Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)
A group of unique individuals band together to defeat supernatural creatures that threaten the world.
The actors all felt very suited to their characters. It would be difficult and probably unfair to single any of them out because they all did a great job. Not only did they all look as their characters should be but some even had slight twists which worked just as well. Most of the characters had a fair amount of development and emotional range too which gave the actors a chance to show what they were capable of.
Some of the sub-plots were generally more interesting than others, for example in the first season, the parts where Dorian and Vanessa spoke were often quite slow, but by the third season Dorian’s scenes were often some of the best. Likewise, the scenes in America in the third season somewhat paled compared to the other action in the season. Some of the twists also were a little predictable, for example if the audience are clearly not being shown a character whose exact identity is mysterious then it’s fairly obvious that it has to be the only new character which has been added.
The series was consistently set and directed very well. There was a lot of macabre imagery which was employed effectively and some rather iconic moments from literature recreated in a way which did credit to the source material. The Gothic/Romantic atmosphere of the series, contrasted by the liberal use of gore, gave the series an interesting subtext about human nature.
The numerous narrative strands could have ended better, for example nothing really came of the Dr Jekyll storyline and they reveal it near the end as though it’s a revelation and not entirely obvious. Also the main villains don’t tend to get defeated; they just wander off and presumably don’t bother to take revenge on the main characters again for some reason. There was a lot that was left unresolved and could have been explained much better by the end.
7/10 -Well above average, but no masterpiece-
-The phrase “and then?” is used at least once in every single episode.
-The Verbis Diabolo was created by a professor of ancient languages by combining Aramaic, an obscure dialect of Arabic, Ancient Greek, and Latin.
-Victor Frankenstein often quotes Percy Bysshe Shelly who was once married to Mary Shelly who wrote the original novel on which his character is based.
