Penny Dreadful 1.8.
Jun. 30th, 2014 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which the first season ends, and I'm so glad there is a second one, for this is the Victorian melodrama horror of my heart.
Though it's not of her in Penny Dreadful; because I haven't been able to track down Penny Dreadful icons yet. Why is that? Get on this, icon makers!
As I expected, the Mina storyline was the one the season did wrap up for good. As I had hoped but hadn't 100 % expected, it did so in a fashion that a) gave Mina agenda (even if it was negative agenda), and b) reconciled Malcolm and Vanessa (though given how messed up they and their relationship are, I don't expect this to lead to permanent harmony). The way the whole thing was staged - Mina as vampire queen, Malcolm having to choose directly between Mina and Vanessa and choosing Vanessa, shooting Mina - reminded me very much the fourth season finale of Alias, Arvin Sloane, Nadia and Sydney. And with that, I realised that the Malcolm and Vanessa relationshp clicks with me in a similar way that the one between Sloane and Sydney did. (Though I hasten to add the characters are themselves and not exact parallels.) Anyway, I loved it. And the aftermath, with Vanessa referring to Victor and Ethan as "the boys" when talking to Malcolm, both made me smile and go awww. Very appropriate to the characters that neither of them uses the l-word or explicitly talks about what has happened but there is just this silent hug and Malcolm finally surrendering to grief and letting go.
Meanwhile, Victor makes the opposite choice about Caliban that Malcolm did about Mina, and at a point where Caliban admits (for the first time without blaming Victor or humanity) his ow guilt and monstrosity that's inwards, not outwards. Which leads to Victor deciding not just to spare Caliban but to create a Bride after all. You know, I'd thought I'd be more upset about Brona - on a Doylist, not Watsonian level - but actually the way it happens worked for, not least because I expect the Bride (wichever name she'll choose - btw I don't think she'll be Brona, because yes, Proteus had access to some of his body's old memories, but he had a new personality; I think the Bride will sooner or later access Brona's memories as well, including what Victor did, but she won't be Brona) not to fall in line with the reason why she got created at all. (While novel!Frankenstein gets into the early stages of creating a female creature before destroying her, an actually walking Bride was James Whale's contribution to the saga, in his second movie, and of course that Bride rejects the Karloff Creature point blank. And I'm very curious how Billie Piper will play a female Creature, I admit). Also because Brona had a good and interesting death scene. Mind you, I think Victor is kidding himself that telling her about a realm between life and death which has permanent resurrection and asking her whether she believes him equals asking her for her consent to euthanizing her and using her body to create a new being; not the same thing. (If he wanted meaningful consent, he should have spelled it out.) But their conversation was compelling from both sides, and I do wonder what Brona thought he was on about. I do not have to wonder how Ethan will feel if he ever finds out. (About both the smothering and the corpse using.) Next season: Frankenstein versus the Wolf Man!
Speaking of Ethan, we finally see confirmation of his werewolf nature which the entire season has teased about. There are a lot of open questions: while he clearly laid a trap for the two Pinkerton agents so he could kill them as the wolf, I don't expect he would deliberately have killed the prostitute early in the season, or the other victims, so this universe's werewolves seem to have no control over their wolf side. However, if that's the case, it's odd that Ethan, otherwise to ethical, doesn't make an effort to remain away from people during the full moon. (Not in the case of the agents who wanted to chain him up, but in general.) Guess/hope we'll find out more next season.
Along with a Sembene flashback episode, please. And Dorian Gray either being absent entirely or given a point in the show that extends beyond "has sex with the cast". Not that I mind the later, but if it's a choice between Sembene getting backstory and more present day dialogue and Dorian scenes, well, there's no choice at all.
The scene between Malcolm and Madame Kali/Evelyn meeting in the gun shop and flirting a little is a clear set up for next season, so I expect we'll see more Helen McCrory, which I'm all for. (There is no reason why Vanessa would have to stay the sole female member of the group.) However, I wonder which horror trope she'll embody, given that seer/woman prone to possession is already Vanessa's. I'm still holding out for a female mummy walking, but she could also be a werewolf hunter, which would bring her into conflict with the gang once they realised Ethan is one. Or she could be another werewolf! Who knows.
No chandelier fell down (huh!) and Maud survived, which was a relief. Otoh we got another direct quote from the literary source material, a double quote in fact: "Did I request thee, maker, out of thy clay to mould me man?" from Paradise Lost is the quote Mary Shelley put on the first page of her novel.
Lastly: so will we get a gloriously dysfunctional Christmas special and if not, will fandom write one?
Though it's not of her in Penny Dreadful; because I haven't been able to track down Penny Dreadful icons yet. Why is that? Get on this, icon makers!
As I expected, the Mina storyline was the one the season did wrap up for good. As I had hoped but hadn't 100 % expected, it did so in a fashion that a) gave Mina agenda (even if it was negative agenda), and b) reconciled Malcolm and Vanessa (though given how messed up they and their relationship are, I don't expect this to lead to permanent harmony). The way the whole thing was staged - Mina as vampire queen, Malcolm having to choose directly between Mina and Vanessa and choosing Vanessa, shooting Mina - reminded me very much the fourth season finale of Alias, Arvin Sloane, Nadia and Sydney. And with that, I realised that the Malcolm and Vanessa relationshp clicks with me in a similar way that the one between Sloane and Sydney did. (Though I hasten to add the characters are themselves and not exact parallels.) Anyway, I loved it. And the aftermath, with Vanessa referring to Victor and Ethan as "the boys" when talking to Malcolm, both made me smile and go awww. Very appropriate to the characters that neither of them uses the l-word or explicitly talks about what has happened but there is just this silent hug and Malcolm finally surrendering to grief and letting go.
Meanwhile, Victor makes the opposite choice about Caliban that Malcolm did about Mina, and at a point where Caliban admits (for the first time without blaming Victor or humanity) his ow guilt and monstrosity that's inwards, not outwards. Which leads to Victor deciding not just to spare Caliban but to create a Bride after all. You know, I'd thought I'd be more upset about Brona - on a Doylist, not Watsonian level - but actually the way it happens worked for, not least because I expect the Bride (wichever name she'll choose - btw I don't think she'll be Brona, because yes, Proteus had access to some of his body's old memories, but he had a new personality; I think the Bride will sooner or later access Brona's memories as well, including what Victor did, but she won't be Brona) not to fall in line with the reason why she got created at all. (While novel!Frankenstein gets into the early stages of creating a female creature before destroying her, an actually walking Bride was James Whale's contribution to the saga, in his second movie, and of course that Bride rejects the Karloff Creature point blank. And I'm very curious how Billie Piper will play a female Creature, I admit). Also because Brona had a good and interesting death scene. Mind you, I think Victor is kidding himself that telling her about a realm between life and death which has permanent resurrection and asking her whether she believes him equals asking her for her consent to euthanizing her and using her body to create a new being; not the same thing. (If he wanted meaningful consent, he should have spelled it out.) But their conversation was compelling from both sides, and I do wonder what Brona thought he was on about. I do not have to wonder how Ethan will feel if he ever finds out. (About both the smothering and the corpse using.) Next season: Frankenstein versus the Wolf Man!
Speaking of Ethan, we finally see confirmation of his werewolf nature which the entire season has teased about. There are a lot of open questions: while he clearly laid a trap for the two Pinkerton agents so he could kill them as the wolf, I don't expect he would deliberately have killed the prostitute early in the season, or the other victims, so this universe's werewolves seem to have no control over their wolf side. However, if that's the case, it's odd that Ethan, otherwise to ethical, doesn't make an effort to remain away from people during the full moon. (Not in the case of the agents who wanted to chain him up, but in general.) Guess/hope we'll find out more next season.
Along with a Sembene flashback episode, please. And Dorian Gray either being absent entirely or given a point in the show that extends beyond "has sex with the cast". Not that I mind the later, but if it's a choice between Sembene getting backstory and more present day dialogue and Dorian scenes, well, there's no choice at all.
The scene between Malcolm and Madame Kali/Evelyn meeting in the gun shop and flirting a little is a clear set up for next season, so I expect we'll see more Helen McCrory, which I'm all for. (There is no reason why Vanessa would have to stay the sole female member of the group.) However, I wonder which horror trope she'll embody, given that seer/woman prone to possession is already Vanessa's. I'm still holding out for a female mummy walking, but she could also be a werewolf hunter, which would bring her into conflict with the gang once they realised Ethan is one. Or she could be another werewolf! Who knows.
No chandelier fell down (huh!) and Maud survived, which was a relief. Otoh we got another direct quote from the literary source material, a double quote in fact: "Did I request thee, maker, out of thy clay to mould me man?" from Paradise Lost is the quote Mary Shelley put on the first page of her novel.
Lastly: so will we get a gloriously dysfunctional Christmas special and if not, will fandom write one?
no subject
Date: 2014-06-30 05:43 pm (UTC)Malcolm's Vanessa related feelings certainly have a strong dose of the none paternal as well, but somehow with the sort of man he is I think acknowledging there is some sexual attraction there would be easier than to admit she's family (however you define it) and that he loves her (and has connected to her in a way he never managed to Peter and Mina). And I think it's really important in that showdown that he doesn't just choose to save Vanessa's life but to say out loud one of the emotional things she means to him (which he didn't have to in order to save her life). With his track record it was questionable whether he could ever change (different thing from being able to feel guilt), but the, in lack of a better term, acknowledgment of Vanessa was something he hadn't done before and so that was as important as letting go of Mina.
re: Victor, absolutely - and as opposed to poor Proteus, I don't think Caliban will dispatch of Creature!Brona, so Victor will soon find out that the only thing worse than having one Creature pissed off at you are two of them, who additionally are at odds with each other.
BTW, I love that Madame Kali's real name is Evelyn because it reminds me of one of my favourite DW audio characters. And yay for confirmed more Helen McCrory next season! She sparkled in that scene. And I don't believe for a minute she was acquiring a gun because she felt nostalgic about her late husband.
I shall hold you to your word if TPTB don't come through re: Christmas special. :)
no subject
Date: 2014-06-30 07:11 pm (UTC)There's a book I once read with a villain called Evelyn Carnitt.