When Lemony Snicket first enters the frame in season 1 of Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, the mysteriously shy and sour author is as far removed from the Baudelaire children’s lives as humanly possible. By the time A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3 rolls around, however, Snicket realizes that he is now a part of the very story that he has been trying to tell. The first trailer for the third and final season hinted at this toward its end, and as the actor who plays Snicket, Patrick Warburton told Metro, the narrator’s involvement in his own story has been a long time coming.
Patrick Warburton talks A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3
“I was looking forward to it,” he says. “Lemony is sequestered in his own world throughout the entire process. So when we would all be together, we still really weren’t all together. But I liked the dynamics and the emotions of the integration of Lemony into their lives. Being able to be a part of some of the answers to this tale was quite enjoyable.”
A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3 adapts the final four books of author Daniel Handler’s popular young adult series. The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto and The Penultimate Peril get two episodes each, while the appropriately titled The End gets one. As a result, A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3 sports the show’s shortest season yet. It’s also its final one, but as Warburton explains it, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We knew it was terminal to begin with. There are 13 books and I knew it was going to be three seasons,” he recalls with a laugh. “It was prudent on Barry [Sonnenfeld]’s part to shoot seasons 2 and 3 back to back. The story is about the Baudelaires. They’re kids and there are growth spurts. Once they get big, it loses its charm.”
Sonnenfeld, who is best known for directing the original Men In Black trilogy, Wild Wild West, Get Short and countless other films, serves as the show’s executive producer. He also directed episodes in all three seasons. Yet as Warburton explains it, he never would have been a part of A Series of Unfortunate Events if it weren’t for his Men In Black II director.
“I wouldn’t have been on Netflix’s list had it not been for Barry. He was insistent that I was the one to do this, to play Lemony. I’m very thankful for that. It’s always great to know that there are creators out there, whom you’ve worked with, that will always champion you.”
“I love working with Barry. He’s a genius,” he adds. “As an actor, sometimes, you just wonder what good fortune you’ve had to develop a relationship with a person like Barry so many years ago. Having a creator like that who wants to continue working with you is great. I’ve worked with him now on at least four different projects. It doesn’t always work out that way. There aren’t that many great creators out there, but if you happen to find yourself on one’s radar, it can be a game changer for your career. It has been for mine, honestly.”
Now that A Series of Unfortunate Events is over, however, Warburton finds himself with a lot of free time on his hands, but he doesn’t mind at all. He regularly sings with his band The Bearded Pearl Clams and has spent quite a lot of time vacationing with his family as of late. And, frankly, none of that sounds unfortunate at all.
A Series of Unfortunate Events season 3 debuts Tuesday, Jan. 1, on Netflix.
