If, back in the early 2000s, you kept up with A Series Of Unfortunate Events, pouring over clues and learning secret codes to unlock the truth behind Beatrice and all of Lemony Snicket's mysteries, you're in luck. Netflix's new adaptation of the series has hidden plenty of references to later books and the larger universe that the Baudelaire children get caught up in. In case you didn't catch them, here are all the Easter Eggs in A Series Of Unfortunate Events Season 1.
There will be spoilers, a word which here means plot details best discovered by the intended medium, ahead for A Series Of Unfortunate Events Season 1. Seriously, even if you've read all of the books, you may want to wait and finish streaming first. At any rate, the Easter Eggs will be listed by episode, so you can set your own pace.
One major difference between the books and the show is that the V.F.D. is introduced early on, though the audience does not know much more about them than the three orphans. From "vigorously fixed location" to "very fitting definition," the letters pop up throughout the series. Some Easter Eggs are also in unassuming bits of dialogue, or represented by new characters. Some are so subtle, it may take you a few watches to catch. Here's what I have managed to detect.
Episodes 1-2, The Bad Beginning
- Count Olaf is missing his sugarbowl.
- The spyglass that many characters have has the eye-shaped V.F.D. logo.
- Lemony Snicket even mentions the "Volunteer Fire Department" up front.
- Justice Strauss has a book on deadly fungus, as well as an Incomplete History Of Secret Organizations.
- Signs with the names "Quagmire," "Snicket," "Julienne," "Remora," "Spats," "Montgomery," "Strauss," "Fernald," "Widdershins," "Cathedral Of The Alleged Virgin," and more appear in the secret tunnels.
- In the flashes of different locations from upcoming episodes during Lemony Snicket's montage at the end, we see 667 Dark Avenue from The Ersatz Elevator, which won't appear until Season 2.
- "The other's a little lemony," says the Hook-Handed Man to Olaf about buttercream icing. I see what he did there.
- Gustav is Gustav Sebald, filmmaker, inventor of the Sebald Code, and assistant to Dr. Montgomery.
- When Gustav dies, he says "the world is quiet here" to Jacquelyn.
Episodes 3-4, The Reptile Room
- At the end of the episode, Jacquelyn produces a harpoon gun.
- The piano that Gustav and the Baudelaire parents were locked in might be in the Hotel Denoument, or the piano auctioned in the Ersatz Elevator.
- Zombies In The Snow itself could be considered an Easter Egg.
- The parents mention "Winnipeg," and the Duchess of Winnipeg is mentioned later in the season.
Episodes 5-6, The Wide Window
- Josephine discusses whistling with crackers, a V.F.D. specialty.
- A woman in the market is selling "Very Fresh Dill."
- A souvenir shop is called "Memento Morris Souveniers," which is not only redundant (both "memento" and "souviens" mean "remember") but could be a reference to Prufrock Prep's motto.
- Larry the waiter at the Anxious Clown says the coded phrase "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion."
Episodes 7-8
- The outline of Vice Principal Nero, the violin-playing villain in The Austere Academy, can be seen through a window. Snicket and Klaus reference the name Nero as well.
- The mysterious parents are revealed to be Mr. and Mrs. Quagmire, whose children befriend the Baudelaires in a later book.
- Isadora Quagmire, who writes rhyming couplets, is reading a book of Female Finnish Poems. Duncan, a researcher, is taking notes, and Quigley the aspiring cartographer is looking at a globe.
- Could the refrigerator repair person be a reference to Verbal Fridge Dialogue?
- At the end, a photo in the Prufrock Preparatory School trophy case reveals that Lemony Snicket and Count Olaf were in the drama club together.
- Olaf, as Shirley, says "if there's nothing up there, then what was that noise" — similar to another V.F.D. code and recruiting phrase.
