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Penny Dreadful - SPOILERS

Reverend said:
Sir Malcom's globe trotting adventures certainly puts '20,000 Leagues' within reach. Same goes for 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' and 'Around the World in Eighty Days', at least as possibilities. Not all at once, obviously.

'The Invisible Man' could probably work too, but think they'd draw the line at 'From the Earth to the Moon' and 'War of the Worlds'. ;)
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They should bring in Ayesha, She who must be obeyed.
 
I'd be interested to see a little H.P. Lovecraft in the mix too. 'Shadow Over Innsmouth', 'At Mountains of Madness' and to an extent even 'Call of Cthulhu' would seem to be compatible.
Might even act as a unifying factor to the mythos, with creatures like Lucifer and Dracula being the lowest bottom feeders of the Eldritch pantheon.
 
We're never gonna find out if the hot action chick was a time traveler or Lara Croft's gramma? WAAA!
 
Wow. What an amazing finish to the season.

If it does end up being the series finale, I'm somewhat torn. They obviously didn't get a chance to wrap up a whole host of plots, leaving a ton of stuff unfinished. But if it's the only ending we're getting, I think I'm ok with that. The best action scene the show has ever done. The absolutely beautiful sequence between Ethan and Vanessa, and the truly heartfelt fallout. Simply spectacular stuff.

On the other hand, seeing a show ended when it is at the peak of it's creative verve would be truly sad. I obviously know nothing of the business side of the show, or what Showtime might be up to with not renewing it, or how much of this was the choice of the creative minds behind the program themselves. But it certainly feels like there was more to be said with these characters, and Penny Dreadful will be missed if there is no season 4.
 
Mr. Adventure said:
Looks like the end...
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/20/penny-dreadful-series-finale-john-logan
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This so sucks.

They must not have known this the last time we saw Mr. Lyle as that was an obvious setup for the Mummy. And I don't believe Dr. Jekyll becoming Lord Hyde as the "big reveal" was what they had in mind for him at all! And they must have had more planned for Dorian, hell they did show us the painting and then that creepy movement in it.

It's practically the Borgias all over again. Fuck you Showtime!
 
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^^^^
Pretty much this! There was so much more in this world to explore. They could even choose to concentrate on different characters every season now that Vanessa's story is finished.
I want a spin-off about Sir Malcolms world traveling adventures, the possibilities there are endless and who wouldn't want to see Timothy Dalton as a proto Indiana Jones exploring the white spots on the map.
 
Reverend said:
I'd be interested to see a little H.P. Lovecraft in the mix too. 'Shadow Over Innsmouth', 'At Mountains of Madness' and to an extent even 'Call of Cthulhu' would seem to be compatible.
Might even act as a unifying factor to the mythos, with creatures like Lucifer and Dracula being the lowest bottom feeders of the Eldritch pantheon.
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I could see some Lovecraft working within the Penny Dreadful framework. Actually, the Frankenstein/Dorian Gray story never quite integrated into the main storyline, it always seemed a bit removed. It wasn't a bad story but it probably could've existed as a separate entity.

Beagleman said:
^^^^
Pretty much this! There was so much more in this world to explore. They could even choose to concentrate on different characters every season now that Vanessa's story is finished.
I want a spin-off about Sir Malcolms world traveling adventures, the possibilities there are endless and who wouldn't want to see Timothy Dalton as a proto Indiana Jones exploring the white spots on the map.
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Maybe with Hartdegen at his side for some of the physical stuff...I could see that. Might need a new name instead of Penny Dreadful, too bad Pulp Fiction is already taken.

I guess for Logan the story was about Vanessa and ends with her. I can see that for that chapter of the story but I don't know if he has any interest in starting another.
 
I do want to say that the episode-ending scene 3 eps back between Sweet/Dracula and Vanessa, the one where he really bares his soul and she accepts him and, also, doesn't shoot him, knocked my socks off. Green was her usual mindstunner self but damn Christian Camargo was what Gary Oldman should have been once upon a time, although no question I love me some Oldman, but damn Mr. Camargo you SOLD it my friend. You did it without makeup and effects and I BELIEVED you. Emmy for you.

And frankly it also made zero sense that all that happened in that encounter was suddenly forgotten, and 2 eps later it's "save me from the darkness." So I don't think they knew even then. So much BS in this afterstatement.

It seems to me that it is always the series with the truly superb acting that die young. Eg, Bryan Cranston was damn good as Walter White, but was he Jeremy Irons stature or even Francois Arnaud stature in the Borgias? Was he as good as what Camargo shows us, or Green, or Shazad Latif's in my opinion masterful turn as Jekyll?

But I will say a deep, heartfelt thank you for the great art you and your troupe gave to us, Mr. Logan, and Mr. Hawes and Mr. Thomas and everyone else. You do deserve your laurels, although I am sorely disappointed. But still; you gave us something memorable.
 
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Isn't John Logan writing the next Alien and Bond films? He's probably got enough on his plate and perhaps he feels that handing over to someone else might spoil his legacy.
 
I'm trying to reconcile the ending, which was obviously rushed no matter what Logan is officially saying. He man has a blanket development/ showrunning agreement with Showtime so he's not about to throw any criticisms at them. Penny was always expensive and didn't have a ton of viewers so its life was destined to be short. And the show always had a character inconsistency problem - witness the Creature who went from rage machine to abused innocent to angsty poet and back again as needed by any particular plot line. He never came into focus if you ask me. My major objection to the ending is simply not enough Vanessa. I'm shocked to think this was all that was ever planned for her - she ends up martyring herself, except she doesn't even do it herself?? Vanessa, who was always the most powerful agent in the story suddenly becomes passive, giving herself to one man and put out of her misery by another? No matter how much they had Dracula claim he was the passive one, glad to be at her side - he and Ethan are shown taking action while Vanessa is merely served up as sacrifice. A beautiful scene, sure, but so out of character for her - and definitely an unexplained turnaround from her giving herself to the darkness. An entirely inappropriate end to the woman who faced down Lucifer at the end of season 2. At least Lily walked out on her own, leaving Dorian alone and yearning for her, even while he denied that he could yearn for anything.
 
I wish there had been more balance between Lily and Vanessa's stories. In a way Lily/Brona mirrors Amenet/Vanessa in being both monster and human. And there is some parallel in the endings but it is a poor one. Is Amenet the soul of Vanessa or is that a separate being hiding in Vanessa? Lily is Brona's resuscitated body without getting into discussion of souls that makes a direct comparison to Vanessa a little problematic. However, if Amenet is a separate entity then a comparison exists, both are sought by immortal males. Dracula and Lucifer's search will continue for the next woman Amenet will take up host in. However, Brona/Lily is freed by her creator where as Vanessa is captivated, killed by, and her soul goes to males. I would have preferred Vanessa embrace her Amenet side and rip Dracula to shreds but the show went for a messier parallel story, imo Brona and Vanessa, which doesn't hold up because the wheels have been running so independent of each other.
 
One thing I found interesting is that Ethan was never aware that Lily was resurrected, and Frankenstein never knew that she knew Ethan, even though the men were well acquainted with each other. And Lily never seemed to have known that victor knew Ethan (or cared to seek out Ethan herself).
 
Frankenstein knew that she knew Ethan - he killed Brona in Ethan's bed when Ethan asked him, as a doctor, to come see if there was anything that could be done for her.

Gov Kodos - the whole issue of Vanessa's soul was pretty mysterious. When she was possessed was it by Lucifer or by Amunet? Seeing as how Lucifer would sometimes manifest in other people's bodies while she was possessed that seems to imply it was Amunet that had hold of her, making her vulnerable to Lucifer's advances. One article I read described Vanessa as a medium of such power that the Fallen Angels both wanted her at their sides - and that was certainly how she was originally set up in the seance sequence. But I got pretty foggy on who or what was possessing her at various times.
 
I'd have to agree with the assessment that it does seem hastily wrapped up. I think we've all been imagining some fun directions the show could've taken. Some shows feel like they've overextended their welcome in their later seasons but it really feels that another season would've been nice for good ol' PD. It wasn't always perfect but what it got right it really got right. I have a hard time imagining that another period melange would be able to achieve what it did.
 
I wanted to love PD more than I did. Loved the production values and cast, but it felt erratic at times... like they couldn't quite grasp what to do with so many characters. And yet they pile don more! Now it's done, Dorian Grey could have been completely removed for example with pretty much zero impact on the show.

But I realy loved the end episode... to me some shows get it more in their final moments, and this is one of those times. The big fight scene felt more fitting of Buffy, but ultimately it didn't feel rushed to me. It came together. There wasn't much Vanessa literally as she'd mostly been lost and she wanted it to end.

People are calling for Netflix to bring it back etc. and no... it's like the mother pleading for the kid to be brought back. But you'd burn the humanity out of it... let it rest.

It told its story, and it in the end it came together well.

P.S. I'm totally in love with Frankenstein and want to marry him K thanx bye.
 
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