Originally published October 13, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
Penny Dreadful
Created by John Logan
Starring Eva Green, Timothy Dalton, Rory Kinnear, Josh Hartnett and Billie Piper
SYNOPSIS:
Victorian London is under threat as mysterious evil forces seek to envelop the world in darkness, with monsters and ghouls stalking the streets butchering and bloodletting. It quickly falls to a motley band of curious individuals including gunslingers, explorers, scientists and mystics to prevent evil from triumphing and save the land of the living from the forces of darkness.
Literature has produced many great dark creations like Dr Frankenstein and his monster, Count Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Dorian Gray to name but a few. Film has often attempted to meld creations like the ones mentioned with often mixed success. We all remember the missed opportunities that The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) and Van Helsing (2004) were.
However, where those films failed the television series Penny Dreadful succeeds, creating a dark and enjoyable ride through horror literature that you won’t soon forget.
Trying to review a television series with a serial structure like this one is a much more difficult task than simply reviewing a film. So while I will refrain from spoilers as much as I possibly can, just be wary that I may spoil some minor plot threads. Consider this your first and final warning.
We have Timothy Dalton, Eva Green, Rory Kinnear, Billie Piper and Josh Harnett making up the ranks of the cast and all largely delivering solid performances throughout.
Eva Green is arguably the main star of the series as the mystic Vanessa Ives, who over the course of the series’ three seasons continually finds herself at the centre of various plots by the forces of darkness to destroy humanity. Quite often the strongest episodes are the episodes which focus largely on Vanessa’s past, providing Green with an opportunity to really show off her acting skills, often to the point where she looks ready to drop dead with exhaustion due to the intensity of her performance.
However, in my opinion, the best performance of the series belongs to Rory Kinnear as Frankenstein’s monster. A much more faithful adaption of the source material, Kinnear portrays the monster not as the usual lumbering brute, but instead as an articulate, thoughtful, and intensely tragic figure.
The monster did not wish to be brought to life, this feeds his fury towards his creator and to the society which rejects him for his scarred appearance, with Kinnear fully embracing the darker elements of the character in such scenes. The monster’s bloody introduction to the series is certainly as shocking as it is brilliant, and is easily an early highlight.
However the monster’s rejection by all also feeds into his intense loneliness and isolation which Kinnear masterfully plays in his interactions with characters he feels affection for. A sequence in which he tearfully pleads with Vanessa to join him on a lonely voyage away from London is particularly moving, as are his attempts to express his love for a stage actress who has taken pity on him, which are just painful to watch at times.
The visuals and the production design of the series is a star on its own. With the Gothic Victorian London of pulp novels expertly brought to life, allowing us a window into the grand ballrooms of high Victorian society, as well as into its seedy underbelly, filled with prostitutes, murderers and monsters.
Now I really like this series and I was very disappointed to have it come to an end after three highly enjoyable seasons, but even I will admit that it has a whole bunch of problems with it. For starters several of the main characters don’t really contribute much, with the character of Dorian Gray being the worst offender. He contributes nothing to the overall plot of the series, even by the time the final episode has rolled around.
The final season is also not quite as strong as the first two, often feeling like it is rushing to try and wrap up its storyline. Many potential story threads are left hanging and just as interesting new characters are introduced that we only begin to love that the show comes to an end.
On a lighter note though, the series can be unintentionally hilarious at times, with what should be dark and scary moments rendered really funny by some slightly over the top acting from cast members, and even the otherwise good Eva Green is guilty of this. Although I didn’t mind this as it added to my overall enjoyment of the series and breaks up the otherwise gloomy tone.
Overall Penny Dreadful is a flawed but otherwise enjoyable horror series, filled with interesting characters, excellent performances and some fantastic production decisions. Check it out if you have a weekend to spare and are in need of some terrifying television.
Graeme Robertson
