'A Series Of Unfortunate Events' Season 2 Announced Via Coded Video

By Peter ScirettaMarch 13, 2017 10:30 am EST

Netflix has confirmed that A Series of Unfortunate Events will return for a second season. The confirmation/announcement comes via a strange video released by Netflix that included a code leading fans to message from Lemony Snicket on a website. Learn more details about A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2 after the jump.

The eight-episode first season starring Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Warburton, Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, K. Todd Freeman and Presley Smith premiered on January 13, 2017 to critical acclaim, so it's no surprise that the streaming company has decided to move forward with the second season. After all, Handler had mentioned in interviews that he and the show's other writers were already working on the second season.

Now Netflix has released a strange new video (embedded above), playing off the coded messages used by the secret organization VFD in the show, which confirms that A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2 is happening. The highlighted letters in the trailer lead to the website vastlyfrighteningdecision.com, which features the following message from the series' narrator Lemony Snicket:

Here it is transcribed:

"It has come to my attention that, despite my repeated warnings, you have viewed the Netflix adaptation of my distressing work, known collectively as A Series of Unfortunate Events. Some of you have even binged, a word which here means, 'Watched several episodes right in a row, despite having much better things to do with your time.' To my horror, Netflix has been encouraged by this and funneled their ill-gotten gains towards a second season of this unhappy and unnerving series."

The first season of the series was adapted from the first four novels (The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, and The Miserable Mill) in Daniel Handler's bestselling, 13-part young adult book series. The second season will be expanded to 10-episodes and will focus on the next five installments: The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival:

In The Austere Academy: or, Kidnapping!, the Baudelaire orphans are "sent to a boarding school, overseen by monstrous employees. There, the children meet new friends, new enemies, and Count Olaf in disguise."

In The Ersatz Elevator, the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with the wealthy Esmé and Jerome Squalor.

In The Vile Village, the Baudelaire orphans are "taken into the care of a whole village, only to find lots of rules and chores, evil seniors, as well Count Olaf and his evil girlfriend lurking nearby."

In The Hostile Hospital, The Hostile Hospital, Count Olaf and his troupe develop a scheme to "perform a craniectomy on Violet (making it impossible for her to inherit the fortune)."

In The Carnivorous Carnival, the Baudelaires must masquerade as freaks at a carnival "in order to avoid capture by Count Olaf."

If that goes according to plan, the show will very likely conclude with the third season, adapting the remaining four books (The Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, and The End).

No word on when A Series of Unfortunate Events season 2 will be released on Netflix, but judging by the streaming service's past series, it will probably be a year or so after the first season. So expect season 2 to be released sometime in early 2018.