After my delight over the improvement of the last episode, I hoped that this season finale would hold up just as well. And I have to say...I'm pleasantly surprised with the cuts and cinematography of this episode. I have some things to say, but those are pretty minor. Onto business.

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Violet fixing the rollercoaster- This scene was weirdly calming and relaxing. I know Violet is a great inventor, but I always forget that she can make something from nothing. She literally fixes a rollercoaster with nothing but a noodle. (And I think the cooling belt from the fog machine...but they didn't show it so I couldn't tell if they did or not. I just remember that's what she needed in the book). That's both pretty impressive and just like Violet.

2) Olaf discovers the Baudelaires through the hospital bracelet- This was actually something I wondered about in the previous episode: If Madame Lulu is on the Baudelaires' side, then how does Count Olaf find out it's them? Well, this little detail was just perfect for showcasing this. Violet accidentally drops her bracelet from the hospital on the ground and Olaf, after accidentally stepping on the crystal ball pieces, finds it and picks it up. Would have thought Lulu would have cleaned up the mess, but I guess with the day's excitements, she just didn't have time? Oh well. That's a minor nitpick. It definitely makes up for the massive changes they made with this book.

3) Esme interacting with the "freaks"- I gotta' give Esme credit: the woman knows how to put up a face! She jokes with them, is very nice, and is good at disguising her motives with good incentive. She preys on their loneliness and vulnerability, and even when Olaf is confused about them asking to join his troupe, she doubles down on the idea of adding more people. If I was just plopped into this show from this episode, I would have been greatly fooled by this demeanor!

4) Mrs. Bass robbing a bank- I totally forgot this was in the books! XD That's it. Just happy they threw in that little gag.

5) Count Olaf introducing the crowd- You know, he should have taken up being a ring master instead of an actor. This seems to really suit him! He knows how to create suspense, roll with apathetic audience members, and even knows a few magic tricks! How did he walk across an open pit of lions covered by a measly tarp?!

6) Deus Ex great physical strength!- Okay, I know this was practically a get out of trouble free card for the Baudelaires, but the fact that Madame Lulu, I'm sorry, Olivia Caliban had enough strength to throw them to the other end of the lions pit?! Where does she bench?! What does she bench?! That's still pretty impressive. I'm sorry! I'm totally okay rolling with this logic!

7) Count Olaf helping the children to set their first fire- This may sound like a weird scene to like, but it kind of reminds me of Olaf setting the fire in the hospital, just in reverse. Let's be honest: setting fires is not first nature to anybody. Usually. Understandably, the Baudelaires were extremely reluctant to set fire to Madame Lulu's tent and all the precious things inside. So Olaf comes back in and helps guide them into starting a fire and tells them that he understands the apprehension. It was a very twistedly sweet moment. And that is not a phrase I ever thought I'd use with this show!

Was this a scene in the book? Now I have to go back and look. Haven't read this book in a while so I forget all the minor details....

8)  Olivia's relationship with the Baudelaires- She reminds me of Justice Strauss. She barely knows these kids, but she'd move heaven and earth to help them and the Quagmires. She's relieved the quagmires are okay, she tries to catch them up to speed as much as humanly possible, and she's willing to pack up and leave with the kids to try and help them find their parents. Or at least determine whether or not they're alive. The four of them have such great chemistry. I could totally see her as mom...if she had lived.

9) Olivia is still a newbie- So I mentioned in the last part that I wasn't a hundred percent sure why on earth she was stalling Count Olaf if he's a VFD threat. However, the scene with the Baudelaires is a great reminder that Olivia, as much as she wants to help, is still pretty new with codes and secrets and is not completely caught up on VFD matters. She's stalling Count Olaf until a more experienced volunteer, the Madame Lulu who left her in charge, comes back to advise her. She doesn't fully understand the paperwork, but trusts Jacques' judgment in it, and she doesn't have all the answers to the kids' questions because she wasn't there when the schism happened or anything else. She doesn't even fully understand VFD codes, like the coffee stain on the map. Again, considering Jacques' reputation in this show, not too surprised. But I'm glad they didn't make her an all knowing newbie. I like those little details.

10) Count Olaf is not ignorant or stupid- Thank goodness for this! Admittedly, this doesn't fit in with his character very well considering his on and off stupidity and lack of common sense. However, his impatience as well as putting together that the Baudelaires were in the tent allowed him to decipher that Madame Lulu was up to something. I'm a little surprise Violet's hospital bracelet didn't have her fake name on it, but...whatever. Olaf starting to see through Lulu's charade was definitely pretty interesting. Surprising, but interesting. Plus he finally starts understanding more VFD codes. I'm a little surprised since we haven't seen this in a while, but him looking and deciphering the coffee stain on the map was pretty cool.

11) Olaf screaming in terror when the lions tried to eat him- That's it. Just thought that was funny. XD

12) The cliffhanger- Now for me, I've read the books already, so I already know what's going to happen next. (Plus, I'm assuming they're not going to kill off the main characters). However, I love how the cliffhanger was done! I love the build- up to it. I love seeing Lemony Snicket literally standing on the very edge of a cliff overlooking the car and caravan slowly going up the road. I love the walkie-talkies and Olaf's speech as he's about to send the eldest kids hurtling down the side of the mountain. I love the final shot. It was so cool! Even though I know how it all ends, I loved this so much! This was wonderful! And that last add in of the belly of the beast made it feel like a countdown timer was going to start. (I'll talk about that in a minute).

13) A moment of silence for Olivia- hearing Lemony talk about Olivia after seeing her death was pretty bittersweet. I don't have much to say about it except for that.

14) Riding the roller coaster- The brief moment of riding a roller coaster, something that most normal kids do, was pretty nice. Doesn't seem like a big roller coaster, but it was both nice and sad for the Baudelaires to do something that they honestly should have been doing instead of making devices to help them escape from mortal danger. I wonder if they ever rode a rollercoaster before.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Mr. Poe- Why the heck is he here?! I'm noticing that this is starting to become a running gag! Mr. Poe was supposed to pretty much vanish after The Vile Village, but yet he keeps randomly showing up. Is it supposed to be comedic relief? Because if we're being honest...his stupidity and ignorance is more grating than funny.

2) Madame Lulu announcing herself as a volunteer- You know, this wouldn't be a problem...except she was literally standing on the platform over the lion's pit. You know, I've never understood this in movies. Why do characters stand in a dangerous position to reveal their disguise? That's not brave! Or moving! That's stupid! You have strong muscles! Just run off the platform! Push him away from the pit! Then announce your presence! Or keep going with the charade until the kids are safe! Good grief!

3) Olaf recognizing Lulu as the librarian- I see they're trying to bring back Olaf's intelligence this episode...but that's a pretty random face to place. Hasn't he only seen her once? Oh wait, no...she was at the Village of Fowl Devotees. That's right. Even still...there's plenty of VFD women. And Olaf clearly doesn't know her name. How did he guess librarian?! if he had said "the new girl working with Jacques" or even just Olivia...maybe noticed something about her voice or appearance since she dropped the accent....but it kind of comes out of nowhere....I don't think Olaf was ever in the library at Prufrock since it only opened for ten minutes and he clearly doesn't do books!

4) The theater troupe calling the freaks freaks- I shouldn't say anything about this since we still have The Slippery Slope to go over and maybe this is just first day grumbles...but I remember Olaf's troupe being pretty welcoming of the carnival freaks. That's why they were willing to work with them. So far only Esme is being nice to them, and the Baudelaires...so...I can't say I'm liking the set up of this, but hey. Maybe I'll be proven wrong. We'll have to see what the next season holds.

5) Kevin- Okay, this isn't a complaint, but more of an observation. I thought it was interesting how Kevin was the only one immediately on board with pushing Madame Lulu into the pit. Hugo and Colette are at least like, "Um...wait...murder...?" before Esme convinces them that someone is going to die anyway, so why not Lulu? Part of me feels like it wasn't him being ambidextrous that got him isolated. You good there, Kevin?

6) Everyone wants to push Lulu into a pit- This side plot is one I'm still kind of grumbling at, despite a lot of the changes made to work with Olivia's new personality. I'm still trying to figure out why on earth the carnival freaks aren't VFD members. Do they really have bad experiences or is it just a fear of what they think the world is going to say about them? Why on earth are they so willing to push Madame Lulu into a pit?! In the book this makes sense because Madame Lulu was really nasty to them. She didn't treat them like people. She treated them like underpaid employees of no worth or value. They have no attachment to her at all. If anything, they're pretty resentful! So it makes sense they have no issues with pushing Lulu into a pit of lions. Here, all of the Madame Lulu's are nice to them. In fact, it makes no sense that there's a carnival of freaks at all in this case! And Esme doesn't even say anything remotely convincing to make them join Olaf. She just says "people want violence and I want Lulu dead. So everyone gets what they want". I feel like if she had mentioned how Lulu was fully onboard with having them chucked into a pit of lions and wouldn't hesitate to do it, it could have led to some back and forth conversations about how the freaks genuinely saw her and how each arrived at the conclusion to through her into a pit. Maybe only Kevin genuinely wanted to do it but Colette and Hugo don't, but choose to do so for entirely different reasons. Mob mentality? To make their new friend happy? Learning that Olaf plans to burn the carnival to the ground so where would they go? I mean, for goodness sakes! They've changed so much already! What's a little more going to do?

7) In the belly of the beast- This actually wasn't bad. I think it's more of a personal preference. If you like cheesy counting side panels whenever the phrase "belly of the beast is mentioned", you'll get a chuckle out of it. If you don't like it, you'll get mad pretty quick. (It's only mentioned 3 times, relax). I did get a chuckle out of it, but the numbers are pretty glaring and suddenly distracting, so I can see it going either way.

8) Plot dump- This is actually something I'm torn on. On the one hand, I do love scenes where the characters get a good glimpse at parts of the past they haven't seen and I do love that things are made more clear to the Baudelaires. On the other hand, it is a lot of information to throw at both the kids and the audience. So much so that it felt like both Olivia and the kids were trying to talk as fast as possible just to get everything out. Or maybe that was done deliberately. I don't know. I'm torn on whether or not  it's fine or if it's too much.

And that's all I can think of at the moment. Aside from the glaring plot hole, I'm pleasantly surprised by this. It kind of makes up for the zaniness and chaos in the first six episodes. Let's hope that things start looking up in season three. Especially with that cliffhanger!!