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Penny Dreadful - SPOILERS

Mr. Adventure

Mr. Adventure

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If PENNY DREADFUL is an apology for THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN movie then apology accepted.
-- Patton Oswalt via Twitter

Airing in the US on Showtime.

Currently we're two episodes in with another to air tonight. We have Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) trying to save his daughter from the clutches of vampires. His partner, the enigmatic Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) who seems to be connected to the spirit world. (Obligatory American) Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) , sideshow performer hired for his skill with guns. Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his new creation Proteus (Alex Price). Also in the mix are the hedonist Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) and Brona Croft (Billie Piper), a woman plagued with TB trying to get by.

I like this series so far, it feels like a literary attempt at a supernatural series, there's lots of dark secrets and Victorian /"Gothic" underpinnings. Yet it doesn't forget its medium and provides monsters and supernatural stuff in good supply.

From what I understand there's only eight episodes which may explain why there's a lack of "origins". Personally, I've found it a bit refreshing not having to start at square one with every character.

In a bit of a departure, the vampires seem to be connected with Egyptian mythology rather than the typical Eastern Europe origins. Maybe this is a way of combining the idea of the mummy with the story of the vampire. I'm curious how this will play out.

I'm typically indifferent to Timothy Dalton but I like him in this so far. He's done a good job with staying compelling with a restrained performance. On the other spectrum, Eva Green in episode two gives an impressive tour de force during a seance. Given her history of characters I suspect she really is half-crazy. :)

I also have to take my hat off to the closed captionist who goes all-in on this series. I've become a bit obsessed by it.
Some examples:
- uneven footsteps scuff the floor
- cork squeaks loose, whiskey sloshes
- high pitched ululation, guests scream in terror
- chewing deliberately
- tormented wailing echoes around the room
- footsteps squelch through entrails
- screams reverberate and fill the night
- squishy, gelatinous sound
- somnolent woman: (hisses)
- low building rumble of thunder
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

Mr. Adventure said:
If PENNY DREADFUL is an apology for THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN movie then apology accepted.
-- Patton Oswalt via Twitter
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Heh, that's exactly what I told my sister when I told her to check it out. I said "It's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but good."

I like the Egyptian mythology take on vampires and the end of the world, and their way of explaining their physical ruggedness (exo-skeleton).

That seance was creepy as hell. Well acted by Eva Greene, and Dalton's reaction to it was superb as well.

I really liked Proteus and seeing him adapt to the world and remember who he was. It's a shame he was killed off so soon, but understandable as it introduced Victor's firstborn son in a memorable way, and gave us a tangible loss to feel.
I could be mistaken, but the wolves in the next episode preview might be werewolves showing up too. I hope they bring in more stuff like Jekyll & Hyde.
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

Guy Gardener said:
She said the c word so many times I almost forgot that it's offensive.
Click to expand...

My hearing is terrible and half the time the dialogue on the show is at a whisper, so I had the volume way up and the windows open when she started screaming that. Must have sounded interesting to anyone walking by outside. :lol:
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

My money on ...

Is that he's going to turn out to have been Jack the Ripper. There was a lot of focus on the Ripper stuff - and Chandler's interest in it - in the first episode. Plus his 'friendship' with Brona -

IIRC, one of the popular theories about the Ripper was that he was a sailor or an American who shipped off back to the USA - so they could have lifted that.
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

I should've put it in the thread title but at this point I fully expect for SPOILERS to be forthcoming as the episode discussion continues. I tried to be vague in my initial post but I don't think spoiler tags for every single post to be necessary.


Locutus of Bored said:
I could be mistaken, but the wolves in the next episode preview might be werewolves showing up too. I hope they bring in more stuff like Jekyll & Hyde.
Click to expand...

Could be traditional Dracula stuff as well. A lot of movie vampires don't use the wolf stuff but it would probably fit in well with the Penny Dreadful atmosphere.

tenmei said:
My money on ...

Is that he's going to turn out to have been Jack the Ripper. There was a lot of focus on the Ripper stuff - and Chandler's interest in it - in the first episode. Plus his 'friendship' with Brona -

IIRC, one of the popular theories about the Ripper was that he was a sailor or an American who shipped off back to the USA - so they could have lifted that.
Click to expand...

Interesting speculation. I never heard that theory but I did find his interest in Brona kind of odd. Vanessa does state that he's a man of "great violence and hidden depths".
 
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Re: Penny Dreadful

I do like that normal guns can take down Vampires, it gives our heroes a 50/50 chance rather than being played with food.
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

Guy Gardener said:
I do like that normal guns can take down Vampires, it gives our heroes a 50/50 chance rather than being played with food.
Click to expand...

The closed captioning labeled most of those guys as familiars. I believe the true vampire took Chandler's bullets and kept coming.
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

So can a normal person in the real world. It's practically a fiction that one bullet will almost always kill instantly (unless it removes a fair chunk of the body in the process or hits something vital but even then to die seconds after the bullets hits always is lie.)

A very rarely talked about power of Superman: "Supersensitivity" (I'm not making this up.) His tactile receptors are a thousand times more acute than a human beings which means that his ability to experience pain and pleasure is a thousand times more intense than a human beings.

Invulverability is one thing, insensitivity is another.
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

^ I think most people would at least stagger when taking two or three to the chest. They're also wasn't any sign of the wounds in the post-mortem. I suppose he could've been on some Victorian PCP but I suspect being a vampire is more likely.
 
Re: Penny Dreadful

Oh indeed, being supernatural must have helped a lot.

But why would the creature still be healing from the bullt wounds after it had been killed?

Killed by a sword after it had been shot several times?

Was it made of silver?

Bullets are annoying, slows it down, but just a distraction.

Same rules with fighting a Terminator.

Are these episodes coming out once a fortnight?

The first episode seems like a dogs age gone by.

There used to a be a version of Stormwatch (DC Comics) where they decided that well trained soldiers with the right weapons and a plan can take down most posthumans, because most posthumans are incompetent psycho assholes who have no idea how to fight and don't have to learn how to fight becuase they can toss small cars at people they dislike.
 
SPOILERS FOR EPISODE THREE

Well, we did get some origins here in episode three. Honestly, I could've done without kid Frankenstein. The creature itself was a lot more interesting and now we know where Frankenstein's story is going. I have a feeling the creature is not going to end up happy by the end.

Any ideas about those wolves? I don't quite know what to make of that scene.

I do like our Scooby Doo party's motivation. They all seem to be compelled by the world that lives between life and death, yet all for their own reasons. Despite that, they've pledged themselves to explore that whatever it may take, whatever their demons may be. Interesting that Sir Malcolm's man Sembene is counted among the group, wonder if he'll be playing a bigger part of things.

BTW, we had a new director for episode three, and unfortunately I think it showed, especially in the beginning, it seemed better as it went along.

EDIT: I forgot the Grand Guignol theater, an interesting addition though they moved it from Paris to London apparently!
 
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The Guignol didn't open until 1897 and the episode appears to take place in 1891/1892 - so this is perhaps intended as a precursor to that famous theatre.

I'd also look at Murray as having elements of Haggard's 'Quartermain' in there too.
 
Mr. Adventure said:
Any ideas about those wolves? I don't quite know what to make of that scene.
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There are a few ways to look at it in my mind.

If you're of the Chandler is Jack the Ripper mindset, you could take it as the wolves recognizing the scent of a fellow killer (or blood on his hands), and his complete lack of fear. Though I have trouble believing the Ripper would be so opposed to cruelty as Chandler was opposed to torturing the vampire child. Plus, he doesn't seem to have the Ripper's skills with knives or knowledge of anatomy, though he could be keeping that to himself. If anything, I would think Victor would be a more likely candidate for the Ripper (if any of the main characters would) as a means of acquiring parts for possibly resurrecting something like his mother.

It could be some Native Americans commune with nature/animals BS as they often do in TV and movies, and we'll find out that Chandler's crimes in America were fighting against his own regiment during the Indian Wars, and that he lived among a Native American tribe for a while where he learned Crocodile Dundee skills with wolves.

He's a werewolf, his crimes in America had something to do with being a werewolf (he killed someone), and those were fellow werewolves who recognized him as one of their own by his scent.

He's just a hunter who has encountered wolves before and knows their behavior, and the London Zoo has really poor animal control issues at night.
 
The werewolves of London met the American werewolf in London?

Because Chandlar (LONDON BABY! No, it was Joey who kept saying that.) who is from a completely different time zone might be on a different cycle than these wolves?

(Or the transformation is a choice rather than a curse?)

Was that Renfrew?
 
I'm really enjoying this show.

Is it really so difficult for people who don't to just say that and move on? I told a friend of mine how much fun I was having watching this series and she looked at me like I had 2 heads. Her response was "How can you watch that? Its so stupid!" I told her some of the things I liked and she said "No. No. Its stupid".

So...I guess I'm stupid by extension?

Anyway. I'm enjoying the actors and all of the different tropes that they are playing with. I'm glad to see Timothy Dalton in a role he can sink his teeth into.
 
Don't you know how to sell this stuff to "other" girls?

"And the women are wearing such long articulate dresses, and their hair is just a work of art and..."

Play up the Downton Abbey, play down the vomiting blood.

Rassilon and Rose Tyler fighting Vampires?

It's easy to lie, you just open your lips and let words out.
 
Shanndee said:
I'm really enjoying this show.

Is it really so difficult for people who don't to just say that and move on? I told a friend of mine how much fun I was having watching this series and she looked at me like I had 2 heads. Her response was "How can you watch that? Its so stupid!" I told her some of the things I liked and she said "No. No. Its stupid".

So...I guess I'm stupid by extension?

Anyway. I'm enjoying the actors and all of the different tropes that they are playing with. I'm glad to see Timothy Dalton in a role he can sink his teeth into.
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Is your friend named Penny by any chance?
 
Guy Gardener said:
Don't you know how to sell this stuff to "other" girls?

"And the women are wearing such long articulate dresses, and their hair is just a work of art and..."

Play up the Downton Abbey, play down the vomiting blood.
Click to expand...

:guffaw: If I tried that, she'd think I was the one possessed by demons!


LaxScrutiny said:
Is your friend named Penny by any chance?
Click to expand...

:lol: No, no she's not. We usually have quite similar taste in entertainment, so this response threw me!
 
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