Penny Dreadful Series Review

I finished rewatching the Series Penny Dreadful the other night and it was just as amazing as it was the first time viewing the series!

The series was created by John Logan, who also wrote Skyfall, The Aviator, and Hugo, among other films.
The Series follows a cast of classical and new characters set in Victorian London as they fight the forces of evil to protect Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) as Lucifer and a certain vampire wish to make her one of their brides. She is accompanied by Sir Malcom Murray (Timothy Dalton) who shares a history with Vanessa as his daughter and her where friends and in Season 1 they are trying to find his daughter Mina, and Sir Malcom and Vanessa don't really get along to well in the start for reasons that are caused by Vanessa in the past, yet they must work together and eventually form a father/daughter bond that they would have not expected to happen. Also accompanied by Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) who is an American running from his past and is employed by Sir Malcom and Vanessa in the first episode as a hired gun to help find Sir Malcom's daughter, but he eventually grows on them and they become like family to each other. Also this cast of characters hires Dr. Victor Frankenstein, as they need his, "services" in examining cadavers, and to help with some other things along the way, yet know one know's the secret of what he has created, and his first creation is initially not to loving towards him. There is also Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) who is a charismatic dashing man that seeks fun and pleasure were he can but don't let this fool you, he is wise beyond his, um, how should I say, "years" and in Season 1 he acts as a sort of love interest of Vanessa Ives, but there is defiantly more to this character than meets the eye.
So that is the main characters to the show. There are a list of side characters that I could get into but I'm afraid that this review wold turn into a small pamphlet of information that would be a little to long. To fully experience all of the characters you must watch this show for your self and your self alone. Unless you have someone else just as intrigued by this style of show.
Now the musical score of the show is done extremely well, and is defiantly top notch. The opening theme to the series is memorable. Each song fits the mood of the scene it is paired with, and I have to applaud the composer who made this score because the composer did a fantastic job!
The camera work was really well done too. The close ups in the series are done better than most could do. The overall scene in each episode is a mixture of expert camera work, near perfect acting, beautiful lighting, and some well placed music or silence when need be.
I will say the first episode of the series isn't the best, and if you agree and are not the most fond of it, don't give up on the series at least watch until episode 2, because that's were you WILL get hooked for this show. In episode 2 Eva Green delivers a fantastic performance towards the end of the episode that is truly amazing and demands your attention, and you want to give it.
The best episodes in the series focus on character development and there are a few in each Season. I would like to point out one episode in each season. So in Season 1 I'm going to say Episode 5 titled, "Closer than Sisters," is a fantastic episode that gives you the backstory of Vanessa and Mina along with there families and it is really well done. In Season 2 I'm going to say Episode 7 titled, " Little Scorpion," Which we get to see much bonding with Ethan and Vanessa which brings in heavy character development, though this was a hard one to pick as I would tie it with Episode 3 titled, "The Nightcomers," where we see heavy backstory and character development for Vanessa Ives and is really well acted by everyone in that episode. The there is Season 3 which the best episode is Episode 4 titled, "A Blade of Grass,"which is more heavy backstory and character development for Vanessa Ives, this is one of the best episodes of the series and in my opinion this is one of the BEST performances of Eva Green's career and I applaud her for it.
Overall I must applaud the whole cast and crew that made this fantastic show and it only had a 3 season run but in it's short time it brings a story that demands to be watched, and I strongly suggest that you should watch this series. Again I say this as a final thought, I applaud everyone who made this fantastic series!


final score: 4.7/5