This Helpful V.F.D. Member Could Be The Orphans’ Best Bet In ‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’

In A Series Of Unfortunate Events, the Baudelaire orphans are often told by well-meaning adults not to worry about the evil villains chasing them — that everything will be taken care of by the authorities and grown-ups. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny's despair at the incompetence of those who seek to protect them is a relatable feeling, though it is nice to know that there are still noble volunteers working in this strange world that are on their side. One of those volunteers seen briefly in Season 1 steps into the spotlight in Season 2. Who is "Larry, Your Waiter" in A Series Of Unfortunate Events? The server returns as a friend to our hapless heroes. Spoilers ahead!

First, a recap. In Season 1, Larry (played by Patrick Breen) encountered the orphans at the Anxious Clown, a restaurant that the Baudelaires attend with Count Olaf in disguise, and Mr. Poe. He attempts to give the Baudelaire orphans coded messages and succeeds in giving them peppermints, which they are allergic to, so that they can return home, cause a diversion, and discover Josephine's whereabouts. He knows Count Olaf, and they have a confrontation in The Wide Window where he talks about the children receiving training they should have had years ago.

He's also in the V.F.D. photograph that features Josephine, Monty, Lemony Snicket, Georgina Orwell, the Quagmire parents and the Baudelaire parents. So, Larry was clearly a member of the secret organization. He and Olaf may have even been friends — the Count doesn't seem that threatened by him, mostly just annoyed. It's not too surprising that Count Olaf is able to get away with so much arson and murder when his adversaries, though occasionally valiant, are either unlucky or not that brave. In Season 1, it seems as if Larry was not quite prepared for his Anxious Clown assignment and that it may have sprung up at the last minute.

Larry is a character in the A Series Of Unfortunate Events books, but only appears in The Wide Window and is later mentioned by Jacques Snicket in Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography. It is unknown whether or not he is part of the Snicket, Baudelaire, Quagmire, Antwistle, or other families in the book series that make up this covert organization.

His role is much larger in the Netflix series; he is a full-fledged volunteer. Just, unfortunately, not one who is particularly adept — a word which here means "able to successfully thwart Count Olaf and/or keep the Baudelaires out of harm."

Much like Count Olaf, Larry uses disguises to infiltrate places and assist the Baudelaires, but he tends to stick to the one persona. In Season 1, he was seen opening up the Anxious Clown in the off-season, so it makes sense that that isn't his only place of work, but throughout Season 2 he continues to make himself useful as some kind of waiter or caterer.

In Season 2, he essentially replaces Gustav (Luke Camilleri) as Jacquelyn's (Sara Canning) partner in ending crime, trying to get messages to the Baudelaires in an attempt to both rescue them and bring them in to the V.F.D. fold. The two of them become a team. Fans of the books will recognize that Larry is on the fire-fighting side of the schism. The two Quagmire triplets, Duncan and Isadora, are also dependent on the help of these volunteers.

But Larry isn't the only volunteer attempting to stop Count Olaf and his troupe parallel to the downtrodden orphans in Season 2. There's also a librarian named Olivia, played by actor Sara Rue, and Lemony Snicket's brother Jacques, played by Nathan Fillion. It's an interesting predicament that the Baudelaire children are in on A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Misery follows them everywhere, but they are decidedly not alone.