‘Penny Dreadful’ Review: Evil Spirits Come out to Play

Is she headed for the dark side?

This episode can definitely be described as the calm before the storm. It was a quite tame episode. We even got to have some laughs.

Victor took Vanessa clothes shopping. He needed dresses for his latest creation and he’s never shopped for a woman before. He came up with a pretty good lie too. He told Vanessa his second cousin was coming to visit him and he wanted to buy her some nice clothes so she could fit in, since she’s from the country. It was fun watching him be so awkward. He was uncomfortable when the sales woman thought they married and just as uncomfortable when she thought they were having an affair. None of it affected Vanessa, she was more than happy to help.

Victor appears to be getting a crush on his latest creation. He doesn’t look at her the way that he should and their conversations seem a little bit more intimate than they should be. What will his first creation think? I mean this woman is supposed to be already spoken for. What his first creature will have to learn is, you can’t force love.

We even got to see Dorian with his new infatuation playing table tennis. That was interesting. The high society was just playing and drinking champagne. Two things you would never expect to go hand in hand.

Even a run in with on of the witches was pretty tame. Of course Chandler didn’t realize it was a witch that was playing him, he thought it was just another person his father sent to bring him home. I enjoyed watching him flirt with the woman and then turn it around on her. She didn’t do her homework. He saw through the accent and the facts. She got the university in the wrong state. Chandler is quite smart and they are going to have to do better than that. They started out well, making her the damsel in distress, but after that their plan just fell a part.

The team is getting closer and closer to discovering the truth from their artifacts. If there is anything to it. It so far hasn’t told us anything we really didn’t know already. Though Malcolm thinks the story is about Vanessa. She doesn’t believe she could be a part of it.

She might have to reconsider that though. The witches attacked at the end and in full force. The attack itself isn’t what troubles me. It was Vanessa fighting back. She spoke in the dead language again and made that horrible hissing sound. Is she turning to the dark side?

The detective is also a bit worrisome. He seems smart or at least open minded. He suggested magic as and explanation for the carriage attack. The victim may not be speaking, but he definitely rememberss and the detective knows that. How long will it take the detective to be on Chandler’s trail?

Next week they stop at nothing to protect themselves. Take a look at the promo:

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Review: ‘Penny Dreadful’ Goes a Bit Mad

This experiment was definitely a success.

The season two promos promised an even darker ‘Penny Dreadful’ and they are certainly delivering that. I don’t know how I feel about sacrificing a baby though, that is some serious dark magic.

It appeared like they might be getting answers, but Madame Kali is making sure Vanessa is led right to her. This is a very evil witch we are dealing with and she’s very connected.

I want to know more about how Vanessa knows the witches. It’s very interesting that Madame Kali is hunting her. I thought Vanessa’s backstory was interesting last season, but apparently there is a lot more to it.

We still haven’t got much of Chandler’s backstory. He may have just escaped being exposed. One of the men he attacked is still alive, but gravely injured. As long as the man can’t speak, Chandler is safe. If the man gets better, Chandler may be in trouble.

I was happy to see Dorian, but he wasn’t on screen very long at all. He’s mourning over being rejected by Vanessa and finds himself in bed with another. I guess at least he made an appearance this week.

Victor is getting a little too good at bringing humans back to life. His third attempt seems to be a success. Other than her eyes and her scars, she seems pretty normal. She’s learning language quite quickly too. But will her memory come back? Maybe Victor should be a little careful of the life he’s painting for her, how will she feel when she knows they’re all lies?

He may be getting better at this resurrection thing, but I don’t know if his creature actually has a mate. Lily doesn’t seem to be interested in John at all. I get that he wanted a mate, but you can’t just make someone love you.

Next week we get to know more of Vanessa’s backstory. Take a look at the promo:

[Youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3T7887QV4s]

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Review: ‘Penny Dreadful’ Brings Fresh Hell

This scene reminded me when Harry could speak Parseltongue, but didn’t know how he knew it. Though Vanessa doesn’t even know what she said.

Last season Sir Malcolm said there’s a moment when you realize you are no longer the hunter, you are the prey. Vanessa is definitely the prey this season and she’s terrified.

I love witches so I was pretty excited to see withes in the new season of ‘Penny Dreadful’, though these are darker witches than I’m use to watching. These ones are a family and they serve the devil. The devil still very much wants to get his hands on Vanessa and these witches are going to stop at nothing to get her.

I think there is a lot more to Vanessa’s backstory that we don’t know. Like how is it possible for her to know a dead language, the devil’s language. She’s not ready to tell anyone how she knows these creatures. First of all  I would like to ask why the witches attacked Vanessa as creatures and not has humans? Is this some sort of witch lore I don’t know or just really old witch lore? If the first season says anything about where this storyline is going, it will be very dark and scary.

Other than Vanessa, Frankenstein’s creature took centre stage in the premiere. As we saw last season, he lost his job for flirting gone wrong, so this season he was on the job hunt again. He may have found the perfect place for himself. On the other hand the owner looks to want to use his disfigurement to make money. He found employment in a wax museum and it looks pretty cool. It looks a little like the Chamber of Horrors in London, a very interesting attraction depicting crime and punishment over the last 500 years and legendary murderers. I think the wax museum in the show could be a very nice backdrop for the series.

The creature also got his lady. At the very end of the episode, they got the storm they needed to regenerate Brona. How much will she remember of her life?

We didn’t get to see much story of Ethan. He doesn’t appear to know that he is a wolf. He woke up to a bloodbath in the bar. He wanted to leave town, but Vanessa’s troubles have forced him to stay. There appears to be a survivor of the massacre. Do they know that Ethan caused it and do they know what he is? I’m assuming we’ll find out how be became a wolf this season or at least go a little bit more into his backstory. Ethan Chandler is such a mystery.

Season two is off to a very dark start, just like the previews promised.

We didn’t get to see any of Dorian Gray this week. Dorian looks to be making an appearance next week though! Next week they will attempt to learn the devil’s language. Take a look at the promo:

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It’s All About ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ This week! Plus ‘Revenge’ Was Canceled, ‘Penny Dreadfu’l Returning for Season 2

Penny Dreadful Season 1 Finale

This had to be the best episode yet. A lot of the story lines from the season are finished, but they have opened up way for different stories.

Will Vanessa seek to have an exorcism? She’s been asked the question of does she want to be normal? In adolescence that’s all we want to be is normal, but normal doesn’t amount to much. So will she be ok with just being normal?

We knew there was something Chandler was hiding. Now we know why he has such a temper. This was a tough episode for him. He lost his beloved Brona and his father sent men to bring him home. Either his father doesn’t know him very well or the two men really did just underestimate Chandler. They never stood a chance bringing him home. But where does this leave him for season two? It seems that he doesn’t like what he does when he is a werewolf. Not that I could blame him, but it’s not something he can control. It will be interesting to see how the writers interpret the lore on werewolves.

Victor’s creation is getting his bride after all, but we all had a sneaking suspicion it would be Brona. She was dying the whole season after all and somehow it felt like she was sticking around. But what will Chandler think when he finds out what Victor has done with Brona’s body?

As for Dorian, he seems to have fallen really hard for Vanessa. Not something you would expect him to do. The scenes with Vanessa and Dorian this week were amazing. You could feel the awkwardness between them, it felt so real.

What will season two bring us?

Penny Dreadful Season 1 Episode 7

Did Chandler perform and exorcism on Vanessa? I didn’t know he knew how to perform one. The pain that Vanessa endured during this episode was horrible. And Sir Malcolm wanted to take advantage of the situation to help find his daughter. While I understand it, it wasn’t right. All Vanessa has tried to do his help and now when she needs help, Malcolm put his own needs ahead of hers.

Chandler and Victor helped all they could. I don’t think any of them really knew what they were dealing with or how to deal with it. But they kept watch over Vanessa and did the best that they could.

We got to know Victor better this week. Apparently he’s addicted to morphine, but just what kind of pain causes him need to use such a powerful drug? Was it to do with his asthma as kid and because he got addicted to narcotics, he has to use a more powerful drug to deal with the pain now?

Throughout the episode Victor’s monster was outside watching and waiting. He wanted him to know that he was there and the writers wanted us to know he was there. The monster has threatened everyone’s lives. He wants his bride and Victor has yet to deliver.

After only seven episodes the season finale is next week and there is a lot to wrap up in such a short season. Victor needs to create a bride. Vanessa has found Mina and now they must go get her and Brona is on the brink of death. Next week we will see how much of the story gets wrapped up and what we are left wondering for next season:

Penny Dreadful Season 1 Episode 6

Sir Malcolm came so close to getting his daughter back. He could see her with the creature, but he just couldn’t get to her. Was it right for him not to let Vanessa come on their expedition? Could she have helped? I don’t think it was right leaving her completely out of it. She did get the information that led them to the ship.

Is Sir Malcolm totally in denial about being able to save his daughter or is he just hopeful? Now he has bigger problems to deal with, whatever Vanessa’s illness was, is now back. It’s like she’s possessed, but why? Why does being free seem to release something in her? It took her a while to get back to normal last time and this time she’s need to find Mina.

I can’t believe that Frankenstein’s creature killed Van Helsing. He’s certainly not messing around and he really wants his bride. But Victor hasn’t even found a subject yet. He’s been busy doing his own work and he regrets what he has created now. His innovativeness has taken him too far, now he has to deal with the consequences.

How long do you think Brona has left? It doesn’t seem like she has long now. Will she be Victor’s subject?

There’s only two more episodes left and before they save Mina, they will have to save Vanessa:

Penny Dreadful Episode 5 Gives Us the Backstory to Get Us Hooked

There’s been a lot of questions about how Vanessa and Sir Malcolm started working together, how she knew Mina and what did she do to betray her.

This week we got the back story we needed to understand the dynamic between Vanessa and Sir Malcolm and understand Vanessa’s gift better, or curse, depending on what way you look at it.

In the first five episodes there has been very intriguing story lines, mysterious characters and a lot of sex, some of it unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with sex, it is apart of life, but there is a place for it and it shouldn’t just be thrown in to sex up a show. Sex is used better when it’s in the right context and within the storyline. This week there was sex, but it was only used to progress the story, not to shock us or give us nudity.

While I still have a problem with some elements of the show from last week, this episode was really good for driving the story forward and definitely got me invested in the story.  I want to know if Vanessa and Sir Malcolm can save Mina and I want to know if Vanessa can ever make amends for the sins she’s committed.

Sir Malcolm and Vanessa have very different ideas for how they can save Mina. Which one is possible?

Check out the preview for next week. The hunt for Mina continues and the question is posed if Mina can be saved: