You be frank, I'll be earnest.

I think they reason why they included the whole duncan moment is they might be trying to make duncan/quigely/violet a parallel to lemony/bertrand/beatrice. You see another relationship parallel with kit/olaf and klaus/fiona (tho idk what they’ll do if kassius is fiona i love her but that age difference….), so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what they’re doing here too

I mean I clearly love the Denouement brothers, but I love them because of the way they are portrayed. Like if you just read the book you’d think “oh Ernest is the mean one because evil tm” bc that’s the context you have throughout the series but like. If you take the context clues that no firestarter uses the sebald code, then the code speaking concierge who doesn’t know who the baudelaires are (and is super rude) must be frank. And the baudelaires figure out the concierge who helps klaus (while also secretly knowing who klaus is) must be aiding Olaf in his plan, so Ernest.

And that’s just bonkers! Suddenly the Noble Man is a huge jerk who doesn’t have time to teach people and is super rude, and the wicked one is supportive, complimentary, and down right charming. That’s not what you think of a firestarter at all. Up until now firestarters are slimeballs, and firefighters are kind and good. But like not here! Not now!! Not really!!!

The part that puts Ernest above the rest for me is how he’s loyal to his family and his hotel first and the fire starters second. he shows this ambiguity that makes you wonder how evil he really is. If Ernest was loyal, Olaf should’ve known about Dewey, and the library, and the clocks, and the rooms in the dewey decimal system, and the baudelaires, and all this important stuff Ernest totally knew and just never told him. Hell, if Ernest was really loyal, he would have helped Olaf escape. Ernest helps to demonstrate how Kit’s moral compass may be biased, and how someone who may be neutral can be judged to be “evil” by his associates, not his own actions. And who knows, maybe Ernest was evil at one point, but he’s not now. If he was, he would have helped his “boss” more

I know it will probably be very practical bc that’s who she is but I’ve always imagined she’s valued fashion as a way to connect with her late mother. And she follows all of these old old fashion magazines her mother kept around, and follows those trends bc those are the only ones she knows.

bc of the shape of her glasses and her hairstyle and idk just the whole ambiance of the book it felt like Fiona was really into mod fashion as compared to everyone else. I’m sure wel only see her in scuba wear but that’s what I’ve always felt

the quagmires have an intense sadness to their story and personality, almost more so than the baudelaires. but uh sure didn’t see that. they were just so normal.

The 60s were a time period set in between old technology and Cold War, the time between major censorship and the movie renaissance, the age of the sexual revolution, the age of progress. And I think the 60s has pretty much all of the necessary technology ever mentioned so you never need to go further modern, and it has that very good mix between the fashion of the 40s and 50s and the mod fashion popular in the day. It was probably the most clear visual divide between generations like. ever. And I love the idea of violet wearing an aline dress with a Peter Pan shirt with big puffy sleeves and Klaus just out here in his black turtle neck with a bunch of adults stuck wearing the clothes of the 50s. It’s a literal juxtaposition between old and new, a generation who did not want progress and is stuck fighting old fights with old morals and a new generation who is ready to move away from that towards actual social change.

I like to think Ernest is the nicer of the brothers, but I also like to think he was being particularly kind because he sees himself in the Baudelaires. Someone lost and betrayed. And all of his advice and messages are cryptic enough that they could be considered advice to the kids (especially Klaus). He’s not aiding in whatever firefighter plan there is but he’s also not telling Olaf the scheme. If anything, he’s stalling with the whole crow plan and giving the kids time to escape.

Everyone leaves the firefighters for their own reasons. Fernald left because he’s making bioweapons. It’s heavily implied Dashiell was no longer part of VFD as a neutral entity who disappeared. Esme left because she felt betrayed. Olaf left for obvious reasons. We don’t know where Sir stands, but he probably left for the firefighters jerking him over in business. And I think Ernest left because he realized how they hurt him and his family.

Ernest lights every single candle in the dining room, as well as the fireplaces during the winter and any fireworks/menorahs for holidays. he’s the only one with a lighter and is not afraid of fire. Ernest also spends the most time interacting with the employees with payment/time off/HR/etc. he’s the most personable of the three.

In addition to his job at the library, Dewey spends tike researching each guest and assigning them to the most appropriate room. If he’s not in the library he’s probably at the front desk with bookings. He also likes to fold towels or help with menial repetitive tasks if anyone needs an extra hand.

And of the Baudelaire children the one most likely to defect to the firestarters, it will be sunny. She is volatile and she will forget. The other two shove their emotions down and play by the rules, but not sunny. or maybe she’ll be the one to be radicalized into VFD because she will forget the lessons learned about how the noble side lacks nobility. Maybe her siblings will be impassioned and sunny will be neutral, building her life away from everything else. whatever path she takes, she’ll still be separate.