• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

LTTP: Penny Dreadful [Unmarked Spoilers]

Sephzilla

Member
670


Girlfriend and I started and finished the series over the last month. Overall I liked the show and enjoyed the amalgamation of all the different classic horror stories. Casting seemed pretty solid. And I enjoyed that the series didn't stick around too long and ended before things dragged on and stopped being interesting. I'll try to break down my thoughts into sections for each season.

Season 1
Compared to the seasons that follow this one, it feels fairly grounded and did a good job of introducing the supernatural into a fairly believable world. The main plot to find Mina itself didn't seem that compelling, but the characters invested in finding her are what made that plot work. The entire subplot with Frankenstein and the monsters was pretty interesting to me and I wasn't expecting the twist that Proteus was actually his second monster. The conclusion of the entire plot to find Mina was pretty satisfying for me.

Season 2
Enjoyed this season quite a bit. Its one of those cases where directly upping the stakes in terms of threats worked. Season 2's villains felt like the most straight up terrifying ones to me, mostly because of how the show handled their ability to seemingly pop up out of nowhere all the time. Weirdly enough, I found myself slightly more interested in the Frankenstein storyline again this season. I was expecting that the twist was going to be that the monster was going to fall in love with the blind girl (partially because it seemed so obvious), and the twist that happened with that girl and her family was a bit unexpected but welcomed, and the end result of what happens to them felt pretty deserved. Lilly going kind of crazy at the end of the season felt out of left field for me but I'm glad season 3 fleshed that out a bit more.

Season 3
I really like that the spread out the core cast in this one and kept everyone separated for most of the season. It made their reunion at the tail end of the season more satisfying plus I think it gave every character a good chance to shine on their own for a while. Loved the Dr Jekyll character in this season and loved how they handled his transformation into "the monster" of Mr. Hyde at the end. Dorian Grey's side story this season straight up made me laugh at times because you could actively see him becoming more annoyed and bored as everything was happening around him.

I have to admit, I don't feel like I enjoyed the conclusion of the finale that much or necessarily the last two episodes regarding the Vanessa/Dracula storyline. After spending the last 2 seasons fighting off the influence and temptation of the devil as well as Dracula, her sudden giving in to Dracula felt kind of out of nowhere and out of character to me. It was to ultimately reach the spot where Ethan has to kill her, and I was okay with that conclusion, however the circumstances leading up to it felt weird. Also, them never truly defeating Dracula seemed odd to me too. Dracula sees dead Vanessa and then just sort of just goes "peace" and vanishes... like, wouldn't he be pissed and want to kill her friends or anything? I dunno, maybe I'm being nitpicky but the ending just felt a touch rushed.

I'm talking a touch too long so final thoughts
Show was fun, I'd recommend it. I liked some of the little easter eggs they thrown into the series as well (like the Imhotep reference in season 3).
 

kirblar

Member
I got the strong impression that either the show was cancelled, or Eva Green quit and the showrunner refused to do it without her.

The official story didn't match season 3.
 
One of the most rushed finales in recent memory.

It was literally like they were running out of time to rent the studio or something.

"Ok and Dracula's just going to walk out, Vanessa dies and everyone just sort of goes back home like nothing happened AND that's a wrap, great job everyone! Just throw your costumes on a pile on your way out!"
 
Loved Season 1 and 2.
Season 3 not so much. All over the place and a rushed finale. Probably told they were cancelled and had to end the story somehow quick.
 
In the end I thought it sucked and the way it handled feminism in the last season was idiotic, characters got too one dimensional and the message treated people who were watching like imbeciles (THEY'RE TRYING TO ENSLAVE WOMEN PEOPLE GODDAMN). Not to mention Ethan's arc in the US that was pretty damn awful. Season 1 was fun, season 2 was okay, season 3 was one of the worst things I ever had to endure. Glad it's over.
 
I loved the first season, parts of the second. The third felt like parts and ideas from 3 separate seasons rolled into in season as the panic to wrap up escalated.

Ethans Wolf man representation was outstanding.

I still get hairs standing up when hes at the bar, about to be arrested.

" NO.... not a Monkey..."

------------------

also, they heavily hinted that they would be introducing Jack the Ripper as a character in the first season, with one last hint in the second but it never came to fruition =/
 

Sephzilla

Member
Oh, my biggest complaint about season 3 is how Ethan goes from seemingly falling for crazy devil lady to wanting Vanessa back again in like 30 seconds. In general yeah, the tail end of Season 3 felt incredibly rushed.

also, they heavily hinted that they would be introducing Jack the Ripper as a character in the first season, with one last hint in the second but it never came to fruition =/

I think the Jack the Ripper stuff in season 1 was actually Ethan
 

Toa TAK

Banned
As much fun as I had making fun of his appearance, The Monster ended up having my favorite arc throughout the show.
 

Hystzen

Member
Dunno Ethan and Kaetenay tearing up london in werewolf mode made up season 3. Timothy Dalton just owned the whole show him and Eva never stop acting shit out of the show. Even Josh Harnett sells Ethan really well more gets used to character
 
Man, I enjoyed the show, but the final two episodes do a lot of damage, a lot. Vanessa is barely in the finale and her motivations are contrary to a lot of what comes before. It leaves such a sour taste and feels like "hey we gave up so let's have our characters give up."
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
One of my favorite series of recent years. Absolutely adore Season 2 especially. I actually enjoyed Season 3...right up until that abrupt ending. Check out the OT for S3, we didn't even know it was the series finale until a few minutes after it aired. It felt like the show just sorta gave up on itself midway through Season 3. They introduced some cool characters and then it all just ended.
 

Sephzilla

Member
Dunno Ethan and Kaetenay tearing up london in werewolf mode made up season 3. Timothy Dalton just owned the whole show him and Eva never stop acting shit out of the show. Even Josh Harnett sells Ethan really well more gets used to character

Never actually getting Dracula vs Wolfman after teasing it bugged me. I do agree with you on the cast, they all do great jobs.

As much fun as I had making fun of his appearance, The Monster ended up having my favorite arc throughout the show.

Seconded, the Monster ended up being my favorite character.
 

AdamT

Member
Season 3 was a big disappointment for me as well. However, it still was a very good show and I would've watched another 3 seasons without question. One of the few shows where I enjoyed the whole ensemble cast. Incredible performances all around. Never thought I'd be tearing up over Frankenstein's monster or care about vampires in a show before.
 
Oh, my biggest complaint about season 3 is how Ethan goes from seemingly falling for crazy devil lady to wanting Vanessa back again in like 30 seconds. In general yeah, the tail end of Season 3 felt incredibly rushed.



I think the Jack the Ripper stuff in season 1 was actually Ethan

wow, that completely went over my head.

I thought the inspector was saying bladed instruments were being used, but looking back I think your right.

SO Ethan was Jack the Ripper and the Wolfman. =D
 

Sephzilla

Member
wow I just went and read the S3 OT when the finale aired. I'm sorry :( I didn't know the finale was out of left field like that

wow, that completely went over my head.

I thought the inspector was saying bladed instruments were being used, but looking back I think your right.

SO Ethan was Jack the Ripper and the Wolfman. =D

I think what it was supposed to be was that people were confusing Ethan's Wolfman killings with Jack the Ripper. So Jack did exist at some point but people were confusing Ethan's killings with Jacks. It also plays into the idea that Jack the Ripper was never one man in the first place.
 
Amazing show with the worst ending possible. It was beyond rushed.

Having said that, Eva Green's performance is just in a league of its own.
 
Top Bottom