my biggest pet peeve!!!!!!!!!

And that's all I have for know. I already know how the next episode is going down, and not because of spoilers. I read the original book series. Poor Quagmires. As to how it's going down...we'll have to see. In the meantime, I hope that the next episode is better and that some of these scenes go somewhere. But we'll see in the meantime, won't we?