Penny Dreadful - Series Premiere - Review: So...Is It Any Good?
Recap and review of Penny Dreadful - Series Premiere - Night Work:
Penny Dreadful probably shouldn't work as well as it does. After watching the full series premiere (which you can watch for free here), I found there to be something glibly macabre about the way the show approaches the supernatural/horror genre that makes it a bit off-putting at first. However, as "Night Work" rolls on, it becomes apparent that there's a lot more going on beneath the surface. Something far more intriguing and original than meets the eye. Is it any good? The answer, for me, is a resounding "Yes."
The show is a bit like True Detective, in that it's part of a recent glut of auteur-driven TV series. In its first season, True Detective was written entirely by Nic Pizzolato, while all eight episodes were directed by Cart Fukunaga, creating a certain singular vision not often seen on serialized television. Such is the case with Penny Dreadful. While only the first two episodes are helmed by the same director, The Orphanage helmsman Juan Antonio Bayona, all episodes are written by Skyfall screenwriter John Logan. This means there is no inconsistency in the show's vision, which helps a lot, considering that this is a world that could easily become overcomplicated by the presence of too many spoons in the proverbial chili pot. The tone of the series is atmospheric and brooding in its quieter moments, and downright chilling in its louder, more haunting sequences. In many ways, it's an elegant kind of horror series, a period drama that's as ghoulish as it is sophisticated. If nothing else, the aesthetic is what makes Penny Dreadful so appealing, in addition to both its premise, and the talented cast that's been assembled.
Credit: Showtime
Basically, Penny Dreadful takes place in 1891 London, amid rife social change and a series of sudden, gruesome murders that have worried citizens wondering if Jack the Ripper has returned. However, it's not Jack the Ripper committing these crimes, it's the work of the "demi-monde": quite literally, a world hidden beneath our own. It's in this world that all the iconic characters of gothic horror reside, from Frankenstein's Monster, to Dracula, to Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney). There are also plenty of unspeakable creatures, from red-eyed, zombified vampires with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics beneath their inexplicable exoskeletons, to creepy, pale-skinned men with the apparent bone structure and flexibility of a jellyfish. It's a world of constant danger and near-constant terror, and the visual aesthetic of the series helps make Penny Dreadful a deeply unsettling hour of TV (in a good way, since that's kind of the point). And the story itself is pretty solid, to boot...
Credit: Showtime
The daughter of famed explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) has gone missing, and he's willing to do anything to get her back. Enter Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), his mysterious, beautiful, deeply troubled colleague, who helps him on this mission by acquiring the services of Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), an expert shooter who makes a living showing off his skills as a circus sideshow act. Hartnett initially feels a bit out of place in both the time and setting, but as the episode goes on, he becomes a bit of an inspired choice for this role, in my opinion. There's not a whole lot to the character just yet, but there are hints of a darker past behind all of his sharpshooting skills. We get hints about that past in a wonderful scene in which Ives does her best Sherlock impression, deducing small things about Ethan's past simply from how he carries himself at the bar (for instance, his left hand trembles, so he hides it beneath the table so as not to give away a weakness). Green and Hartnett work well off of one another, and it makes for a more interesting opening act. It takes some convincing to get Ethan on-board for the long haul, particularly after a raid on the "demi-monde" turns gory (in one of the best, most intense sequences of the entire episode, as Chandler and Murray basically have to shoot and swashbuckle their way out. Timothy Dalton impaling a vampire through the heart with a sword is all the badass I'll need this week, thanks).
The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Sir Malcolm's daughter intensifies after she shows up at his home in the middle of the night looking scared, only to reveal herself to be some sort of vampire. It's a shocker of a sequence, and only raises more questions about who abducted her, and why. And the team isn't exactly getting any answers, as even Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadway) is stumped, having never seen anything like the vampire/monster corpse they bring to him. Both Dalton and Treadway are damn solid in their roles, and it speaks to the larger talent of the ensemble that Treadway gets a bit lost in the shuffle. But if there's one big takeaway from Penny Dreadful, particularly in the acting department, it's that Eva Green is a big deal just waiting to happen. She's fantastic here, with her maudlin line deliveries, her stone-faced expressions with just a hint of self-awareness, and a gaze so deep and hypnotic that it only enhances the mysterious aura surrounding her. And she has a hell of a mysterious aura surrounding her, as we first meet her deep in prayer, and falling into a trance of sorts as a result. This scene is mirrored towards the end of the episode, as she prays once again, only to open her eyes and find the cross to which she was praying now inverted, with spiders coming out of the wall behind it. It's a stunning visual, and it's an image that packs the sort of quiet intensity of Green's performance. It's matched only by the conclusion of the episode, which takes an iconic moment from the Frankenstein lure and recreates it here in amusing fashion.
Credit: Jonathan Hession/Showtime
If I'm being coy with the specifics, it's only to keep from spoiling what turns out to be one of the better pilots of the year. Even when delivering the expected, Penny Dreadful finds intriguing new spins on horror cliches and supernatural formulas. The aesthetic is striking, creating a penetrating sense of foreboding that not many shows on TV can match. In short, "Night Work" is an exceptional pilot, maintaining enough mystery to keep you guessing, and coming back for answers. Granted, answers don't appear to be forthcoming, but this doesn't strike me as an "endgame" type of show where it's entirely about the destination. This is more of a horror tableaux, plumbing the depths of human, and supernatural, depravity. And it's great.
Penny Dreadful premieres Sunday at 10:00 PM ET/PT on Showtime.