In anticipation of the recently confirmed season two, here’s a comparison of books one through four of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” by Lemony Snicket. Since this is a comparison of the books to the adaptation, spoilers are included as you continue ahead. So if you haven’t read the books or seen the show, I advise you to look away.

A Bad Beginning

1. The mysterious organization Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) is directly referenced and constantly referred back to in the show, while in the book it isn’t.
2. The reader never finds out exactly how Count Olaf got the orphans in the first place, but with an extra scene in the show, it is revealed.
3. Eleanora Poe was Mr. Poe’s sister in the books, she is his wife in the show.
4. Sunny never plays poker, Klaus never directly intervenes successfully and Violet was the one who eventually got the lights on in The Marvelous Marriage scene.
5. Gustav Sebald, creator of the Sebald code, is introduced early in the show.

The Reptile Room

1. The book’s Incredibly Deadly Viper is never framed for murder, but in the show it is.
2. In the book, Peru was Monty’s plan from the beginning. The message from the movie, Zombies in the Snow, referred to a living parent in the book, while it told Monty that the kids were in danger in the show.
3. The Sebald code, in the book, had more to do with what the characters in the movie said. In the show, the recipient had to use the spyglass on the subtitles.
4. Monty never gets the message in the books. In the show he received it.

The Wide Window

1. VFD plays a more direct role in helping out the kids get out of the diner the in Anxious Clown. In the book, the kids got out with a proposal from Violet to eat peppermints and cause an allergic reaction. They take that idea from a waiter in the show.
2. A pair of mysterious parents shown in previous episodes help the Baudelaires on Lachrymose Lake. In the book, they are never mentioned.
3. Aunt Josephine stands up to Count Olaf in the show before her death unlike in the book.
4. The Baudelaires sneak onto the back of a truck and end up in Paltryville where the photo, found in Aunt Josephine’s vault, was taken in the show. In the book, they continue on with Mr. Poe to Lucky Smells Lumbermill.

The Miserable Mill

1. Lemony Snicket is pursued as he gives the account on the Baudelaires.
2. In the books, Sir was the Baudelaires’ legitimate guardian. Their residence wasn’t from trespassing. Count Olaf sneaks away when Mr. Poe is distracted in the show rather than crashing a window like in the book.
3. The bald man with the long nose was the foreman in the books, in the show it was the Hook-Handed Man.
4. For the sake of the show’s ratings, Georgina’s death was by furnace in the show rather than the buzzsaw like in the book.