Penny
Dreadful Debuts with Scary Sophistication
by
Kristin Battestella
The
2014 Showtime series Penny Dreadful has
some hiccups in blending the stylish past and its literary based
madcap of monsters and macabre. Fortunately, shrewd writing and a
gothic, sophisticated approach keeps this eight episode debut a cut
above the rest.
The
alluring but mysterious Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) recruits Wild West
show shooter Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) for a dangerous mission
headed by explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton). No longer
climbing mountains with his manservant Sembene (Danny Sapani), Sir
Malcolm is searching for his daughter Mina (Olivia Llewellyn), who
has been abducted by a vampire master while brutal, butchering
violence shocks the post-Ripper London. Young Doctor Victor
Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) aides Sir Malcolm while Vanessa has
several risky dalliances with the enticing Dorian Gray (Reeve
Carney). Victor's monster Caliban (Rory Kinnear), however, pressures
the doctor to do his wishes, and Dorian has encounters of his own
with Ethan's immigrant girlfriend, the ill prostitute Brona Croft
(Billie Piper). Will the supernatural secrets of this unusual group
unite them or tear the team apart as they go head to head with
vampires, demons, and monsters in hopes of saving Mina?
Not
having all the trademarks to Dracula gave
Penny Dreadful creator
and Oscar nominated writer John Logan and fellow Skyfall
and Spectre James
Bond producer Sam Mendes an excellent dramatic license to combine the
gothic tropes we know and love along with uniquely macabre off
shoots. The expected upscale period splendor is here yet the
cinematic film quality and realistic visual schemes add a dark and
dirty as each episode narrows the character focus and clues the
viewer in on these bizarre circumstances. It's downright fun to guess
who is actually who, as not all of our similar but different literary
inspirations are immediately named or their secrets revealed. My
husband doesn't know what's up with Dorian Gray and I'm not going to
tell him! The audience takes the paranormal leap along with the
psychic connections and horrific elements thanks to the character
concentration, great dialogue, and a writing first approach instead
of the more recent lame brained gore over substance horror. The well
written, likable players make literary allusions themselves and the
sophisticated conversations don't insult the viewer – though that's
not to say their isn't some shocking, then colorful language or
scandalous words flavoring the ghastly polish. Racist, of the time
terms are also unfortunately necessary, but honest conversations
about American Indian history and past injustices make up for the
occasional harsh term along with parallel circumstances and bitter,
supernatural lessons not learned. Wild West side show parodies and
horrible killings set this miserable Victorian mood in Episode One
“Night Work” while Latin prayers, an opium house, Nosferatu
underlings, monsters, and abductions add to the titular creepy along
with a macabre mix of the well dressed, violent fighting, mysterious
Arabic, and Egyptian Book of the Dead hints. How did this disparate
crew get into this dark underbelly? The good versus evil and
seemingly untarnished layers aren't as clear as we think. Do our
players find themselves amid the spiritual realm between life and
death or the new world of science – or are their transgressions
across both?
"Seance"
introduces more Penny Dreadful players to the dockside
desolate with prostitution, tuberculosis, and Dr. Frankenstein
joining the fold. Everyone has a secret – Victor, his creations,
and the so pretty yet so naughty Dorian Gray. Are the crimes about
London related to these concealed truths and Sir Malcolm's paranormal
quest? The saucy is both demented and artistically done even if it is
also slightly over the top, but the intriguing dialogue continues
alongside the parlor fun and spiritualism winks. What can I say, it's
simply great to hear people use big words, and the titular sequence
is superb. Vanessa's unrevealed role to play goes wild, hooking the
audience thanks to creepy voices, hidden history, and possession.
Demonic language, sad revelations, and frightening powers – I'd
leave that table! At only 48 minutes, Episode Three “Resurrection”
is shorter than Penny Dreadful's
usually true hour long airtime,
but this segment focusing on Victor adds some flashback
colorful before unpoetic death enters in and a bloody convulsing
spurns Victor's goals as his mother is snatched from him. Do our
violent births, first rejections, and brushes with death irrevocably
shape our outlook on life? The Caliban framing narration slows the
pace, but transferring the monster's plot to a theatre underground
adds a Phantom of the Opera-esque gory onstage pulp. The zoo
showdowns, wolfy scares, and captured informants, however, are more
sinister, and details about finding Mina and the antagonism between
our players are more interesting than Caliban's complaints.
Penny
Dreadful could have been cheap
and nasty in showing Dorian Gray's depravity in “Demimonde,”
but I'm glad it doesn't go there despite his increasingly extreme
desperation. His creepy mirrors, photography, and secret passages
juxtaposed nicely against innocent questions, sad burials, and
melancholy churches where one is not sure she is permitted entry.
Bright outdoor scenes and delicate orchids belie dangerous nightshade
and peril in beauty. Is there a method to nature's madness or these
supernatural apparitions? The show within a show audiences and
theatre behind the scenes add more dimension, and players previously
unknown interact as Vanessa's revelations happen in Episode Five
“Closer than Sisters.” Childhood beach side splendor, white lace
and sunshine evoke the time before Penny Dreadful began,
when evil temptations, sexual desires, and “little acts of
wickedness” lead to much more. This past recounting is better than
Caliban's bitterness because this is the root cause for Vanessa and
the show's main quest – creepy taxidermy and tales of safari
cannibals hint at macabre to come. Do we willfully choose this dark
path over prayers unanswered as jealousy and hatred mount? Are evil
possessions at work on a corrupted soul or is physical illness the
cause of a sickly body? The hospital cruelty and institutional
torment are just as dehumanizing as the demonic possibilities. Who is
at fault for such suffering and sin when the devil is your friend?
Penny Dreadful puts all its
gothic sin, salvation, and transgressions together here, and “What
Death Can Join Together” moves the action forward as our team
learns to forgive themselves. Plague ship battles are congested,
intimate, and messy with rats, vampires, and monsters. Dreadful
prices, divine gifts, escalating desires, and internal, self
referential ironies are not lost on this merry outfit as evil of all
shapes and sizes ups the ante.
Minimal
but dangerous levitation and flying objects are smartly used in
Episode Seven “Possession,” and Penny Dreadful's
motley family huddles in support of the titular victim – not
that they always keep it together as they face their inner demons,
however. Insects and manifestations mount as hidden truths will out,
and things get ugly as people lose control, fight loved ones, and try
to reach the lost souls. Foul language, demonic speaking, and
symbolic snow add to the great performances all around as the science
versus spirit debate rages. Does demonic possession belong in the
realm of the religious or will standard doctoring do? These divides
unite our players, strengthening their trust in each other against
evil without the usual smoke and mirror exorcism spectacles. Penny
Dreadful remains personal with
excellent agonizing screams, weary witnesses, and sickly
pallors as faith, friendships, and romances are tested. In a lengthy
24 episode season, this episode would be a bottle show thanks to its
contained nature. However, some lofty material goes down with Penny
Dreadful's five
core players without them even leaving the house. Hot damn. “Grand
Guignol” puts all the outside factors and interior influences
together for the finale's multilevel theatrical showdown. Stage ropes
and trap doors add to the vampire peril as characters come to new
truths and surprising bonds are made. Can redemption yet be found?
Has everyone done their part in this play? Of course, there are
subtle implications left for Season Two, possible future plots
culminate, and Penny Dreadful certainly tells us that death
isn't quite so definitive.
I
feel like I'm glowing with praise, but Penny
Dreadful is
not without its fair share of debut problems. While there are no
excessive, panorama, look at the monster so cool camera works;
cliche, bad ass walking transitions,
dark meetings on street corners, and lengthy establishing shots
meander when a cut to already being where we need to be would do.
There aren't that many flashy for flashy's sake moments, but modern
shock editing, zooms, and dark vampy battle scenes are iffy at times,
and the closed captioning is also sometimes more amusing then
atmospheric with its “screams reverb and flow into the night” or
how every door simply must
“creak”
open. Quibbles, yes, but the story
lines on Penny Dreadful
themselves
are unevenly paced and not
equally interwoven – something that should be easy to do across
only eight episodes. Unnecessary support takes up time from the
relatively straight forward, supposedly primary vampire abduction
quest, and the ongoing carnivorous murders about town are poorly
handled, sprinkled throughout the season along with Egyptian themes.
Both are trumped as being of critical importance then disappear
before the previouslies introducing the episode or obvious flashbacks
and foreshadowing shoehorn them in again. It's superb to see
bisexuality on Penny
Dreadful, however, same sex
material is bizarrely montaged over – and isn't as equal
opportunity nude or graphic as the other heterosexual kinky scenes,
either. Evil and sexual acts or on the nose light and dark symbolism
are also linked together, but perhaps these naughty ties are in
commentary on hypocritical Victorian ways. Penny
Dreadful is
a great show upon the
first watch, but picking through it with
too many fine toothed
comb viewings can crack its veneer.
Fortunately,
Eva Green (Casino Royale) looks dynamite in period regalia as
Vanessa Ives. Lace frocks, wild up dos, and red lips add allure, but
Green remains can't look away stunning when stripped bare, down and
dirty, or possessed and spouting wicked incantations. Vanessa shows
strength in weakness yet shakes down the men around her, recognizing
their similar complications even though the audience hasn't figured
out what's behind her poise. Over the course of Penny Dreadful,
Vanessa goes from a pious
and humble beauty to hospital horrors, creepy crawlies, and back
again as she struggles between religious beliefs and increasingly
nasty evils. Miss Ives is at times the lady, a child, or evil with
slightly scandalous hints to her latent naughty – no gloves at a
posh Victorian party and such a saucy kinship to Dorian Gray. What is
she to Sir Malcolm? What is the source behind her psychic and
possessive powers? Green
is simply great in “Seance” and “Closer than Sisters” –
award worthy in fact. Vanessa is a strong woman facing death daily
whilst hiding a hidden internal battle yet remains put together as
best she can. Her convalescence is anything but when she must live
with the violence and death she has caused. This is a wonderful
original character anchoring Penny Dreadful, and
Vanessa Ives fits right in with the familiar literary boys.
Then
again, when Timothy Dalton's (The Living Daylight) Sir Malcolm
Murray says don't be amazed by what you see and don't hesitate, we
don't! The classy waistcoat, top hats, and cane add prominence while
the gray in his beard adds gruff to his elder gentleman appeal. This
African adventurer has been aged by his shady experiences; he's a
pissed off dad and has the means to do something about getting his
daughter back but he hasn't been a perfect parent by any means. Sir
Malcolm's tug and pull with Vanessa is scene chewing excellence –
they've both gained a bizarre new family with this dreadful team. Sir
Malcolm navigates the Gentleman's club bright and fancy as swiftly
as he handles the down low and dirty. His power and wealth have a
long reach, and Sir Malcolm is able to follow inside the police
investigations whilst also keeping his own family secrets behind
closed doors. Be it arrogance, negligence, or dark forces, he's
running out of people close to him to lose, and this increasingly
high price is taking its toll. Fatherly love clouds Sir Malcolm's
judgment, he sees some of his son in the young Victor, and tries to
be better man to this motley band than he was to his own family.
However, he's also uses or protects them as necessary in this quest
to save his daughter. Sir Malcolm thinks he is above the darkness
about him and believes he will do what has to be done. Unfortunately,
he is sorely mistaken and must learn to face his regrets, familial
mistakes, and grief.
He's
pretentious about his research and the possibility of a greater
science, but Harry Treadaway (Honeymoon) has some wild
disciplines and bloody medicine to contribute as Victor Frankenstein.
He rebuffs the notion that he is just a man with a knife and isn't
afraid to call these shocking circumstances as he sees them despite
his glassy stare and small stature compared to paternal steady hand
Sir Malcolm or would be big brother Ethan Chandler. Treadaway
delivers some wonderfully intelligent wit and ambitious dialogue –
Victor wins his battles with a dance of words but also knows when to
be silent or in awe of his creations. His work is a mix of genius and
barbaric butchery, yet there is a poetic, touching, and human
sensitivity amid Frankenstein's snap, crackle, and pop laboratory.
Victor remains gentle in his power of giving life and death – but
he isn't exactly able to control such corrupting opportunities or his
so-called children. Indeed his maternal aspects are stunted and cut
short, for Victor is so desperately interested in trying to cheat
death that he's missing out on life. The doctor lives through
literature, he's sickly and bloodshot, and unprepared when his
creation becomes painfully superior. Naturally, “Dr. F.” looses
whatever innocence he may have had along the way, leaving reluctance
for complete compliance and monstrous orchestration.
Penny
Dreadful unfortunately missteps
again in the handling of Josh Harnett's gun for hire Ethan
Chandler. His secret is pretty apparent to start and obvious to the
audience in “Resurrection” and “Demimonde” yet his plot is
played as though it were some major surprise kicker for the finale.
Instead of underestimating the audience, the focus should have been
upfront so the viewers could be further inside his may or may not
know pain. Thankfully, there's a built in American reason for
Chandler's kinky, cowboy veneer, and without the need for the usual
trite Yank going faux Brit, Hartnett becomes surprisingly impressive
for the somber and serious moments. Granted, there is a part of you
that can't stop thinking of the woe that was Pearl Harbor or
“It's hottie of the 90s Josh Hartnett all grown up!”
However, Ethan knows his weapons and fearlessly goes after the vampy
monsters. He has a would be sibling rivalry with Victor yet provides
a wise sounding board to Sir Malcolm when needed and holds fast to a
tender sentiment with the ladies. Chandler is running from a lot more
than an oppressive father back home, and the bluffing banter with
Vanessa on his shadowed possibilities is more interesting than the
inevitable love with Brona. Much of Ethan's relationship with Brona
feels unpolished or shoehorned in as set up for the tug and pull
plots in Season Two – which would have been a real pity had there
been no next year. Fortunately, Hartnett's “and” billing is
fitting, for Ethan adds a relatable American tell it like it is wit
and dark humor matching Penny Dreadful's
twisted cynicism.
Understandably,
Reeve Carney (The Tempest) as Dorian Gray is played up to be
depraved and assy, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. It's
tough to enjoy the extremes Dorian takes, and for the most part, it's
all too pretentious to care. His chemistry with Vanessa is also too
smarmy and not on par with the other characters– Carney feels
inferior to Green and she carries their scenes. Dorian is styled as a
modern pretty boy – his bathroom is absurdly decadent, the one
excessive, intruding set piece here – and he seems hammy and out of
place. Dorian sorely miscalculates Vanessa, uses Ethan, and
ultimately, his superfluous, slutty twists don't do much for the main
plot. Likewise, it's obvious who Billie Piper (Doctor Who)
will be in Season Two as the original but dead end Brona Croft. Her
entire plot is not as sympathetic as it should be thanks to a pitiful
accent and redundant support driving Ethan to places he was already
headed. I like Piper, but she feels wrong for the part, and Brona's
inevitable should have been paired down to its late season
essentials. Rory Kinnear (Othello) as the creature Caliban is
also slightly over the top and obnoxious with a pissy entry that the
audience won't like. He can't get over his sad start, and Caliban
goes overboard in complaining about the perceived sins of his father
when it's his own crimes and monstrous actions making him just as
villainous. With his smarts and superior attitude he should know
better. Caliban learns of hatred and mercy but chooses the former –
his own adolescent, emo behavior and violence mars the would be
theatre kindness he receives. He isn't fun to watch, and a late
introduction taking up most of the third episode takes away from the
other more interesting players we have already met.
Indeed,
the alphabetical credits belie the importance of the aforementioned
trio – they don't appear in all the episodes and provide uneven
aggravation or fodder for the main stars, again all in future
storytelling hopes not needed in the tale at hand. I'd much rather
have had the wasted David Warner (Titanic) as Van Helsing, an
all too brief but charming hematologist with wise words and a steady,
grandfatherly presence beyond the occult matters. Recurring guest
stars such as Alex Price (Father Brown) as Proteus also do
much more for Penny Dreadful. His
nudity, subtext, and a childlike but sensuous, emotional
exploration add a far better bittersweet sense of wonder to the
Frankenstein plots. Does the new man composed of previous men belong
to those past recollections or new human development? The answers are
both touching and upsetting. Likewise, we're immediately curious
about Danny Sapani (Trance) and his mysterious manservant
Sembene. He's a soft spoken cool cat, a butler who is the keeper of
far more secrets and skills than we realize – which comes in pretty
handy to Sir Malcolm. Sembene claims he has no story to tell, but
there's certainly some excellent sophistication and compassion in how
smoothly he can do what Sir Malcolm cannot when it comes to the new,
if uneven, twists for Olivia Llewellyn (The Lizzie Borden
Chronicles) as Mina Harker. I hope we have more intrigue from
Sembene in Year Two, for the subtle seeds have been placed for him
alongside the perfectly flamboyant Egyptologist Simon Russell Beale
(The Hollow Crown) and the wild Madame Kali Helen McCrory
(Peaky Blinders).
Speaking
of items I'd love to see, can these Victorian fashions please come
back in full force? Penny Dreadful has
the period look as it should but the clothes also have an air of
modern streamline – no fru fru frilly is getting in the way of the
appropriately bloody bodies, gruesome human parts, or harbored
ships with their shady below decks and monster works. Cringe worthy
institutions show the old errors juxtaposed against photography,
emerging technologies, and more rarities of the time, but the
unpleasant, red eyed Nosferatu vamps keep Penny Dreadful old
school ugly. The seemingly nondescript courtyard and townhouse hide a
dramatic staircase, a dungeon below, the possessed upstairs, and a
sweet parlor where all the heavy conversations happen. How did
wallpaper then look so good when ours can be so tacky? Cartography,
old time explorations, antiques, and fine woodwork add realism while
seances, tarot cards, and luscious red interiors shape that 19th
century mysticism. Gas lamps, candles, and fire add a period patina
as London fog and lamplighters create a near black and white noir
scheme; storms, winds, and rain add to the bleak when all is stripped
bare. Sound effects or simple tricks of flashing darkness, moving in
camera with a character, or cut away shocks do heaps more in building
spooky than the more recent in your face horror designs. Small doses
of other languages, fancy phrases, and of the time speakeths add to
the panache while play within a play under the stage theatre
spectacles layer the observations.
The angry, frenetic violin theme music establishes the blue, macabre
symbolism during the opening credits, and the viewer is more than
ready to settle in with the snakes, spiders, bloody tea cups,
and all that is afoot on Penny Dreadful.
Currently,
Penny Dreadful can be seen
via Showtime streaming options, Amazon, DVD and blu-ray releases, or
in on air marathons as Season Two looms. Unfortunately, the on
Demand and Xfinity interface can be quite cumbersome and nineties
laden with sound issues and playback trouble. Episodes also expire or
have varying dates, and it doesn't make much sense to have Year One
unavailable to subscribers when the Second series is imminent. These
viewing technicalities, however, are but a quibble when considering
how Penny Dreadful proves what can be done when a network
gives a paranormal drama the care and attention the production needs
to match its literary weight and saucy opportunity. I loved NBC's
Dracula, but the Big Three American network didn't have the
inclination or know how to support the series. Universal probably
also misfired with its Dracula Untold,
leaving its new monster mash up franchise off to a shaky start, but
this, this, this is
how Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie should have been
done. Penny Dreadful is pulpy
but witty, and any bemusements or camp don't interfere with
the frightful mood and macabre atmosphere. Their are First Year
growing pains, but the series goes where it wants to go and shows all
its saucy or gory without dumbing the style, players, or plot down to
the bottom denominator. Instead of lowering the bar, Penny
Dreadful raises the measure for
gothic horror adaptations with lavish looks, intriguing characters,
and sophisticated storytelling.
No comments:
Post a Comment