Penny Dreadful...A Modern Masterpiece
It’s finally here. After more than four years, I’m writing a review for Penny Dreadful, one of the best gothic horror series ever made. Not to be confused with Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (its ugly, redheaded stepchild), the original Showtime series (now streaming on Showtime and Netflix) ran for three seasons, airing in spring of 2014 and unexpectedly coming to an end in the summer of 2016. The series wasn’t cancelled. If anything, fans were left hungry, clambering for more tasty morsels after only three short, tantalizing years. Instead, creator John Logan claimed to have always planned for the show’s early exit. In hindsight, I suppose I understand his decision, but I was just as disappointed as the next fan. And then to tease us with the 2020 release of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels—a huge letdown that lacked all the brilliance, ambience, and talent of the original series. An act of cruelty on Showtime’s part, damn sadists.
Three years of rich, dark, gothic beauty. Of talent, heart, and gut-wrenching storylines. Three years, and I was there from start to finish. I’ve re-watched it since with my eldest daughter, who’s proved to be an even more devout fan than I am. Three short seasons, which lent validity to the adage: All good things must come to an end. Sometimes entirely too soon.
I remember sitting down to watch the first episode, having predetermined how the show would play out. I was expecting something wildly different and far less fleshed out. A creator’s reimagining of our beloved classic monsters, with the addition of original characters, left precariously placed gaps, wide enough to plummet through. We love our classic monsters: Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein & his monster, Wolfman, Bride of Frankenstein. These have often been regurgitated, only to leave viewers hankering for their predecessors. Some consider it cliché to even broach these horror giants. But not John Logan. He flipped conventional wisdom the bird, gathered some of the most supremely talented people in the business, and redefined gothic horror in a way that left viewers enthralled.
Sure, Penny Dreadful brings the classics into play, but to say it’s a show about old monsters is wildly inaccurate. Yes, they’re part of the meat on the bones of the show, but it’s their histories that bond us to these beautifully flawed characters, and their relationships with one another that break our hearts. But in the middle of all that is one woman, Vanessa Ives, an original character created by John Logan. Man, what can I say about Vanessa Ives? How to do this character justice with mere words? She’s a deeply damaged, cursed woman whose tortured existence has been molded and shaped by utterly brutal, maniacal forces of evil. Her relationship to the darkness and her role within it is one of the most astoundingly powerful, agonizing relationships ever realized and brought to fruition. Bringing me to tears is no small feat, but this show spoke to the wounded, damaged parts of me unlike anything that’s come before it. I speak for many.
John Clare, the man who loved and lived and hoped before his demise and eventual transformation into Frankenstein’s monster, is another character so thoroughly constructed he’ll have you believing no other version of Frankenstein’s monster came before him. His feels like the ultimate origin story. It’s a tale told with such barbarity and honesty and loveliness, it deserves a place among the greats, the classics.
Each and every character is brilliantly constructed. Every villain is genuinely wicked, and every hero has us firmly in their pocket. But Penny Dreadful does more than blur the lines. Our heroes are sometimes villainous, leaving us questioning if true goodness can really be attained without some bartering with the Devil. None of us is infallible, after all, and often it’s that inner monster we viewers relate to on a deeper level—a level some don’t like to acknowledge, but that storytellers like John Logan brazenly embrace. I assure you, you've never seen a lovelier shade of gray.
Penny Dreadful offers up a buffet of delights. Amazing storylines, breathtaking set design, and an ingenious score serve as the perfect backdrop to the star of the show: the acting. Everyone in the ensemble holds their own, but three stand out: Eva Green, Rory Kinnear, and Billie Piper. Billie Piper (Brona Croft and Lily) plays the role with such ferocity and passion, it’s entirely impossible not to both fear and admire her. Rory Kinnear, who plays John Clare (Frankenstein’s monster),
breathed such life and realism into the character, making his pain our own and inflicting his wounds upon the psyche of the viewer. The man’s wildly talented. And then we have Eva Green, who plays our beloved Vanessa Ives: the heart of the show and the reason you’ll find yourself incapable of looking away from the screen, even when she’s absolutely wretched. Eva Green is, hands down, one of the most underrated actresses of our time. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. She’s a powerhouse—a damn Mack truck to the heart. We’re talking Streep levels of talent here, people. In fact, as a fan, I don’t know that our lovely Meryl has ever stripped herself this bare for any role.
I once saw a YouTube video titled “Eva Green: A Master Class in Acting”. Of course, it was focused on her role in Penny Dreadful. As anyone who’s seen the series can attest to, she’s astounding. Yeah, the fellas have all the more reason to love her—she’s one hell of a unique beauty. But for those of us just looking at the acting, we understand how her performance is considered a masterclass. She didn’t act tortured and wounded and broken and wicked. She was tortured and wounded and broken and wicked. She got ugly with it. Real with it. Offensive with it. She pulled back her skin and paraded her savagery and fierceness in a way that left some viewers uncomfortable, only to reel them back in with her vulnerability. We felt for her, cried with her, rooted for her, loved her, and in the end, we understood why the cards had to fall where they did. Vanessa Ives is one of the most tormented, beautiful, dynamic characters put to film.
I wouldn’t dare reveal any spoilers. Penny Dreadful is meant to be discovered and devoured. It deserves full immersion. Close the windows, turn off the lights, shut the world out, and relinquish yourself to the story’s intensity. It doesn’t all hit you at once. It’s a build, a steady climb, an evolution, an experience. And it might not prove to be your cup of tea. It’s a provocative piece of art that doesn’t seek approval. On the contrary, it’s an unapologetic venture into a rich, dark world of unrelenting evil, begging the question: can humanity be maintained, and can redemption be found, in a world where God’s mercy falls under the Devil’s shadow?
Penny Dreadful isn’t without its flaws. The last season falls off a bit in places, losing some of its steam. But other than that, I could’ve saved myself time and sided with brevity by simply stating: “It’s perfect. Done.”
Make it an evening with Penny Dreadful. If you love hauntingly beautiful scores, you can find Penny Dreadful’s score on iTunes. I promise it’s the cherry on top. Thank me later. For now, go forth and devour.
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