Penny Dreadful

[scripsi]

Spoilers for the last episodes.

I just watched the last episodes of Penny Dreadful. I think they are the last ones, however much I want more. And there are possibilities of more- we have Ferdinand in Egypt, we have the newly minted Lord Hyde, we have the underused Catriona and we have the fates of Lily and Dracula still hanging about. But this has first and foremost been Eva Green’s show and without her I very much doubt this show could work. However, they may take the same road as The Cut Wife/Dr. Seward and introduce a new character for Eva Green. I have a very high opinion of her acting talent and I think that could work. And there is also the option of someone raising her from the dead.

But if this is the end, then I think it was, on the whole, a very satisfying end. There have been hints throughout the series that Vanessa is already lost and her dying by Ethan’s hand and by her permission felt right to me. Although it was clear they loved each other I could never really see them as a happily ever after couple.

The Creature’s journey also felt very right. Starting out as a raging selfish monster he ended up with a moral compass and, I think, making the right choices. Had he been given the option to resurrect his son earlier he would have taken that chance at once.

Victor finally made the right decision as well. I really loved his line of how easy it is to be monster, acknowledging that he has become one as well. I have worried how the show would solve the problem of Lily, and I think they did a good job of it. Though I think Lily’s rage against the men who had used her was understandable, I think t make her a grieving mother added nuance and depth. She must feel such a terrible guilt for leaving her daughter to die, even if it wasn’t by choice and guilt multiply rage. If there is a season 4 I imagine Lily and the Creature may actually find common ground in that they share the loss of a child.

I have never really been taken by Dorian Grey, but I think he had a great scene when he talked about his immortality. And though I think Sir Malcolm was pretty underused this season, he was great in the last episode.

The whole last episode was also breathtakingly beautiful. I think it was very much deliberate to set up scenes so they looked like paintings, tying into Dorian’s speech very nicely.

On the whole I have loved Vanessa and the Creature’s arc this season and I’ve come to like the Lily/Dorian/Victor arc as well. But I really disliked the whole Ethan in America thing. It dragged on far too long without adding much just to keep Ethan and Sir Malcolm away. I think they could have used some of that time in establishing Catriona’s character better. And I still haven’t forgiven the show for killing off Sembene.

Comments

[chelseagirl.livejournal.com]

I agree with you entirely.  My post says pretty much all the same things, plus that I really want to cosplay Catriona.

[siduri1959]

Agreed. I am happy with how things unfolded and while I am sorry Vanessa died I thought it was coming. She was in control of her fate. I liked that this series was written more like a book in that there was a beginning and an end to the story. I would have liked to see more of Catrions and Henry but this will all remain in my head.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

You are right, it very much felt like a book! And it was a tragedy- I wasn't surprised that Vanessa died, even if it was sad.

Oh yes, I would have loved to have more Catriona and Henry. IMO they could used some of all that dreary Walking through the desert to give them more screentime!

[siduri1959]

There ARE things that they did not follow through on. The Egyptian connection. What happened with that? Ethan's bisexuality. How did Hyde manifest in Jekyll? What were Dorian's origins? So, not perfect...

But, yes, it is a book. A beginning and an end. I am very amused by reading how mad people are because they have made it all about the fandom and have lost sight of the story. And that is how a story/book works. Begins and ends.

I also don't feel this death fell into "kill all of the women" that was going on in the past months in media. Vanessa was the heart of the show. They did not just kill her off and go on with a male character. Her death brought things full circle and it ended.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I agree that there were quite a few things left hanging, whic of course is annoying. Though a friend suggested that as Dr. Jekyll becomes Lord Hyde he steps into, and welcomes, the class that at this time are the instruments of colonialism and the very people who disdained his mother for being Indian. He becomes what he hates and thus make a monster of himself. I think that make sense. :)

I guess it's natural to want more of something you love- I know I would have loved more of the show, but yes, as for Vanessa the show Went it's natural course. Looking back there have been indications that Vanessa has been damned all along.

While I have sometimes felt the show has been far too trigger happy when it comes to women dying, I really don't feel it concerns Vanessa. as you say, she was the heart of the show.

[siduri1959]

That is exactly what I thought about Jekyll, I wish we could have seen a bit more about it. The other thing that bothered me was we never explored the Clayton connection with Seward. She clearly had something about her that made her a Clayton but...what?

I think that given it was 1892 the death toll among the women was not unusual. Transwomen are victims of murder at high rates NOW so the 19th century won't be any exception. There was so much illness, crime, and so on that that women and children did die. The deaths of characters really did not surprise me.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I would like to have seen more of it too. It would have been nice to see Henry interact with otehr characters, for example.

From what I understand Dr. Seward was the Cut-wife's descendant. The Cut-wife had lived for hundereds of years, after all, so not so strange she had descendants.

That's true. And there was a sense of why, not "just because". Angelique found out about Dorian, for example. The only Death that felt senseless to me was actually Sembene's.

[siduri1959]

Yes, but she was a witch and that makes Seward "of the blood," as they say. I would have liked to have seen more of that "connection." She clearly believed in Vanessa after a while.

I guess they needed to shift from Sir Malcolm's African connection to move to the US. I would have liked to have seen Sembene survive, it though, I agree. If I recall Ethan was responsible for his death? That was not explored, either. I mean, it is good that they did not have a lot of episodes of filler but not enough was fleshed out, either.

Vanessa controlled her death and in that way she defeated Dracula. Ethan did not turn into a werewolf to save her. She saved herself and the World through her own decision. That was her prophecy from the start, she had to fulfill it.

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

I read the creator saying that apparently season 3 was intended as the final season from the beginning, they just didn't want to announce it

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I dug around a bit on the Net last night and read that too. of well, I would have loved more, but I suppsoe that is why we have fanfiction. :)