"The Vile Village: Part One" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fowl Fountain

"For Beatrice-- When we were together I felt breathless. Now, you are."

If the story of the Baudelaires were a car trip, it would be unpleasant, uncomfortable, and interminably long. Sure enough, the Baudelaires are on a car trip through the hinterlands with Mr. Poe, heading onward to their new guardians in the town of V.F.D., known for its drafty town hall and its aptly-named Fowl Fountain. It's a small town and far from picturesque, and as the Baudelaires near it, they're told that the hundred-or-so citizens of V.F.D. will be responsible for raising them together. After all, it takes a town to raise a village, as the aphorism goes. And it's also a good way to ensure that one guardian doesn't get killed or turn out to be a scheming member of Count Olaf's gang.

Answer: Crows

While the Baudelaires take their interminably long car ride to V.F.D., they end up being followed about a mile back by Count Olaf and his henchmen, now with Esme Squalor in tow. While they discuss how they'll continue to chase down the Baudelaires, they realize that they too are being followed by a cab about a mile back.

This cab turns out to contain Jacques Snicket and Olivia Caliban, both still on the hunt for him. Olaf turns off on a shortcut, leading the chase elsewhere. The Baudelaires, meanwhile, show up in V.F.D. to find that the town is overrun by crows.

While Mr. Poe heads to the town hall to have some papers signed, the children worry that the V.F.D. they're in may not be the V.F.D. they need because of their misstep at Veblen Hall. That said, they hope that Duncan and Isadora will still be there.

Answer: Saloon

Mr. Poe has the children head into the town hall to meet with the Council of Elders as they seem to know everything there is to know about V.F.D. and in the meantime, he considers going to the nearby saloon. Count Olaf and Esme are already there though, and the henchmen are forced to hide when Mr. Poe enters looking for a sarsaparilla. Olaf manages to whip up a disguise in very little time, concealing his identity from Mr. Poe who announces the great news-- the town is now the legal guardian of the Baudelaires.

He leaves and, immediately after, the henchmen get to work. They have to clean up the saloon and get their red herring inside. The Quagmires are, of course, inside the statue.

Answer: Handyman

The Baudelaires step into the town hall for the first time and find themselves amongst dozens of V.F.D. citizens and the Council of Elders who, to their surprise, have crows on their hats. Very soon after stepping foot in the hall they find that they are subject to very complex and often useless rules. To commemorate the Baudelaires' arrival in the town, however, the Council of Elders instates rule #9833: no villains allowed in the town limits.

The citizens of V.F.D. quickly demonstrate that they are not prepared to raise orphans, claiming that they don't want meddling orphans in their houses and seek a solution.

As such, the Council of Elders informs their current handyman, Hector, that he will feed and house the orphans. This is especially appropriate since they will be doing chores for everyone in town anyways.

Hector, shocked by this development, has one of his recurring fainting spells.

Answer: He swallowed a box of thumbtacks

During the town hall meeting, the Council of Elders also request a report from the chief of police, and that's when Esme Squalor makes her grand entrance, introducing herself as Sabrina Anastasia Pepper Marigold (but they can call her Officer Luciana) and stating that their former chief of police had a sore throat from accidentally eating a box of thumbtacks.

The Baudelaires instantly recognize her as a villain. Olaf's henchmen lead a round of applause for Esme as the children are led out. If they break any rules, they're warned, there will be severe punishment. In the saloon, meanwhile, Jacques Snicket and Olivia Caliban catch Olaf, handcuffing and gagging him before marching him out.

Answer: Barn

Leaving town hall, the Baudelaires confide in Hector who, after telling him the the V.F.D. they've arrived in stands for 'Village of Fowl Devotees', suggests that they all run away since the prospect of Count Olaf being near is too scary. As he takes them a mile toward the outskirts of town, the children tell them their unfortunate story and he vows to help in any way he can short of doing anything particularly scary.

It's especially hard considering all of the rules in V.F.D. Saying this, he reveals that he's kept a secret of his own there, a self-sustaining hot -air mobile home, which is particularly scary since rule #67 states: no citizen is allowed to use or build mechanical devices. Additionally, rule #108 bans all books.

The Baudelaires love the idea, but not until their friends are rescued and Count Olaf is behind bars. And Count Olaf is behind bars. Jacques places him in V.F.D.'s jail and demands to know where the Quagmires are. Olaf's henchmen, meanwhile, get to work causing havoc.

Answer: Poetry

As the sun rises on a new day in V.F.D., the town's crows awaken in the Nevermore Tree near Hector's shack and the Baudelaires eat their breakfast. They worry they may not find the Quagmires, but a pair of rhyming couplets fall into their laps:

"For sapphires we are held in here
Only you can end our fear

Until dawn comes we cannot speak
No word can come from this sad beak"

The Baudelaires believe that this leads them to the Nevermore Tree, but they're going about things the wrong way. As the murder of crows departs for the town on their morning migration, they realize that the Quagmires are using the birds as message carriers, and when they return to the tree in the evening, more will arrive.

Answer: A detective

The children commence their chores for the Village of Fowl Devotees, all the while searching for Duncan and Isadora but coming up short at every turn. After their first set of chores, they're told to head to the firehouse saloon which, as is said, closed after the introduction of rule #18: the prohibition of the pouring and serving of sarsaparillas.

It's there that the Baudelaires find the red herring container and know that the Quagmires have been nearby. But still, they haven't seen Count Olaf thus far. That's about to change though because moments later, an emergency town meeting is called.

The village has allegedly captured Count Olaf. That's not true though. As the Council of Elders announces that Count Olaf is handcuffed outside, the alleged detective responsible for catching him scats his way into the room.

It's Olaf, disguised as cool cat Detective Dupin.

Answer: Burning at the stake

The Village of Fowl Devotees and the Council of Elders immediately believe Olaf (as Dupin) when he says that Jacques Snicket is actually Count Olaf, there to kidnap the Baudelaires, and with himself and Esme having infiltrated the city so quickly, it's hard to dispute him. Mr. Poe shows up too, returning to the village upon hearing the news of Olaf's arrest, and he confirms that Snicket is Olaf by looking at his eyebrow and ankle tattoo.

It's all very disappointing. Snicket tries to assure the Baudelaires that he's on their side though the village and its Elders decree that he will need to be marched into town to pay a strict fine as per their rules. Count Olaf and Esme up the ante though, suggesting that they burn their criminal at the stake. Surprisingly, the village agrees to this. That night, Hector fears the worst. If Count Olaf (actually Snicket) only broke one rule and risked being burned at the stake, he couldn't fathom what would happen if they caught him for breaking so many rules building his hot-air mobile home.

He urges the Baudelaires to leave with him, but they manage to convince him to stay, in return offering Violet's mechanical assistance to fix his engine problems. They sweeten that deal by taking the materials they need to perform a jailbreak.

Answer: Esme

Jacques Snicket tries to compel Olaf to turn back to the world of good and volunteerism, but it's clear he just wants riches. At the next cell over, Esme taunts Olivia Caliban for her role in the opposition, but Olivia, being a librarian, says that because of her profession she's good at finding things, and as such she's willing to broker a deal. If Esme lets them go, she'll give her the location of the sugar bowl. Sure enough, Esme lets this happen. Jacques sends Olivia away to meet with their top field agent, Madame Lulu, and he vows to stay back to protect the children.

Unfortunately, he's hit in the head with an official V.F.D. rule book and knocked unconscious in the saloon after her departure. The following morning, Hector finds two couplets as they fall from the Nevermore Tree, home to a murder of crows.

Unfortunately, as our narrator states, 'murder' also refers to a horrible event that happened that very same morning in the Village of Fowl Devotees, an event he wishes could be stricken from the Snicket calendar forever.

As the Baudelaires use a device to try and break into the prison, Count Olaf tells them the news: Count Olaf has been murdered.