A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV series) facts for kids

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are told by well-meaning but inept banker Arthur Poe that their parents have perished in a house fire. While exploring the ruins, Klaus finds a broken spyglass with an insignia of an eye embedded on the front. Shortly afterwards, the children are sent to live with their distant relative Count Olaf, a cruel and vain amateur actor, who forces them into servitude. They also befriend Justice Strauss, Olaf's neighbor, who sees great potential in them. One night, the siblings prepare puttanesca for Olaf's theatre troupe only for him to demand roast beef upon arriving home. The children state that they were never asked to prepare roast beef, angering Olaf and prompting him to slap Klaus across the face when he protests about the sleeping arrangements. Meanwhile, a mother and father are held against their will by a mysterious captor.

Mr. Poe takes the Baudelaires to live with their Aunt Josephine, an irrationally frightened woman who lives in a dilapidated house overlooking Lake Lachrymose. She refuses to answer questions about their parents, so the siblings pursue answers themselves around her house, and discover their parents were members of a secret organization, with spyglasses being used as useful devices. They are also shocked to find out that Josephine was once fierce and formidable, and developed her phobias after the death of her husband. Olaf, who has followed the Baudelaires, disguises himself as a sailor named Captain Sham before pretending to fall in love with Josephine. Josephine visits a marketplace, including fish heads and fruit. Despite the siblings' warnings, Josephine accepts his invitation to take her out for a fried egg sandwich. Later that night, the siblings discover that Josephine has jumped out the library's bay window and left a note informing them that "Captain Sham" is their new guardian.

The Baudelaires discover the entire mill is under a hypnotic trance, ensuring they do not leave their jobs. During the workday, a hypnotized Klaus operates heavy machinery recklessly, causing him to injure worker Phil, an optimist. Orwell and Olaf's plan is to get the Baudelaires kicked from the Lumber Mill and have Olaf, disguised as "Shirley", step in to adopt them. Orwell and Olaf use a still-hypnotized Klaus to try to murder Sir's aide Charles, but Violet figures out how to break everyone's trance in the nick of time. The workers then storm the mill, causing Orwell to fall into the furnace and die. Sir escapes in the chaos while Count Olaf and the Hook-Handed Man get away. Charles reveals the truth about the Baudelaires' role in the town, where they actually helped to fight the fire. The three siblings are reunited with Mr. Poe, and Jacquelyn sends Klaus the broken spyglass that Olaf stole from him. Poe then sends the three siblings to a dreary boarding school, which two of the three Quagmire siblings are also sent to, due to their house being burnt down by an unknown woman. The Quagmires' parents are revealed to be members of the organization. In the final scene, Lemony Snicket, Count Olaf, the Baudelaires and Mr. Poe sing the song "That's Not How the Story Goes".

Olaf is able to convince Nero to put the Baudelaires under a grueling exercise program, making the siblings run endless laps at night to prevent them from scheming against him, while also causing them to perform poorly in class from lack of sleep. Due to their slumping grades, Nero threatens to expel the Baudelaires and put them under the guardianship of "Coach Genghis" if they fail a comprehensive exam to be given in front of the entire school, but because they must still exercise under Olaf's program, they know they will likely fail. The Quagmires offer to help, and that night take their place during exercises; however, their identity is discovered. While hiding in the library, they find the copy of the book on secret organizations and read up on the purpose of the spyglass before they are caught by the Hook-Handed Man. The next day, with Mr. Poe in attendance, the Baudelaires readily pass the exam, and through it reveal Olaf's identity. Olaf and his gang then escape with the Quagmires, who try to shout the initials "V.F.D." from the backseat of Olaf's car. Meanwhile, Larry is rescued from the refrigerator with the help of Lemony's brother, Jacques, while Olivia walks off with the book on secret organizations that the Quagmires left behind.

While a citywide manhunt for Count Olaf is underway, Mr. Poe takes the Baudelaires to the penthouse of Jerome Squalor and his trendy financial advisor wife Esmé. While being introduced to the Squalors, they find Olaf has already arrived, posing as a foreign auctioneer named Gunther. The Baudelaires theorize that Olaf is trying to kill Jerome so that he can marry Esmé and become their legal guardian again. They search the penthouse for the Quagmires to no avail, but Klaus becomes suspicious of an extra elevator that only seems to serve the penthouse. Meanwhile, Olivia tries to convince Mr. Poe about Olaf's scheme, which leads Jacquelyn to contact Jacques, who enlists her into their society. Esmé suggests they go out for lunch at a fashionable salmon-themed restaurant Cafe Salmonella, where Larry works to prolong their visit, giving Jacques and Olivia time to search the Squalor's building for the Quagmires. When the Baudelaires manage to sneak away and examine the second elevator, they learn that it is merely an empty shaft. When Olaf convinces Esmé to go back to the penthouse, Jacquelyn and Larry hold him back by making him sing a song. With a makeshift parachute, the Baudelaires descend the shaft to find the Quagmires locked in a cage at its bottom.

Mr. Poe drops the Baudelaires off at the Village of Fowl Devotees, a village overrun with many strict rules where the whole community will care for them collectively if they promise to do the entire village's chores. The Baudelaires take up residence with Hector, a kindly handyman prone to fainting spells who is secretly building a self-sustaining hot-air mobile home. The Baudelaires soon begin finding clues written by the Quagmires. Olaf, Esmé, and the troupe also arrive at the village, with Esmé disguising herself as the town's new chief of police. Jacques and Olivia also arrive and detain Olaf at the local jailhouse; the next day, the villagers learn of Olaf's capture and hold a town hall meeting, where Olaf appears in the disguise of Detective Dupin, tricking everyone into believing Jacques is Olaf. Jacques is sentenced to death, but Olivia convinces Esmé to free her and Jacques in exchange for the location of the Sugar Bowl, an object with ties to Esmé's past. Jacques stays behind to confront Olaf; however, the villain is unfazed by Jacques' offer of a truce, and he and Esmé incapacitate and kill him. The next morning, as the Baudelaires try to break into the jail to rescue Jacques, they are informed that "Olaf" has been murdered.

The disguised Olaf and Esmé quickly convince Mr. Poe and the town that the Baudelaires murdered Jacques/"Olaf", and they are promptly condemned to be burned at the stake. While in jail, the children instruct Hector to prepare his hot-air mobile home to help them escape. Violet creates a battering ram to weaken the jail wall using a bench, a loaf of stale bread and a noose. Klaus deduces from clues that the Quagmires are hidden inside a crow fountain in the village square. Larry and Jacquelyn arrive on the scene to distract the villagers long enough for the children to escape via a fire truck and follow Hector. The Baudelaires cover for the Quagmires as they use the truck's ladder to climb aboard the mobile home. As they do so, Olaf, Esmé, and the villagers arrive, and Esmé begins damaging Hector's home with a harpoon gun. Realizing their danger, the Baudelaires tell Hector to escape with the Quagmires. In thanks, the Quagmires try to throw their friends their notes about the secrets of V.F.D., but Esmé shoots them with a harpoon, scattering the pages and harming a crow. While the villagers accost the disguised villains over the injured bird, the Baudelaires collect as many of the ruined pages as they can and make their escape.

The Baudelaires hitch a ride with volunteer singing candy stripers heading to Heimlich Hospital. They learn that there is a Library of Records that collects and stores esoterica. After sneaking past the hospital's administrator Babs, they meet Hal, the man who runs the library. He welcomes their help but forbids them to read the material in storage. While Hal shows them the ropes, a film reel labelled "Snicket" arrives and catches the children's attention. Meanwhile, believing the Sugar Bowl to be in the hospital, Olaf and his troupe infiltrate the building and take over it. Desperate for answers, the children are forced to steal Hal's keys to access the library, where they find the film. It contains a debriefing of Jacques by a V.F.D. volunteer, with Jacques informing the interviewer that someone has survived a fire, which may or may not be the one that killed the Baudelaire's parents. However, before they can watch any further, they are interrupted by Esmé, who thinks they have the Sugar Bowl; as they try to escape, the library is ruined. Violet is captured by Olaf while Klaus and Sunny hide in a chute, in possession of the film.

Olaf and Esmé hide Violet under a false name; to find her, Klaus disguises himself as bearded and chubby "Dr. Faustus", with Sunny hidden in a sling underneath his coat. They eventually deduce which room Violet is in, but this is a trap laid by Olaf, who forces Klaus to operate craniectomy on Violet inside an operating theatre. Esmé promises to call off the scheme if Klaus can give her what he stole from the Library of Records, and he does so—only, it's not the Sugar Bowl that she has been searching for. Olaf, however, is interested in the Snicket film and dashes off to watch it to learn its secret. Furious at its revelations, he burns the film, which also starts a fire in the hospital. The Baudelaires successfully evacuate the hospital and realize that their only chance to escape safely is in the trunk of Olaf's car. Hal is left depressed over the loss of the Library of Records. Elsewhere, an unknown person recovers the Sugar Bowl from the burning hospital.

A flashback to a masked ball at the V.F.D. headquarters shows Lemony trying to warn Beatrice about Olaf. In the present, Olaf and his troupe arrive at the Caligari Carnival to speak with its fortune-teller, Madame Lulu, about the fire's survivor. Lulu, who is really Olivia in disguise, tells them to wait for the answer in the morning. The Baudelaires overhear this, and hoping to speak to Lulu as well, assume the identities of circus freaks, with Violet and Klaus as a two-headed person and Sunny as a wolf child. After calling V.F.D., Olivia is able to tell Olaf the next day that one of the Baudelaire parents did indeed survive the fire. Olaf then presents a freak show that proves disastrous, so he sets off to find a pack of roaming lions to help attract a larger crowd. This gives an opportunity for the children to sneak into Lulu's tent, where they discover films, books, and disguises belonging to the V.F.D. — the secret organization their parents and guardians belonged to. They also learn what V.F.D. stands for: Volunteer Fire Department. Olivia then appears and reveals her true identity to them.

Despite Sunny's poisoning, Olaf places the Baudelaires in his brig. The Hook-Handed Man helps them escape. Returning to the Queequeg, Violet, Klaus and Fiona determine that the antidote for the Medusoid Mycelium is horseradish, but there is none aboard; Sunny suggests a substitute, wasabi, which cures her. Violet presents Sunny's sealed contaminated helmet to Fiona for future study, and Fiona obtains a coded message revealing the Last Safe Place for V.F.D.: the Hotel Denouement. The Hook-Handed Man reveals that he is Fiona's brother and his name is Fernald, responsible for burning down Anwhistle Aquatics for fear that V.F.D. might use the Medusoid Mycelium as a weapon. They are cornered by Olaf, but Fiona allows the Baudelaires to escape in the Queequeg by offering Olaf the helmet. After an encounter with the Great Unknown, the Baudelaires return to Briny Beach, where Mr. Poe offers to help clear their names. However, the children refuse his assistance as Kit Snicket arrives by taxi, promising them answers; they speed off to the Hotel Denouement. Quigley gives the sugar bowl to a flock of crows. Fernald is forced to reveal the Last Safe Place to Olaf and he and Fiona are imprisoned, but begin their escape.

The scene flashbacks to before the schism, where Esmé, Olaf, Lemony, Kit and Beatrice at an opera. Lemony Snicket offers to help the children escape, but they decide to stay and put Olaf behind bars when Justice Strauss comes into view. The Schism's origin is shown in flashbacks: During the original theft of Esme's sugar bowl, Beatrice accidentally killed Olaf's father, while Lemony, in love with Beatrice, took the blame for both crimes and fled. In the present, Justice Strauss oversees a blindfolded trial to prove the Baudelaires innocent of killing Dewey, and find Olaf guilty of his crimes, but Olaf turns the trial around and the High Judges, revealed to be the Man with a Beard but No Hair and the Woman with Hair but No Beard, declare the children guilty. In the confusion, Olaf kidnaps Strauss and, unable to find the sugar bowl, sets fire to the hotel (after Sunny suggests burning down the hotel). Fleeing to the roof, Olaf recovers the sample of Medusoid Mycelium and decides to use it to get revenge on those who have harmed him. The Baudelaires, faced with the moral complexities of VFD and their own actions, decide to burn down the hotel as The Last Safe Place is safe no more.The Baudelaires warn the hotel guests but it is implied that some do not escape the fire. Strauss pleads with them to join her to safety, but they sadly refuse as the world is no longer safe for them. Olaf and the children parachute a sailboat into the nearby sea. As guests flee the burning hotel, a panicked Lemony arrives. Strauss explains what happened and gives him a photo of the Baudelaires, with which he begins his investigation of their fate.