Top 10 Easter Eggs & References in A Series of Unfortunate Events
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VOICE OVER: Emily Brayton
WRITTEN BY: Caitlin Johnson
Script written by Caitlin Johnson
Did you catch these Easter Eggs in A Series of Unfortunate Events? The second season opens with Mr. Poe on the phone to his boss. He's discussing a popular book he's been reading lately: “The Pony Party”, the first book in a series called “The Luckiest Kids in the World,” written by “Loney M. Setnick,” about three children who go to a party with cake and ponies. Of course, “Loney M. Setnick” is an anagram for “Lemony Snicket”, and this book isn't a real book, but rather a sly reference to the reverse cover from “Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography,” another book by Daniel Handler, the real author of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”! How about “The Shining?” It's no surprise that there are multiple references to one of the most iconic horror novels and movies of all time. First, in season one when Olaf, disguised as Captain Sham, chases Aunt Josephine through the house and announces, “Heeeere's Shammy,” in reference to the moment when Jack Nicholson declares “Heeeere's Johnny” as he breaks down a door with an axe. Then again, in season two, the Person of Indeterminate Gender bashes through a wall in Heimlich Hospital and announces, “Here I am, Nurse Lucafont.” If that wasn't enough, the White-Faced Women also appear in a corridor and say, “come and play with us,” just like the movie's creepy Grady twins!
Did you catch these Easter Eggs in A Series of Unfortunate Events? The second season opens with Mr. Poe on the phone to his boss. He's discussing a popular book he's been reading lately: “The Pony Party”, the first book in a series called “The Luckiest Kids in the World,” written by “Loney M. Setnick,” about three children who go to a party with cake and ponies. Of course, “Loney M. Setnick” is an anagram for “Lemony Snicket”, and this book isn't a real book, but rather a sly reference to the reverse cover from “Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography,” another book by Daniel Handler, the real author of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”! How about “The Shining?” It's no surprise that there are multiple references to one of the most iconic horror novels and movies of all time. First, in season one when Olaf, disguised as Captain Sham, chases Aunt Josephine through the house and announces, “Heeeere's Shammy,” in reference to the moment when Jack Nicholson declares “Heeeere's Johnny” as he breaks down a door with an axe. Then again, in season two, the Person of Indeterminate Gender bashes through a wall in Heimlich Hospital and announces, “Here I am, Nurse Lucafont.” If that wasn't enough, the White-Faced Women also appear in a corridor and say, “come and play with us,” just like the movie's creepy Grady twins!
#10: “The Pony Party” The second season opens with Mr. Poe on the phone to his boss. He’s discussing a popular book he’s been reading lately: “The Pony Party”, the first book in a series called “The Luckiest Kids in the World,” written by “Loney M. Setnick,” about three children who go to a party with cake and ponies. Of course, “Loney M. Setnick” is an anagram for “Lemony Snicket”, and this book isn’t a real book, but rather a sly reference to the reverse cover from “Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography,” another book by Daniel Handler, the real author of “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”
#9: Nero At the end of season one, Lemony Snicket explains hypnosis, while watching Jacqueline play the violin. He says hypnosis is “a man, who upon hearing the word ‘Nero’, could play an instrument he never studied”. This is in reference to the talentless Vice Principal Nero of Prufrock Preparatory School, who forces the students to attend his mandatory nightly violin recitals. This is both a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero who legendarily played the fiddle while Rome burned around him; and a suggestion that Dr. Orwell hypnotised Nero to believe he can play the instrument every time he hears his own name.
#8: Handler & the Harrises Daniel Handler has a sly cameo of his own in three episodes of season one, as a fishmonger working at Damocles Dock selling fish heads. This leads to a meta joke: Mr. Poe searches for the Baudelaires and exclaims “It’s off-book,” a reference to the fact that, in the books, Mr. Poe does not lose the children. As well, in the second season, Neil Patrick Harris’ real-life husband and children, David Burtka and Gideon and Harper, appear in the audience of Caligari Carnival, heckling the ringmaster Count Olaf as they watch the performance.
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#7: “The Shining” It’s no surprise that there are multiple references to one of the most iconic horror novels and movies of all time. First, in season one when Olaf, disguised as Captain Sham, chases Aunt Josephine through the house and announces, “Heeeere’s Shammy,” in reference to the moment when Jack Nicholson declares “Heeeere’s Johnny” as he breaks down a door with an axe. Then again, in season two, the Person of Indeterminate Gender bashes through a wall in Heimlich Hospital and announces, “Here I am, Nurse Lucafont.” If that wasn’t enough, the White-Faced Women also appear in a corridor and say, “come and play with us,” just like the movie’s creepy Grady twins.
#6: Harpoon Gun In season one we see Baudelaire ally Jacqueline threatening Count Olaf with a harpoon gun after rescuing them from his clutches . . . a harpoon gun which actually has a major role in the books. We next see it in the second season when it’s used by Esmé Squalor as she attempts shoot down the Self-Sustaining Hot Air Mobile Home. Subsequently, she and “Detective Dupin” are ejected from the Village of Fowl Devotees for possessing a mechanical device: ie, the harpoon gun. But keep your eyes peeled, because it’s set to make another important appearance when the third season adapts “The Penultimate Peril.”
#5: The Carved Heart Very briefly, we see a carving in the top of the saloon bar, during “The Vile Village: Part One,” of a heart which reads “Olaf +” and then the names of three women, all crossed out. First is “Olaf + Josephine,” a reference to Josephine Anwhistle whom Olaf seduces during “The Wide Window,” disguised as Captain Sham; the second is “Olaf + Georgina,” a reference to the evil optometrist Georgina Orwell, Olaf’s ex who we see in “The Miserable Mill”; and finally, an almost illegible name, beginning with a “K”, speculated to be “Kit” as in “Kit Snicket,” the Snicket sister who aids the Baudelaires in the books and also dated Olaf.
#4: Medusoid Mycelium Welcome to the The “world’s most threatening fungus”. We’re first introduced to Medusoid Mycelium when Justice Strauss shows the Baudelaires around her library in “The Bad Beginning”. This fungus will take on greater significance as the last books are adapted, but it’s been referenced a few times already, such as in “The Reptile Room,” as they drive down Lousy Lane. They pass an apple orchard growing sour apples, next to a horseradish factory . . . horseradish being one of the few cures for Medusoid Mycelium poisoning. This is something which will become important when they adapt “The Grim Grotto” next season.
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#3: The Sugar Bowl The series begins with Count Olaf’s desperate bid to steal the Baudelaire fortune, but eventually become about a frantic hunt for an enigmatic object called the Sugar Bowl, the Vessel For Disaccharides, which contains something incredibly powerful. It doesn’t become important in the show until Esmé joins Count Olaf’s acting troupe with the sole goal of retrieving it – either because of what it contains or because it seems to be missing from her own tea set - but it’s actually first mentioned way back in “The Bad Beginning”, when Olaf wonders aloud to himself about where his sugar bowl went.
#2: Mrs. Bass’ Blackboard According to the executive producer, the blackboard in Mrs Bass’s classroom contains over a dozen Easter eggs. On it we can see: a diving helmet from “The Grim Grotto”; a mushroom which could be Medusoid Mycelium; a bag of flour like the decoy-Sunny; Snicket’s briefcase; the VFD secret HQ map; the Sugar Bowl; an Aqueous Martini; a hot air balloon; Lavender Lighthouse from Lake Lachrymose; gorgonzola cheese referenced in “The Bad Beginning”; cat skeletons like the carnival’s starving lions; fried eggs (Aunt Josephine’s favorite food); Klaus’s spyglass; a ladle used in the book of “The Hostile Hospital” but not seen on-screen; and finally, some olive oil – which creator Daniel Handler is fond of.
#1: Clues in the Tunnels The secret VFD tunnel system is filled with references to future characters and places. In the first episode, we see important names like Quagmire and Snicket; Julienne, the Daily Punctilio’s ace reporter; Mrs. Remora, the teacher with the sores at Prufrock Prep; Spats, as in Carmelita Spats; Montgomery, for Montgomery Montgomery; Anwhistle, for Josephine and Ike; the number 667, referencing 667 Dark Avenue; Widdershins, meaning Captain Widdershins, a VFD member in “The Grim Grotto”; Lesko, as in Mr. Lesko, a minor character in “The Vile Village”; Strauss for Justice Strauss; and, finally, Fernald, or the Hook-Handed Man. In season 2, passages labeled Denouement for Dewey Denouement, Heimlich for the hostile hospital, Nero for the principal, and even one for the Hinterlands where VFD HQ is, are seen.
