Over the top EVIL. Not stupid. That's what people are missing - as "The Bad Beginning" says, he's a cruel, CLEVER drunken brute.

It's one reason I'm very unconvinced it's their parents.

It's teased at one point as a possibility but a couple of books later the possibility is rather cruelly torn away when it's revealed the survivor is from a different fire…though it's not explicitly confirmed for 100% sure they're dead either. Just PROBABLY.

In the final book they accuse him again and he doesn't explicitly deny it, though he doesn't take credit either.

The key is to make him so over the top evil it's ridiculous.

I found it very effective at executing its premise. There is this moment at the end of the first chapter that completely flips the whole scene on its head…and suddenly you realize you've really been asking All the Wrong Questions (Namely, you're asking "What is up with that mysterious note?" When you should be asking…

SPOILER

I agree. You can end - in theory - on a hope spot, but a pure 100% happy ending just doesn't work.

They actually say "we're not the same age", meaning when Poe says "When I was your age" it's impossible for him to be referring to all three of them. 'Cause Poe's an idiot.

Well, in "The Bad Beginning" Olaf isn't in disguise. He's just Olaf. In the sequels he'll of course come off more ridiculous because he's in ridiculous disguises. I don't think the writing is inconsistent, he's just reacting differently in different situations.

Not buying it. They could also be the Quagmire parents.

I thought it robbed the striking scene of some emotional heft. Like, not only is Count Olaf terrible, but all the adults are on his side. It's much crueler.

So, Ma and Pa Baudelaire aren’t dead—are, in fact, being played by Colbie Smulders and Will Arnett, who we see in a brief scene at the end of the hour as they’re being whisked off in a prison car to an unknown location.

This isn't a spoiler, because there can't be a spoiler.

Okay, this comment is a major spoiler

I thought it was hilarious on screen, though. The whole scene was subtly hysterical.

The Jeremy Brett version of "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the ONLY one to get absolutely everything about the story right. It was perfect.

The irony of this is that both Magnusson and Culverton were actually extremely compelling villains. They keep going back to Moriarty when they seriously don't need to at all.

And the best part of it was that he seriously delivered.

It's a distinct possibility Sherlock never met her.