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The wonders that I've seen....
The first season of Penny Dreadful is out on dvd in my part of the world, and I'm currently rewatching with glee.
Rewatch thoughts on the first two episodes, spoilers for the entire first season:
As much as the shocks are part of the program - see title - the show doesn't depend on them in the sense of being all about this, because even knowing what's coming in every scene, it's still captivating, and you catch second and third layers to a lot of things.
Vanessa praying in the second scene of the pilot (complete with spiders): characters who are very religious in a horror movie or tv show usually are coded as hypocrites, fanatics or both, or if they're good guys they start out religious but quickly lose their religion, but Vanessa isn't any of this. (Also the show's free of that not just horror trope, the evil priest. The guy later called for the exorcism isn't brave, but he's not evil, and the one Vanessa goes to in her last scene of the season is kind and open minded. At the same time, Vanessa's Catholicism is something that sets her apart from childhood onwards - as she'll note in the grand flashback episode, it's the one thing the Murrays and the Ives didn't share - and it probably contributes to her overall sense of guilt - but perhaps also to her hope, since absolution through remorse and good works is pretty much essential.
In retrospect, they're making the werewolf thing re: Ethan really obvious from the get go, with the "damm him that did it" from the woman observing the corpses of the mother and daughter killed in the first scene, and the camera showing us Ethan's reaction. One thing that didn't occur to me during first watch because I didn't know Ethan's personality then but is a puzzle to me now: Ethan clearly knows he's a werewolf at this point. He's probably the type of werewolf who can't remember what happens during the wolf stage, but he knows this keeps happening once a month, and he knows the consequences for people who have the bad luck to be around him at that point. So why doesn't he take the precautions Being Human werewolves George and Tom do and either locks himself in a cellar during full moon or tries to find a nearby forest instead of hanging out in a city with a million people? Ethan later becomes the conscience of the group, and is anything but callous with people's lives, so I do hope the show gives us an explanation for this contradition in s2.
It's so fitting that Ethan gets recruited by Vanessa while Victor gets recruited by Malcolm, and in both cases after their special skills have been on display. Malcolm recognizes a fellow obsessive seeker when he sees one. And in both cases, the recruitment target gets just a bit flirted with. John Logan is doing a bit self-homaging here, with Vanessa giving Ethan the Sherlock Holmes scan the same way Vesper Lynd (played also by Eva Green) does to James Bond in Casino Royale (which Logan co wrote). Otoh it's Victor who gets given the dinner jacket (by Malcolm, who apparantly can guess sizes as well as Vesper Lynd can). Victor's intrigued (and in need of cash) but isn't sold on working for Malcolm until Malcolm mentions he's looking for his daughter. Which happens after, not before Victor gives his passionate speech that science has to be FOR something, not for its own sake, and puts his own research in contrast to Malcolm's exploring (as an ego project). Not that Malcolm isn't really desperately looking for Mina (and needs a scientist), but I think that reveal at that point was a deliberate response to Victor's speech, to get him hooked.
The big seance; introduces Madame Kali/Evelyn, but barely; the only hint we get she's a genuine medium is that she senses Vanessa is one before Vanessa starts channelling entities. In retrospect, I had the impression she may have prompted her Egptologist to invite Malcolm & Vanessa to begin with, or rather, told him that if someone ever presents that particular set of hieroglyphs he'd better bring them to her for inspection.
The first time around, I mostly was struck by Eva Green's powerhouse performance during the seance but understood only snatches of what she said - and those fragments didn't make too much sense yet, because we didn't know the backstory then. Upon rewatch, it's actually clearly structured: Vanessa channels first Peter, then Mina, than Amunet, though of course it's also possible it's Amunet the whole time pretending to be Peter and Mina. Anyway, the entire thing is directed at Malcolm which is why I wondered originally whether Vanessa had some control over it and did it deliberately, but now I don't think so, not yet. She may learn how to control it in s2, of course. Anyway, Malcolm listening doesn't seem to have any doubts this is real, not a mindgame, and it's remarkable that he doesn't attempt to stop it since it reveals his worst secrets (Peter, neglecting and then letting him die and not naming the bloody mountain after him) as well as some less awful but embarassing ones (having sex with Vanessa's mother and being observed by Vanessa). Reminds me that a part of the fascinating mess that is the Vanessa/Malcolm relationship is to use each other for mutual self punishment.
Dorian Gray: still the least interesting cast member.
Rewatch thoughts on the first two episodes, spoilers for the entire first season:
As much as the shocks are part of the program - see title - the show doesn't depend on them in the sense of being all about this, because even knowing what's coming in every scene, it's still captivating, and you catch second and third layers to a lot of things.
Vanessa praying in the second scene of the pilot (complete with spiders): characters who are very religious in a horror movie or tv show usually are coded as hypocrites, fanatics or both, or if they're good guys they start out religious but quickly lose their religion, but Vanessa isn't any of this. (Also the show's free of that not just horror trope, the evil priest. The guy later called for the exorcism isn't brave, but he's not evil, and the one Vanessa goes to in her last scene of the season is kind and open minded. At the same time, Vanessa's Catholicism is something that sets her apart from childhood onwards - as she'll note in the grand flashback episode, it's the one thing the Murrays and the Ives didn't share - and it probably contributes to her overall sense of guilt - but perhaps also to her hope, since absolution through remorse and good works is pretty much essential.
In retrospect, they're making the werewolf thing re: Ethan really obvious from the get go, with the "damm him that did it" from the woman observing the corpses of the mother and daughter killed in the first scene, and the camera showing us Ethan's reaction. One thing that didn't occur to me during first watch because I didn't know Ethan's personality then but is a puzzle to me now: Ethan clearly knows he's a werewolf at this point. He's probably the type of werewolf who can't remember what happens during the wolf stage, but he knows this keeps happening once a month, and he knows the consequences for people who have the bad luck to be around him at that point. So why doesn't he take the precautions Being Human werewolves George and Tom do and either locks himself in a cellar during full moon or tries to find a nearby forest instead of hanging out in a city with a million people? Ethan later becomes the conscience of the group, and is anything but callous with people's lives, so I do hope the show gives us an explanation for this contradition in s2.
It's so fitting that Ethan gets recruited by Vanessa while Victor gets recruited by Malcolm, and in both cases after their special skills have been on display. Malcolm recognizes a fellow obsessive seeker when he sees one. And in both cases, the recruitment target gets just a bit flirted with. John Logan is doing a bit self-homaging here, with Vanessa giving Ethan the Sherlock Holmes scan the same way Vesper Lynd (played also by Eva Green) does to James Bond in Casino Royale (which Logan co wrote). Otoh it's Victor who gets given the dinner jacket (by Malcolm, who apparantly can guess sizes as well as Vesper Lynd can). Victor's intrigued (and in need of cash) but isn't sold on working for Malcolm until Malcolm mentions he's looking for his daughter. Which happens after, not before Victor gives his passionate speech that science has to be FOR something, not for its own sake, and puts his own research in contrast to Malcolm's exploring (as an ego project). Not that Malcolm isn't really desperately looking for Mina (and needs a scientist), but I think that reveal at that point was a deliberate response to Victor's speech, to get him hooked.
The big seance; introduces Madame Kali/Evelyn, but barely; the only hint we get she's a genuine medium is that she senses Vanessa is one before Vanessa starts channelling entities. In retrospect, I had the impression she may have prompted her Egptologist to invite Malcolm & Vanessa to begin with, or rather, told him that if someone ever presents that particular set of hieroglyphs he'd better bring them to her for inspection.
The first time around, I mostly was struck by Eva Green's powerhouse performance during the seance but understood only snatches of what she said - and those fragments didn't make too much sense yet, because we didn't know the backstory then. Upon rewatch, it's actually clearly structured: Vanessa channels first Peter, then Mina, than Amunet, though of course it's also possible it's Amunet the whole time pretending to be Peter and Mina. Anyway, the entire thing is directed at Malcolm which is why I wondered originally whether Vanessa had some control over it and did it deliberately, but now I don't think so, not yet. She may learn how to control it in s2, of course. Anyway, Malcolm listening doesn't seem to have any doubts this is real, not a mindgame, and it's remarkable that he doesn't attempt to stop it since it reveals his worst secrets (Peter, neglecting and then letting him die and not naming the bloody mountain after him) as well as some less awful but embarassing ones (having sex with Vanessa's mother and being observed by Vanessa). Reminds me that a part of the fascinating mess that is the Vanessa/Malcolm relationship is to use each other for mutual self punishment.
Dorian Gray: still the least interesting cast member.