The second half, as I said in the previous post, needs to hold the most weight of this episode. The first half was the supporting base. This is the thing that's going to hold it all in a tiny bundle and round-house kick you in the face. Does this second and crucial half do it?

Yes, but not very strongly. 

For an episode that needed to deliver something hard to your gut, (in a good way), it didn't finish very strongly. Instead of a round-house kick, we got a little push. Instead of holding a tiny little package, the knot wasn't very strong and one or two things slipped out. It okay, but not strong enough to be impressive, to give the finish it needed. But that's enough of my general opinion. What was actually decent about it? 

THINGS I LIKED ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

1) Better evidence against the Baudelaires- One thing I liked about this episode was that there was better evidence against the Baudelaires. In the book, there's a hair ribbon and a pair of glasses, all things that contradict with the fact that the children had those accessories on them. Here, Olaf is able to snatch a blueprint map off of Klaus and his troupe find Violet's mechanical device in the back which I think makes for stronger evidence against the kids. I know I whined about the breakout idea in the last episode and I still have my issues with that. However, this was a much better set up than the book's. 

2) Mr. Poe was actually on the Baudelaire's side initially- I don't know why, but I was actually impressed by the fact that Mr. Poe actually had some protests up his sleeve when the children were wrongly accused of murdering Jacques Snicket. (Whom everyone is calling Count Olaf. Or Omar at this point). He's known the children long enough to know that they wouldn't stoop to something so terrible, not to mention that Sunny, the baby, is a bit too young to be accused of murder. While he's stupid enough to back down and join the crowd, and I may or may not bring that up later, I thought this initial moment of Wait just a minute! You can't be serious! was a very nice addition and helped to establish that he at least has some common sense! For a half second!

3) Violet singing 'Happy Birthday' to Klaus while breaking out of jail- I'm honestly not really sure how I feel about the invention in this episode, but the way that the kids escaped was pretty entertaining. I actually laughed and replayed the scene; it was that good! I especially loved how the adults heard it from all the way up the stairs and are like, "What in the world-??"

4) Mrs. Poe's picture photoshoot of "Dupin" and "Lucianna"- I don't know. I just thought that was a pretty fun scene. She really wants all kinds of photos for her magazine. 

5) Mrs. Poe- Speaking of Mr. Poe's wife, I've actually grown kind of fond of her. I know I wasn't such a big fan of her in the beginning, but her role in the story and just her general persona is a lot of fun, if not a little self-absorbed. I definitely think that Unfortunates coming into the series are going to be taken aback by her new personality, but once you get used to it, she's actually an interesting character. 

6) Escaping VFD on the firetruck- I definitely think this beats out six measly children outrunning an entire village with freaking pitchforks and knives and torches!!!!!!! I mean, they're obviously no Count Olaf! They can keep up with the kids. It's a little weird to see a firetruck in the town, but it's also by the fire station that's closed down, so it's understandable. It was definitely a pretty fun scene to watch. Especially since the ladder comes in handy with reaching the self-sustaining hot air balloon. 

7) Hector's last moment with the kids- I know Hector is a bit of a coward, but his last moment with the kids was still bittersweet. He at least knows the kids are innocent and he helps them out by giving them the last two poems. He also tries to wait as long as possible before flying away from town, so he at least gives them a headstart. It's still a sad scene though. 

8) The difficulty with getting onto the rope ladder- I liked that the ladder swung around and made it difficult for the kids to climb on. I initially wasn't a fan of Esme shooting at the balloon since I liked the scene with the kids clinging onto the ladder and being forced to climb down, but honestly, this was nicely done. The difficulty with climbing onto the ladder hinders the kids' abilities to get to the top of the self-sustaining mobile home fast enough, forcing Hector to go higher and leave the kids behind so that they don't all fall to the ground. It wasn't as fast and action-packed as the book, but it was still well-thought through and well-executed. 

9) Violet catching Sunny- Sunny just drops to the ground onto Violet from the top of the fountain in one of the more realistic scenes possible. There's was a bit of awkward quickness to it, but you can barely tell, so I really appreciate the way they tried to fix that. 

10) The Mob's chanting- This was actually pretty catchy. I could watch them chasing the Baudelaires all day chanting "What do we want? And when do we want it?" all day. 

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THIS EPISODE: 

1) Mr. Poe decides to just go with the "Baudelaires are murders thing"- Funnily enough, I don't think he ever mentioned this in the book. Of course that's probably because Mr. Poe wasn't ever in VFD when this occurred. He just randomly shows up again at Briny Beach to take the kids to a new guardian. And that's it. They still seem to be on good terms. I just...I guess I didn't hate this...no, wait, I did. I didn't understand how he was like, "Um, these kids wouldn't harm a fly. And Sunny's a baby! Don't be ridiculous!" and then was like, "Well, orphans are more prone to violent crimes. Goodbye." 

Seriously, Mr. Poe.......? 

2) Sunny didn't use her teeth to catch onto the fountain- This isn't actually a complaint, more than I kind of wish Sunny had used her teeth to hang onto the fountain. She does so in the book and she did it in The Ersatz Elevator, part 2. I just thought that would be pretty cool to watch. That's all. 

3) The Violet and Duncan heart inside of the red herring- This is honestly a personal pet peeve, but since they didn't very clearly establish that Violet and Duncan had a thing for each other except for one scene in this season's first episode...I don't think this was necessary. In fact, I think this entire arch should have been scrapped. This is literally the second time they've ever hinted that Duncan likes Violet. Plus...how old is he?!

4) Jacquelyn and Larry try to rally the town together for a noble cause- I've mentioned this many times before, but I'll say it again...these are the most unsubtle agents I have ever seen! I mean, even Mr. Poe's like, Jacquelyn, what in the world are you doing here?! What is up with my very weird secretary?! I mean, for people who are trying to do all this secretive stuff, they are the worst people in VFD I have seen so far. I'm starting to wonder if this is one of the reason's Count Olaf got fed up with them........

5) VFD doesn't execute as a punishment. It was a suggestion by Count Olaf- This shouldn't bother me, but it does. (I know I'm a blog late on this, but it wasn't a prominent thing earlier). In the novel, there was something at stake. The town has severe punishments for breaking rules: death. That's why Hector was so scared. Here, the worst punishment is a fine.....

A fine.....

There's a mystery with Hector's mother and how she disobeyed a rule and was kicked out and fined. But now she's perfectly fine. And happily...did he say running a business? I can't remember exactly, but she was perfectly fine. 

If you're mother's perfectly fine, Hector, why in the world would you faint over that?! I mean, I get this town has different rules, but...that just sounds stupid in every respect! No offense. 

6) Sunny drives the fire truck-

.......

.........

What?

Sunny Baudelaire....drives a fire truck. 

Sunny???!!!!

Sunny Baudelaire drives the fire truck. 

Okay, just....just think about that sentence for two seconds. Two seconds, really think about it. 

Sunny Baudelaire, the youngest Baudelaire child. A one year old baby. Sunny Baudelaire. 

drives...puts her feet to the pedal and controls the steering wheel. drives....

a fire truck. 

A fire truck......

A FIRE TRUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OKAY, WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS???!!!!!

Who's idea was it to say to the director, You know what would make the episode really funny? Having the baby drive the fire truck through town. 

I'm sorry if I'm being too picky, but that was the dumbest thing I have ever seen in this episode! I don't care if it was funny! It was SUNNY!!!!! Violet's the oldest! She ought to be the one driving!!!! I mean, for some of the good logic at the end with the hot air balloon, this is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my entire lifetime! My goodness! What is wrong with this series!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I'm done ranting.......

7) The town pays little attention to the crow despite it being rule number 1- This was the only reason I didn't like the addition of Mr. Poe in this episode. The townspeople are only able to let the Baudelaires escape because they value the lives of the injured crow over catching whom they assume to be criminals. Instead, the stupid Mr. Poe distracts them from their mobbing after a fire truck...which Sunny is still driving.....<resisting the urge to put another head-slap gif>, in order to care for the crow. 

....

I don't know. Something seems off about that......

8) Count Olaf and Esme's getaway- For a mob very intent on burning people, they sure did nothing as Olaf and Esme tippy-toed over to the car, got in, and then just drove away as if nothing was happening. The book had the sudden appearance of Olaf on a motorcycle which surprised everyone, allowing Esme to quickly hop on and allow them to drive off into the sunset. I don't know, I think this might be just a personal preference. 

9) Jaqcues' murdered body- Like in the book, Jacques was murdered by Count Olaf. However, he only has two hole marks in his neck which indicate and point to Sunny as the murderer. Now, we don't see Jacques, but it's still implied heavily in the episode that Sunny murdered him with her teeth. She bit him to death. Oh, I'm sorry. What about the assumed many bruises and bloody marks on Jacques' face from that wrench you whacked into his skull?!!! What, did everyone forget about that?! How stupid are these people!!!! What bite marks?! WHERE??!!!

And that's all I can think of for now. It was okay, but it didn't finish as strongly as it should have. Not everything flowed great, but it also wasn't a terrible episode. It had a lot of really high points as well as some really low points. 

Now, however, we have reached another critical episode. Another important book: The Hostile Hospital. I mean, you could say that it had some important moments in it, but that's not the reason I consider it to be an important episode. Of course, I've had my share of minor spoilers, so I already have a lot of things to commend and rant about. However, we haven't gotten to that point yet, so I'll reserve my comments for much later.