Penny Dreadful TV series (open spoilers)

Cafe Society
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(I actually put this is a previous thread comparing the series to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but I think this show deserves its own thread)

I recently finished watching this series and found it quite engaging. It looks like the series ends with Season 3, although they seemed to have left a lot of loose ends (some of which I will note below) that could have been the basis of further stories. However, I don’t think it would feel right to keep going without the Vanessa Ives character.

One of my biggest questions is why did Vanessa not recognize Evelyn Poole in Season 1, Episode 2, when it was shown in Season 2, Episode 3, that she had seen the conflict between Poole and Joan Clayton.

Other points, in no particular order —

  • Ethan never discovered what happened to Bronagh

  • Dr. Jekyll never uses his formula on himself

  • Not really sure where Lily and the Creature are headed

  • Dorian Grey’s painting remains intact

  • What happens to a city when an army of prostitutes trained to kill is loosed upon it?

  • Why did Ferdinand Lyle get put on a bus right before the end? Catriona was a great character (though she mispronounced her own name), but we didn’t really need another new character so late in the story

  • Did I miss what happened to Kaetenay at the end?

  • I was surprised that we never got to see Vanessa as a vampire before the resolution.

  • At the end of season 1, what happens to Vincent Brand and the other actors at the Grand Guignol between John Clare’s dismissal and the vampire infestation? I expected to see them all in vampire form.

  • Having seen the whole thing, I have to say that the detour to New Mexico was a waste of screen time, although I love Brian Cox.

  • Dr. John Seward = Dr. Florence Clayton Seward // Quincey Morris = Ethan Lawrence Talbot Chandler // Arthur Holmwood = ? // And I thought I saw a parallel for Lucy Westenra, but she has slipped my mind.

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Supposedly the story will be continued in comic book form.

3

I’m really surprised that no one really wanted to discuss this.

Anyway, one of the big things that bugs me still is in the end how easy it was to kill a horde of vampires. You just brought a lot of guns and kept shooting. That really diminished the power of the dread.

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Ah, it’s not that surprising, is it? :smiley:

5

We’re all fucked.

6

That made my day! :joy:

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I just binged my way through the first season and part of the second. It’s been a while since I saw a show that compelled me to watch all the live long day (and night!) I’ve always like Eva Green and the rest of the cast is quite good. All these years I’ve always thought of Timothy Dalton as the worst Bond and that’s about it, but I’m really enjoying his performance. Even Josh Hartnett isn’t grating on my nerves like he usually does, though that might be because he seems to be channeling Josh Brolin. Can’t decide if I like the Dorian Grey character / actor who plays him. Something about him is entirely too modern. Not sure if it’s his stupid Keith Urban hairstyle or the way they dress him or the actor’s Bieberlike face. So far his character seems to exist only for explicit sex scenes (I’m a-ok with those!). Does he play a bigger role as the seasons go on?

I see Patti Lupone won an award for her portrayal of Joan Clayton. I’m kind of ambivalent about that too. There were moments, like the look on her face when they were about to burn her alive that were very poignant and then some times her whatever accent that was supposed to be just went off the rails.

Is / was anyone hate watching the Evelyn Poole character? Not sure if I’ve seen Helen McCrory in anything though I see she’s quite accomplished. She is really effective at making me hate her.