Rarely does a television show come along and capture my imagination, but Penny Dreadful has proved to be one of them. Beautifully written and acted, with delightful imagery, the season finale had me both shocked and upset; doubly so when I discovered that Season 3 was the end of the show altogether.
From the very beginning, part of the appeal for me had been the characters drawn from English literature, including Dorian Gray, various characters from Dracula, Frankenstein and in Season 3, the introduction of Dr Jekyll. Other characters, such as Vanessa Ives, Ethan Chandler and Sir Malcolm had their own demons to contend with, making the show an interesting mix. In Season 3, new characters such as Dr Seward and Catriona Hartdegen were introduced and I would have liked to have seen more of them; two strong women whose characters had the potential for further development.
With the various main characters in Season 3 scattered all over the globe, I began to wonder how and when they would all come together for the resulting climax. In the end, however, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and one scene in particular jarred with me. In the final episode, when Sir Malcolm and Dr Frankenstein meet up for the first time in the entire season, Sir Malcom says something along the lines of:- ‘Dr Frankenstein, fancy meeting you here; long time, no see! Vanessa’s in trouble, do you want to help us? Good. Let’s go’.
I felt the highlight of Season 3 was the episode ‘Blade of Grass’. The episode explained a particular time in Vanessa’s past, and it was a brilliant performance by Eva Green. With the two main characters of Vanessa and John Clare (Frankenstein’s creature), as the main performers, it was very emotional. Viewers finally understood the connection between these two; showing their strong bond and eventual love for one another. It was after this episode that I had hoped John Clare would come to Vanessa’s aid. As much as I liked to see Vanessa and Ethan together, her relationship with John Clare was special, which helped make the show’s ending so moving. (And yes, I’ve always had a soft spot for Frankenstein’s creature). It was only natural, that my reaction to the ending went something like this:- ‘What? No! That can’t be right. This isn’t really happening. You’ve got to be kidding me. Arrr!’ *sob*
Penny Dreadful is testament to the high quality of television that has been produced in recent years. Although some questions remained unanswered, there is very little about this show that I can find fault with – it really has been that good, and in case you missed it, I recommend you take a look. As sad as I am to see its final curtain, I can understand why writer/creator John Logan ended the show the way he did (who can forget the ending of Dexter?).
Goodbye Penny Dreadful. It has been a real pleasure knowing you.
Have you been watching Penny Dreadful? What are your thoughts on the end of the show? Did you have a favourite character?
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I’ve never seen the show as I don’t have pay TV, but you’ve got me intrigued. Must borrow the DVD. I always hate when they cancel a show abruptly and questions Eemian unanswered. They did that to Moonlight. Grrr!
Hi Tima. I know what you mean about cancelling shows that leave a lot of unanswered questions; it really is annoying. Firefly is a perfect example – you only have to look at the cult following it has (my household included) to know the producers shot themselves in the foot there after only one season (hence the movie). At the same time, some shows can go on for a while riding the popularity wave, where the storylines just become ridiculous and I feel this is what happened with Dexter.
My husband bought me Seasons 1 & 2 of Penny Dreadful for Mother’s Day, so getting a hold of Season 3 is a ‘must buy’ now. I’m glad I’ve got you intrigued with this show and I hope you manage to take a look at it – I’d love to hear what you think. 🙂