24 Easter Eggs You May Have Missed in Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events

It's a fact: everyone loves Easter eggs. I'm not talking about the Cadbury chocolate you eat in the Spring, although those are great, too. No, the Easter eggs I'm talking about are little inside jokes created by people behind the scenes and hidden in films and TV shows. Most of these references would go over the head of the average viewer, but true fans will spot them in names of characters, fleeting images, and pithy dialogue. Season one of Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events has a ton of Easter eggs peppered throughout its eight episodes. Most are from the books, but some are more obscure. Did you catch them all? Take a look at some of the ones you may have missed. Warning: there are major spoilers, a word that here means "look away if you haven't finished watching the series"!

The Bad Beginning (Episodes one and two)

Netflix
  1. As Lemony Snicket walks through the tunnels, signs can be seen behind him that lead to different directions. Each sign is named after a character from the book including: Montgomery, Anwhistle, Orwell, Strauss, Fernald, Quagmire, Snicket, Julienne, Remora, Spats, and more.
  2. Not only do the lyrics of each opening sequence change, but the images shown do as well. They often allude to future plot events. For example, in the opening sequence of the third episode, a movie poster for Zombies in the Snow is seen. The children see this film at the movie theater later in the episode. However, this image isn't seen in previous episodes.
  3. When discussing wedding cake flavors, the hook-handed man warns, "The other's a little lemony." Count Olaf replies, "I told you never to use that word." Lemony obviously refers to the author, Lemony Snicket.
  4. Count Olaf performs The Marvelous Marriage, a play written by Al Funcoot. Al Funcoot is an anagram of Count Olaf.
  5. At the play, Mr. Poe's assistant, Jacquelyn, informs Justice Strauss that she cannot adopt the Baudelaires because their parents stipulated in their will a "vigorously fixed destination." It's just one of the many nods to the secret VFD organization.
  6. When having his morning coffee, Count Olaf tells Klaus, "I can't seem to find my sugar bowl." Also known as the "vessel for disaccharides," the sugar bowl is an object from the books that is stolen multiple times by various characters.
  7. Cobie Smulders' role is credited as Mother. She is best known for her role as Robin Scherbatsky in the long-running series, How I Met Your Mother, in which she co-starred alongside Neil Patrick Harris (Count Olaf).
  8. When the children ask to use Justice Strauss's library, she tells them she has books on "everything from Italian cuisine to the world's most threatening fungus." This fungus is medusoid mycelium, a mushroom developed by Gregor Anwhistle, Aunt Josephine's brother. It's referenced numerous times in the books.
  9. Right before Gustav is killed, he says, "the world is quiet here," which is the motto of the VFD.

The Reptile Room (Episodes three and four)

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  1. When Uncle Monty takes the Baudelaires to the movies, the attendant gives him the "verified film discount."
  2. The film they watch, Zombies in the Snow, is directed by Gustav Sebald, creator of the Sebald code and Uncle Monty's murdered assistant. Verified Film Distribution produced the movie.
  3. After Uncle Monty is killed, Mr. Poe arrives and calls the authorities. Arriving in a van marked "Corner," the coroner (a disguised henchman) introduces himself as Nurse Lucafont. In the books, Dr. O. Lucafont is an alias of the hook-handed man and is also an anagram of Count Olaf.
  4. At the end of the third episode when the parents are escaping their kidnappers, Mother asks where the tunnel they are in leads. Father responds, "somewhere south of Winnipeg." In the books, the Duchess of Winnipeg is revealed to be a member of VFD.
  5. There is a teepee shown inside of the Reptile Room that has the name Raymond Ditmars written on it, the name of Monty's iguana. Raymond Ditmars was a famous 19th century herpetologist.
  6. When the children first arrive to Uncle Monty's house, he shows them a photograph of their parents . . . but really it's just a photo of a piano. Apparently, according to both him and Count Olaf, their parents are inside of the piano. In the books, Esmé Squalor sold a rare piano at the In Auction.
  7. At the end of the fourth episode, Count Olaf's escape on the SS Prospero is thwarted when Jacquelyn arrives and threatens him with a harpoon gun. In the books, Count Olaf is ultimately killed with a harpoon gun.

The Wide Window (Episodes five and six)

Netflix
  1. When Aunt Josephine shops in the market, a woman is selling "very fresh dill."
  2. As the children order at The Anxious Clown, their waiter says, "I didn't realize this was a sad occasion," which is a code phrase of the VFD.

The Miserable Mill (Episodes seven and eight)

Netflix
  1. Foreman Flacutono is an anagram for Count Olaf.
  2. The eye chart in Dr. Orwell's office reads VFD over and over in different sizes.
  3. Violet and Klaus use the "Verified Functional Dictionary" to find the code word that controls the hypnosis.
  4. While Lemony Snicket is watching a zombie film (created by Gustav Sebald), he mentions Nero, an untalented violinist. Nero is the vice principal of the Prufrock Preparatory School — the future home of the Baudelaire children.

Bonuses

  1. In the trailer for the series, a wooden shipping crate can be seen that is stamped "Very Flammable Dandelions." This is actually an Easter egg to a secret website for the Netflix series. Check it out here.
  2. Netflix itself is hinted at throughout the series as well. For example, Count Olaf mentions the benefits of commercial-free television. Also, towards the end of the eighth episode, when Mr. Poe is explaining that the children will be attending boarding school, he says, "It's the end of the season, er, semester, so you're going to have to work very hard to catch up." See what they did there? There's no fooling us! There are a few more fun references to the streaming site, but we'll leave those for you to discover!