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Ignore this if ur following for mcr but i just made a penny dreadful discord for anyone thats into it bc i desperately want ppl to talk to abt this show <3

#Penny dreadful #Vanessa ives #Dorian gray #ethan chandler #Victor frankenstein #Dracula #lily frankenstein #Malcom murray #Gothic literature

Sir Malcolm Murray: We’re all neophytes in love. None of us have the tools, or the weapons, or the resources. Prepared as we think we are, we’re defeated.

#sir malcolm murray #malcom murray #penny dreadful #penny dreadful quotes #love

Penny Dreadful, season 3

I’ve just finished watching Penny Dreadful and I have to say I’m utterly disappointed. After the ingenious second season I expected the third one to be of the same quality only to discover it unfortunately wasn’t. The first part wasn’t bad; like in the second season, where in the middle it rose to the high and remained there until the end, I thought it will find its pace around the fifth episode, but the second part was truly a let-down, being even bad. But maybe let’s focus on some characters or story arcs, shall we?

The Gang. One of the things that I completely loved about the second season was how they were all together, one big family that was ready to give up their lives for each other in an instant, always there to support the other. That was beautiful and made the finale all the more heartbreaking, with the words “We walk alone” truly resonating with everything that happened. The third season was completely different in that matter, because they really did walk alone practically up to the finale. Vanessa made some new “friends”; Victor forgot about practically everything that wasn’t his walking and breathing obsession; Malcolm decided that saving Ethan was more important than coming back to Vanessa (not criticizing him for that, just stating the fact); and Ethan... well.

Ethan. His and Victor’s arcs were the most disappointing for me. Ethan’s journey through America to finally confront his father was interesting, but what happened with Hecate was not. Ethan fought with his guilt and who he was for all his life; he left the woman he loved behind to pay for his sins, loving her with all his heart but thinking he didn’t deserve her. And so we find him in the desert, giving himself to the witch that offered him the complete opposition to Vanessa, serving Lucifer included. I understand that momentarily, he might have been alluded by the promise of hellish redemption, erasing guilt and finding his use in the darkness, “momentarily” being the key word. Don’t tell me that the Hound of God wouldn’t just wake up the next morning and thought “Oh my God, what have I done”. But he didn’t. And here we see new Ethan who’s ready to give in to the darkness entirely, with his new lover who he somehow comes to care about after she viciously murdered two people he wished to spare. This new Ethan is ready to kill the whole world and serve the Devil. And this new Ethan lasts for how long? A day? Or two? Which doesn’t make any more sense than anything else here. Without Hecate around, Ethan immediately reverses to his old self. Like really? That’s your resolution, that’s how strong your decisions are? You lose the temptation, see the old friend who you suddenly open up to although you never did it before, and you remember that you are to serve God, not the Devil, and that woman you love might be needing you? What was the point of these reversions, I have no idea.

Vanessa. Speaking of reversions, here we have another one. Vanessa’s ultimate turn to the darkness made much more sense, but what came later did not. There we have a woman who has been abandoned by everyone she loved; and if it wasn’t for Mr. Lyle (whose every scene I deeply adore), she wouldn’t have even left the house. But she does and soon finds new love, new reason to live; for a moment she’s happy and that’s the state she never knew before. True happiness and a belief that people might be better than she thought. And then this illusion collapses when she realizes her beloved doctor is, in fact, Dracula. His speech when she confronts him seems true, and her giving up to him seems justified and even rational, if I can call it like that. She accepts herself, as she says it. She accepts being the Mother of Evil, which she in fact is. And that’s fine with me. She’s always been a strong woman, independent, determined. She didn’t lose the fight or give it up, she saw it was senseless. And let’s face it, Dracula wasn’t Lucifer and he treated her better than most of the people in her life did. Did he look evil to you? Because for me he did not. I love complicated, tragic villains, but this one was not like that. He was simple, way too simple for someone who should be sophisticated. He didn’t kill anyone by his own hand, while he should be cruel and kill the whole gang in an instant. Where is the evil? Where is the cruelty? With the prophecy that was all about Vanessa and not him? What comes after Vanessa and Dracula’s reunion is another disappointing thing. I’ve seen plenty of Apocalypses and I wasn’t expecting to see such a cliche on such a good show. But I’ve got one and it was... weird. There is a plague in the air and people die in thousands, yet the rest of our characters or the people near the factory seem completely unaffected or unaware of this news. There is a fog and... there are rats. And bats. And when you want to fight with someone you can always find yourself a vampire. That’s the big Apocalypse? Seriously? Nope, I don’t buy it. I also completely don’t buy Vanessa’s behavior and the ending in general. She agreed to be who she was, knowing the prophecy, knowing full well what will happen. I would love to see dark!Vanessa, but all in all we didn’t get her. We didn’t see her evil. And after a few days and seeing Ethan she’s all like “Kill me, that’s your destiny”. That’s not the Vanessa I knew. The Vanessa I knew remained faithful to what she believed in; if she chose darkness, she would remain in it and not behave like a victim. It was her own choice, her own decision coming out of disappointment, loneliness and tiredness, but her own nonetheless. And even if she came to regret it, Vannesa I knew wouldn’t mope, but would act to make everything right. She would fight. But here we have her giving up to the helplessness and Ethan who miraculously returned to God, and suddenly she needs to end her road by his hand, because that’s his destiny. Bullshit, I say. And Ethan, the obedient hound he is, without any further fight for her soul, just does what she says. Another bullshit. That’s not Vanessa, that’s not Ethan. I don’t know what this is.

Victor. Our dear doctor spends the whole season moping and obsessing over his lost love. He is suddenly so alone and doesn’t have anyone to talk to (for fuck’s sake, you remember the only woman that showed true kindness to you? who used to be your friend?) that he turns to his old friend, who he later treats more like an old enemy or a servant than a friend. He turns into deeply misogynistic, selfish and rude man, who really doesn’t need love, he needs an obedient slave (”a proper woman”??? Like really?). Later he joins Malcolm like they were never apart, like he was just waiting for the words “Vanessa’s in danger” to jump up in a fight again. And there he is, sitting in the living room with the two man that truly lost their loved woman, grieving with them. On what basis, I dare say? He forgot she even existed. His arc is what really hurts me - he used to be a broken, lost puppy who I just wanted to hug and comfort. And that puppy grew up into a monster he always considered himself to be.

Dorian & Lily. One of the two storylines I really didn’t mind, because it was true to the characters. Lily, who wanted to raise an army and start a revolution; and Dorian, who became bored with the idea as quickly as he did with everything else. There were also few really sad elements here - Lily’s story about her daughter, and the ending with Dorian saying he’ll always be there. Sad life this one has. Sad immortality, can there be something worse than that?

The Creature. And the second storyline. I liked how his and Vanessa’s lives were strangely intertwined, with the whole series ending with him kneeling next to her grave. She was his only friend and even though he didn’t remember their time in the Banning clinic, he always remembered she was the only one to show him kindness, to see the man in the monster. His story in this season is as sad, if not more, as ever.

Malcolm. Underused here, in my opinion. Did some shooting now and there, had some heart-warming talks with Ethan, and that was mostly all. Plus an interesting chemistry with Catriona, which would be nice to see if they got another season.

New characters. So Dr. Jekyll and Catriona, whose potentials were completely wasted. Where was Mr. Hyde? Who was Catriona, female version of Van Helsing? So much potential, yet so badly executed. The Apache, on the other hand, is a different issue. I don’t know how Ethan could fight next to someone who murdered his young sister and made him a wolf. I really don’t know how he could forgive him, but maybe it’s “everything for a mission” attitude.

In conclusion, the season lacked the clear motivations of characters’ behaviors, changed the personalities of a lot of them and had an anti-climatic resolution. In the end, I’m not so certain I would want to see the fourth season if they got the renewal.