Penny Dreadful - Part 1

[KillerWolf]

So this is the end after all... I said that it seemed like that's what this season was going towards with all these storylines being wrapped, and the sole reason being that I doubted it was because we haven't seen Jekyll become Mr. Hyde. We were a bit cheated on that front, though I did like the "lord Hyde" scene.
Some thoughts - Dorian, one of my favorite literally characters, remained pretty much pointless till the end... shame, as there was a lot they could have done with him, though I liked how he himself explained the apathy that arises from being immortal, his constant boredom and trouble to seek ways to feel passion could be seen through all the seasons. Ethan's problem remains unresolved, and also not really explained... so it was Kaetenay who passed him the werewolf form, in what sense is he a wolf of god then...? And yup, Caliban's son died, as predicted. I was hoping he'd at least join the rest at the funeral in the end and come to terms with Frankenstein, to at least give some positive note to that ending and something good to his character. But nope, it remained sad and dark till the end.

Anyway, this was a rather weak season, but a beautiful and very powerful series finale. Also, depressing as f***. I'm not sure I've ever seen a better tribute to how sh**ty life is on TV before.
Laughing emoticon aside, I believe I'll need weeks to recover from this.

It did seem like they said to Logan early on that they won't let him do a season 4, so he wrapped it up as best as he could. Show ending in season 3 feels a bit abrupt and despite me never wanting this show to go on until it loses its quality (though this already happened to an extent, I'd say), I'd like it if we got at least one more season. I pretty much believe that no show should go for more than five seasons, so again this is better than "Penny Dreadful" becoming one of those neverending shows or them canceling it without the story being resolved. I do wonder if Logan was "forced" to do this, though...

With all being said, I will miss "Penny Dreadful" greatly. It was a wonderfully conceived and quite unique show. Despite some of my complaints, it was an enjoyable ride throughout.

Edit: I just realized that scene

Spoiler

when Vanessa puts gun in Ethan's hand and says "let me die" parallels the one from season 1 when she is possessed. Scenes are perfect match. Ehtan then performed exorcism with that medallion Brona gave him instead, but there were no such tricks anymore... what he did back then only postponed the inevitable. In a way we were already told that it was going to end this way back in the season 1.

 

[Roose Bolton]

It was the exact same piece of music used in the those two scenes as well, aptly titled "Let Me Die".

 

[Brother Jack]

It did seem like they said to Logan early on that they won't let him do a season 4, so he wrapped it up as best as he could. Show ending in season 3 feels a bit abrupt and despite me never wanting this show to go on until it loses its quality (though this already happened to an extent, I'd say), I'd like it if we got at least one more season. I pretty much believe that no show should go for more than five seasons, so again this is better than "Penny Dreadful" becoming one of those neverending shows or them canceling it without the story being resolved. I do wonder if Logan was "forced" to do this, though...

From what Logan has said, he had always planned to end it after three seasons and decided not to market this as the last season to surprise the audience. He certainly succeeded there. The final "The End" title card was a punch to the gut after several gut punches during the last fifteen minutes or so. And I do think it was effective as an ending, but I do really wish there had been more time to give more closure to some of the characters. A fourth season to explore the Egyptian tomb of Imhotep that was teased and flesh out Dr. Jekyll.

As much as Dorian's irrelevance has bugged me throughout the show, I really liked his ending. The irrelevance kind of ends up being the point, wherein he's left to be alone in perpetuity as he always was. It was more fitting to me than having him die with the painting's destruction. I loved his last shot where he's framed like a back lit portrait, like a prisoner.

 

[DarknessOfDeath]

Well...if I be damned...this sucks cause I really liked the show and...I dunno. ..whether it will be announced that showtime is either going to cancel or continue...bummer that this could last longer than 3 seasons. great...I'll miss my Sunday dose of eva green

 

[gap5ewl]

This whole thing just reeks of Showtime wanting to cancel the show and forcing the creators to wrap it up in a short amount of time...

Season 3 started out REALLY good, and stayed pretty strong up to the episode where [BLACKOUT]Vanessa gives into Dracula's temptation. I think that twist makes sense because he was the one person who truly made her feel alive and safe again, then his deception ends up being the most significant. Vanessa just gives up at this point and acquiesces to what she believes is her destiny all along. [/BLACKOUT]The last two episodes just come off horribly rushed. [BLACKOUT]Vanessa is barely in the last episode, and just tells Ethan to kill her; Dracula is moody about this, then leaves. [/BLACKOUT]

[BLACKOUT]What was the point of having all those Egyptian undertones/themes in Season 1?! Remember those Vampires that had ancient Egyptian writing in their bodies? To top it all off, Ihmotep is name dropped in Season 3. I feel like they were setting up ancient Egyptian folklore/The Mummy story as the main player behind these prophecies and Vanessa's destiny in future seasons. [/BLACKOUT]

[BLACKOUT]What in the HELL was the point of introducing Jekyll if we never see him turn into Hyde?!? With all the experimentation he was doing, I was expecting him to use his formula on himself and possibly be involved in the final battle. NOPE, he just leaves all mad that Frankenstein didn't go through with his plans on Lilly. The End. [/BLACKOUT]

[BLACKOUT]Lilly and Dorian...that's it? Dorian is doomed to spend eternity as a bored immortal, and Lilly just...leaves. She had such strong development this season and I was expecting a lot more for her in the end.[/BLACKOUT]

My point is, there's A LOT of evidence to suggest Showtime pulled the plug, and everyone is now spinning the story that it was planned all along to end it at Season 3.

 

[Paradox1]

To hear this is actually the end felt abrupt but that is the way it is so many times in life. So like the saying goes art imitating life or life imitating art. Either way it feels like a loss because of how much more story you could tell.

 

[Marvolo]

Well...if I be damned...this sucks cause I really liked the show and...I dunno. ..whether it will be announced that showtime is either going to cancel or continue...bummer that this could last longer than 3 seasons. great...I'll miss my Sunday dose of eva green

They announced this is the last season. A link is posted on an earlier thread page.

 

[Lord]

While i respect the creative team for endind the show on their terms, it felt like an unfinished story. [BLACKOUT]All of those side-storylines ended up not connecting to the main one, or ending where they had started before (the creature's storyline). It also doesn't seem like there was much of a point to the early foreshadowing of Egypt, as well as other stuff that was teased. [/BLACKOUT]

 

[Da-Scribe]

It was a great episode, but a terrible ending. So much was just abandoned and never really payed off. I walked away loving what I saw, but feeling utterly disappointed in it as an ending.

 

[Frodo]

It felt more like a season finale than a series finale

 

[KillerWolf]

It was the exact same piece of music used in the those two scenes as well, aptly titled "Let Me Die".

I thought it might be the same piece, but wasn't sure.

From what Logan has said, he had always planned to end it after three seasons and decided not to market this as the last season to surprise the audience. He certainly succeeded there. The final "The End" title card was a punch to the gut after several gut punches during the last fifteen minutes or so. And I do think it was effective as an ending, but I do really wish there had been more time to give more closure to some of the characters. A fourth season to explore the Egyptian tomb of Imhotep that was teased and flesh out Dr. Jekyll.

As much as Dorian's irrelevance has bugged me throughout the show, I really liked his ending. The irrelevance kind of ends up being the point, wherein he's left to be alone in perpetuity as he always was. It was more fitting to me than having him die with the painting's destruction. I loved his last shot where he's framed like a back lit portrait, like a prisoner.

I see... well that comes more as a surprise due to the fact that many of these characters weren't given proper closure indeed. Especially when it comes to Ethan, he is still going to murder innocents and it's not clear what this whole wolf of god thing from the prophecy means if it is Kaetenay who passed that power to him. There's also a matter of Caliban and Lily wandering through the world without much of a closure.

I also don't like that interesting and promising mythology they set up in first season and expanded upon in second one with reincarnation and fate that stretches to ancient times, was almost completely missing. That whole idea of Amunet, Dracula, Lucifer and Lupus Dei circling around each other through the centuries (though nothing implies that Ethan existed as werewolf in previous lives or that he reincarnated at all) is pretty much completely forgotten and put aside. And what was the point of Lupus Dei in the end? Ethan being a wolf barely accounted for anything. If they made it that only Lupus Dei could kill Dracula I'd understand it, even if he doesn't kill him, but it was said that Dracula can be killed by conventional weapons when in human form and Ethan fought in his human form in the end.

And while I get it that Ethan's purpose was to love Vanessa enough to kill her and release her from pain, instead of trying to posses her soul (Lucifer) or body (Dracula) for himself, I don't really like how it played out. There was also a way to make him being Lupus Dei really matter by him being the only one who would send Vanessa/Amunet to the god by killing her in his wolf form and prevent future reincarnations. A bit silly I admit, but still anyone could have killed Vanessa and free her like he did in the final episode. Instead Ethan responds to Malcolm who wonders if Vanessa could reincarnate by "she has suffered enough". It's not really convincing that the circle won't continue.

It felt like they set up the story for this great, primordial, cosmological tale of intervened fates and reincarnation and in the end it was the old crew (with some additional members) fighting some vampires like they did so many times before and Ethan following through to do what he has almost done in the first season - shoot Vanessa with his revolver. Ending was effective for most part, but when taking what they have set up in account, it's hard not to feel let down by all this.

As for Dorian, oddly, I agree. The irrelevance was the whole point in the end... him living his immortal, indifferent, arguably boring life. I do wish they used the character's potential, but this ending kind of redeems it. And that shot was lovely indeed, though he reminded me more of a framed painting. Which is what he basically is in a way, while the painting is real Dorian.

 

[BestGirl]

I haven't seen the finale yet but I did enjoy the penultimate episode. Perpetual night was extraordinarily creepy to watch play out, and Lily's breakdown over her daughter was heartbreaking.

 

[X-Ray]

‘Penny Dreadful’ Ends After 3 Seasons, Series Creator & Showtime Boss Confirm

So that's it? That sucks. Gonna miss Eva Green as Vanessa Ives.

The 1st hour was good. The 2nd hour not so much.

So rushed. No pay off on some of the news faces added this season or to the side stories that have been with the series since the begining. I think it would have been better if Dr. Jekyll and Catriona were just never added. The Lord Hyde bit was nice but cheap. I liked Catriona but in the end she was never needed in this series. She really did seem like a woman years ahead of that time period. Too bad we'll never find out more about her.

I liked the ending to Vanessa. Put her poor soul out of her misery. She's been through enough. Evil forces were never going to stop coming for her.

Lilly and Dorian was just wasted screen time.

Really wished they would have revealed Ethan's curse origin in an earlier episode so we could have gone deeper into it. Instead they saved it for the finale and it's covered in about 5 minutes.

Ethan: It was you!?

Kaetenay: Yeah.

Ethan: Okay, let's go save the world.

Too bad we didn't see Ethan in wolf form take on Dracula in his true form.

 

[KillerWolf]

Both Catriona and Dr. Seward were way ahead of their time. Though I did like both women, Dr. Seward especially.

By the way, I do like the fact that Vanessa, who was notably wearing only black through the entire show, wore a pure white dress in her final scene.

 

[BestGirl]

Now that it's all over, I have to agree with the criticisms directed at this season and the series in general:

- Ethan's relationship with Kaetenay made no sense. One minute Ethan wanted to kill him, the next minute they were friends. IDGI. Some explanatory scenes were obviously cut at some point. I hope they were filmed and end up on the internet someday.

- It makes no sense that Ethan killed Vanessa with a gun. He should've had to do it as a wolf. His wolf form was so wasted in the finale.

- Someone tell me what purpose Dorian and Lily had in the story. Season 3 should've been about the gang fighting those two instead of Dracula.

- Speaking of Lily, I'm annoyed that Ethan never met her.

- I never liked Catriona since she felt too modern to me. If she were going to wear men's clothes, she should've had a more Victorian hairstyle. If she were to keep her short hair, she should've worn conventional women's clothes a la Dr. Seward.

- Since they only had nine episodes to work with, they should've cut the one where Vanessa met John Clare in the asylum and spent more time on other characters instead.

I will never buy that this is how PD's creator wanted this show to end. I demand a season 4!

 

[KillerWolf]

[YT]/watch?v=4Sf2heIw8Dc#t=49[/YT]

[YT]/watch?v=CtWoLFPUXqU[/YT]

I'm still of mind that it could have gone for one more season, but if they wanted to finish it then that's what they wanted. An author holds the reins of every story and we as an audience are just there to sit back and enjoy the journey. I will miss this show though... I enjoyed it immensely.

 

[kvz5]

I'm too annoyed to comment more but my takeaway was how Ethan's whole Lupus Dei/wolf story made no sense. He was destined to protect Vanessa and yet he killed her with a gun as a human??? Anyone can do that. Sembene died for the whole Lupus Dei prophecy and it wasn't even useful. Ethan's OOC moments and sudden shift in behavior/perspective all season threw me off too. I hated that for a supposed protagonist, Vanessa was seen for like 10 mins maximum in the final 2 episodes. Same with her not even seeing anyone from the gang in her final moments (except for Ethan). The core relationship of the show IMO is her and Malcolm. I would've loved to see the two together before her sacrifice. There's no payoff too to the whole Egyptian tie-ins to the vampires in S1. I thought it was all leading up to that especially with Lyle going to Egypt.

I'm on the boat that Logan was told way too late that it will be canceled. It has to be. I just can't imagine him introducing/hinting these new characters/storylines if he knew that this would be the end.

Farewell to these characters. You guys deserved more.

 

[wobbly]

If this was really how they wanted to end it then (imo) what a waste.

It would have been underwhelming as a season finale, but at least easier to take knowing they would be coming back.

As a series finale...a huge let down.

Loved the show but have not been this annoyed at a 'finale' since Lost.

 

[KillerWolf]

I'm too annoyed to comment more but my takeaway was how Ethan's whole Lupus Dei/wolf story made no sense. He was destined to protect Vanessa and yet he killed her with a gun as a human??? Anyone can do that. Sembene died for the whole Lupus Dei prophecy and it wasn't even useful. Ethan's OOC moments and sudden shift in behavior/perspective all season threw me off too. I hated that for a supposed protagonist, Vanessa was seen for like 10 mins maximum in the final 2 episodes. Same with her not even seeing anyone from the gang in her final moments (except for Ethan). The core relationship of the show IMO is her and Malcolm. I would've loved to see the two together before her sacrifice. There's no payoff too to the whole Egyptian tie-ins to the vampires in S1. I thought it was all leading up to that especially with Lyle going to Egypt.

I'm on the boat that Logan was told way too late that it will be canceled. It has to be. I just can't imagine him introducing/hinting these new characters/storylines if he knew that this would be the end.

Farewell to these characters. You guys deserved more.

I agree with everything said in your post, but especially this. The whole mythological, primordial tale they set up was just shifted aside.

Logan and Showtime's boss seem adamant that Logan wanted the show to end this season, but everything that was set beforehand and inclusion of Jekyll in this season leads me to believe otherwise, I'm not sure what to think anymore... I guess we'll never know.

 

[TheVileOne]

Does anyone believe Logan and Showtime are being dishonest about this being the actual ending that was planned?

 

[wobbly]

Does anyone believe Logan and Showtime are being dishonest about this being the actual ending that was planned?

I'm not a mind reader but if this was the planned 'finale' I can say I am disappointed and annoyed with the choices made for the resolution of an otherwise excellent show.

 

[Orb]

I think I remember them talking about having this show be a 6-7 season show back during Season 1. Perhaps looking at Season 2's ratings they changed their tuned and planned Season 3 as a third?

 

[Roose Bolton]

Does anyone believe Logan and Showtime are being dishonest about this being the actual ending that was planned?

Absolutely. I think ratings and the higher production cost made Showtime pull the plug early, while Logan was already in production for season 3. Logan's got another series coming up with Showtime, so I think this whole thing is him being diplomatic.

 

[Brother Jack]

This season didn't have the cadence of a final season until the last couple of episodes, and even then it felt rushed. I want to give Logan the benefit of the doubt but it felt wrong somehow.

 

[BestGirl]

Not to mention the total abandonment of the ancient Egyptian influence on PD's mythology, and the irrelevance of Lily and Dorian in the overall scheme of things. No, I'll never believe they intended the show to end this way.