In his office at the bank, Poe tells his wife Eleanora that no one has seen the Baudelaires. He figures that his career is finished because he lost the orphans, and Eleanora finally tells him to get hold of himself. Poe answers the phone and his boss Tammerlane tells him that if he doesn't find the orphans, Poe is finished. Tammerlane orders Poe to remove his banker's pin and Poe reluctantly does so. Eleanora says that she'll find the Baudelaires and leaves.
Lemony explains that it's his duty to tell the truth about the two accidents that occurred at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill.
Orwell gives Klaus his glasses, and Violet points out that "Shirley" is Olaf is yet another disguise. Olaf says that they should be more polite or he'll have to do something impolite to them. Charles and Sir arrive, and the Baudelaires try to convince Charles that Shirley is Olaf. The men assume that they're talking about Orwell, and Olaf offers them cookies. He asks if Sir has considered their proposal, and Charles knows nothing about it. Sir says that it doesn't concern Charles, and Orwell tells Charles to come see him. Sir offers them a ride on the bike that Charles is pedaling. Once they leave, the foreman orders everyone back to work over the loudspeaker. Klaus, back under Orwell's hypnotic spell, obediently goes back to work.
In the warehouse, the foreman lets Klaus turn on the stamping machine. Violet runs in with Sunny and Phil says that there's nothing wrong since Klaus is smiling. The girl points out that her brother would never operate heavy machinery without reading the manual first, She insists that Orwell did something to Klaus, and Phil mentions that he saw a black-and-white movie about hypnotists.
Klaus goes out of control and the stamper swings around. Phil is knocked onto a stack of boards and the stamper comes down... crushing his leg. The stamper remains down, but Violet uses gum to hook the wires back together and lift it. Sir comes in and says that the leg can't be fixed, and demands to know why the debarker machine was destroyed in the confusion. The foreman says that Klaus did it, and Sir accuses the children of coming back to destroy what is left of Paltryville. Charles doesn't believe it, but Sir says that he'll send them away to somewhere that they can learn discipline and child labor.
As Sir orders everyone back to work, saying that the accident has cost him an inordinate amount of money, Klaus snaps out of his trance. Violet tells Charles that it was an accident, but Charles says that he can't do anything for them. She tells Charles to speak up for himself if not for them, and Charles tells her to meet her after lunch in the library to learn the secret about her parents. Klaus comes over and Violet realizes that he's normal again.
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Earlier, Orwell and Olaf meet with Sir. Orwell points out that they both benefit from their deal: she's gets subjects and Sir gets obedient workers. Sir has no idea what Orwell is doing, and Orwell secretly tells Olaf that Sir doesn't want to know. Olaf then tells Sir that "she" wants a family and hopes to adopt three orphans. Sir points out that three orphans just arrived but says that their an economic bonanza. Olaf asks what would make him part with them, and Sir admits that if they made a costly mistake then he'd have to give them up. Orwell secretly tells Olaf that she can have one of the Baudelaires kill someone.
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In the dorms, Violet tells Klaus what happened. Klaus figures that he has to go back to Orwell's eye building and undo what she did with him. Violet says that they should leave, and Klaus says that they will when he gets back from Orwell's. Violet and Sunny go with him.
In Orwell's reception room, Olaf is talking to his henchman and receives word about Phil's leg. Orwell tells Olaf to act like a receptionist and says that it's not her fault that Klaus didn't kill someone. They drive knives on each other and chuckle.
The children arrive at the eye building and take the fire escape to the lab. They quickly hide up above as Orwell comes in and reveals that her newest patient is Charles. Orwell hypnotizes him into wanting to get rid of the Baudelaires, but Olaf comes in to practice the secret words. Klaus whispers to Violet that hypnotists use one word to invoke a hypnotic trance. Olaf and Orwell hear the children moving Olaf goes to investigate. The children hide in a closet and Olaf tries the locked door. He can't get it open and leaves, and Klaus sees something and starts to scream in horror.
Lemony says that he has a book in his closet from Beatrice, saying why she can't marry him.
Klaus stares at the three skeletons in Orwell's closet, and Violet points out that Orwell is an eye doctor. There are records for employee eye exams showing that all of the workers received them. As the children leave, they figure that Orwell is using hypnosis to create an obedient workforce and to make everyone think that the Baudelaire parents burned down Paltryville. Klaus asks Violet if she remembers the word that brought him back to normal, and refuses to abandon the workers. Sir finds them and takes them to his office, and tells them that if the children make one mistake then he'll fire them and they'll live with Olaf. Violet insists that Klaus was hypnotized just like the workers, but Sir doesn't care. The hypnotized Charles comes in and says that they'll be happy without the Baudelaires around.
The children go back to the dormitory and Jimmy explains that there are no lights because Sir has to cut expenses to pay for a new debarker dispenser. The workers blame Klaus for Phil's accident, and Violet takes out a dictionary. They start reading words hoping to find the secret word, but the workers tell them to be quiet.
Later after the Baudelaires doze off, the foreman comes in, invokes Klaus' command words "Lucky Boy," and tells him to go to work. Klaus goes with him and Violet soon wakes up and realizes that her brother is gone. She takes Sunny and goes after hi.
Father and Mother read a newspaper article about how the fire was an accident and figure that things look bad. Mother takes the children to bed, saying that they have a big day coming up. Father takes a spyglass out of the desk. Once he leaves, someone lurking outside uses a laser pointer to start a fire.
The foreman--the disguised Hook-Handed Man--takes Klaus to the warehouse. Olaf is waiting and tells Klaus that once there is a bad accident, the Baudelaires will be his. The hypnotized Klaus ties Charlie to a log and prepares to throw the switch to throw the log into the buzz saw. Violet yells at Klaus to stop, and the Hook-Handed Man grabs her. Olaf says that he will hunt them down no matter where they go, and orders Klaus to start the saw. The Hook-Handed Man accidentally says the secret word "fire" releasing Charles from his spell.
Violet shouts "fire" at Klaus, but he has a different secret word. Olaf tells her that she'll never find the word to save Klaus and Charles, and Charles for help. While Olaf and his henchman are distracted, Violet runs to the loudspeaker mic.
Lemony talks about how yelling "fire" can save lives. He sees enemies outside approaching his hotel room and yells "fire" as a distraction.
Violet yells "fire" over the loudspeaker and the workers come out of their spell. The Hook-Handed Man pulls Violet over, and Olaf sends his henchman to bar the door before the workers break in. Meanwhile, Sunny crawls over and starts chewing through Charles' rope. Violet and Olaf alternate ordering Klaus to speed up and slow down the log, until Orwell tells Klaus to ignore Violet. She picks up Sunny and has Klaus send the log into the saw.
Olaf tells Orwell that he doesn't need a partner or high-concept science fiction gimmicks. As they argue, Violet remembers what word freed Klaus before: "inordinate." She breaks the spell on Klaus and he shuts down the saw. He frees Charles and tells Orwell to put Sunny down. Orwell is standing by the furnace and prepares to toss Sunny in. She vows to show everyone, just as the workers break in. Startled, Orwell tosses Sunny in the air and falls into the furnace. Violet catches her sister, and Olaf and the Hook-Handed Man sneak away while everyone else is distracted. Olaf is relieved that he can work alone, and asks his henchman to boost him over the fence.
Sir comes in and the workers grab him. However, their boss slips away in the confusion.
The next morning, the police secure the warehouse. Eleanor is taking photos for the newspaper, while Poe meets with the children in Sir's office. Poe doesn't believe a word they say. Eleanor comes in and admits that she found them by accident, and leaves with her husband. Charles comes by on his way out, and thanks the Baudelaires for saving his life. He's going to search for Sir, and gives Klaus an unredacted page from Sir's book. It shows that the Baudelaire parents put out the fire and helped the survivors. As the children leave, Phil hobbles up and tells them to look on the bright side.
Poe drives the orphans to their next destination and says that he's been promoted to Director of Orphan Affairs. He explains that he couldn't find a guardian willing to take them in so they're going to the Prufrock Preparatory School. He tells them to wait on the bench and hopes that they find comfort there. Poe then gives Klaus a package that came for the Baudelaires from South America with a return address to Jacquelyn. Once the banker leaves, Klaus opens the package and finds the missing piece of the spyglass. Violet warns that they're on their own and the children sit down. On the other side of the bench, the Quigleys sit. They have the other half of the spyglass.
In a nearby cabinet is a photo of a previous class... with Lemony and Olaf together.
Lemony sits on a cliff overlooking the School and sings about the lack of happy endings.
Olaf sits in his dressing room and sings about the lack of happy endings.
Violet and Klaus sit on the bench and sing about the lack of happy endings.
Poe drives back to the bank and sings... and then turns off the radio.
Written by Gadfly on Feb 7, 2017