I had never watched Penny Dreadful and have been catching up over the past few weeks. Right now, I'm at the beginning of the third season. After what I felt was a drop in quality and a slight change of direction in the second season, it became clear to me that this series would have been fantastic in an anthology format.
When I talk about a change of direction, it's because, in my opinion, the second season turns into a soap opera where romantic relationships between characters take precedence above all else. Or rather, sexual relationships, since they barely develop. There isn't a main character who doesn't get paired with one or several characters throughout the season, and overall, I feel that the series opens up secondary plotlines that it stretches throughout the entire season only to hurriedly wrap them up in the final part.
This, among other things, makes the characters' stories somewhat lackluster. Dorian Gray, for instance, still seems to me like a totally supplementary character who adds very little to the ensemble (and, by the way, is quite poorly portrayed by a really bland actor). The combination of all these characters, their relationships, and the overarching plot makes the series, in my opinion, feel somewhat aimless and tries to cover too much without being satisfying, as they stretch plotlines over ten episodes that could be resolved more deeply and satisfyingly in a single dedicated episode (like the police investigation into Josh Hartnett's character, for example). In fact, the episodes focused on a single character (The Creature, Victor, or Vanessa) seem to me the most remarkable in the entire series.
For this reason, and because I think the series truly shines when it reinterprets myths, folklore, and literary figures such as vampires, werewolves, witches, Frankenstein, or Dorian Gray himself, I would have loved a proposal much more centered on that, with each season revolving around one of these pillars, while intertwining and connecting characters between them. It would even fit much better with the format of the classic Penny Dreadfuls from which it takes its name.
I just hope that, at least, the third season ends on a high note.
When I talk about a change of direction, it's because, in my opinion, the second season turns into a soap opera where romantic relationships between characters take precedence above all else. Or rather, sexual relationships, since they barely develop. There isn't a main character who doesn't get paired with one or several characters throughout the season, and overall, I feel that the series opens up secondary plotlines that it stretches throughout the entire season only to hurriedly wrap them up in the final part.
This, among other things, makes the characters' stories somewhat lackluster. Dorian Gray, for instance, still seems to me like a totally supplementary character who adds very little to the ensemble (and, by the way, is quite poorly portrayed by a really bland actor). The combination of all these characters, their relationships, and the overarching plot makes the series, in my opinion, feel somewhat aimless and tries to cover too much without being satisfying, as they stretch plotlines over ten episodes that could be resolved more deeply and satisfyingly in a single dedicated episode (like the police investigation into Josh Hartnett's character, for example). In fact, the episodes focused on a single character (The Creature, Victor, or Vanessa) seem to me the most remarkable in the entire series.
For this reason, and because I think the series truly shines when it reinterprets myths, folklore, and literary figures such as vampires, werewolves, witches, Frankenstein, or Dorian Gray himself, I would have loved a proposal much more centered on that, with each season revolving around one of these pillars, while intertwining and connecting characters between them. It would even fit much better with the format of the classic Penny Dreadfuls from which it takes its name.
I just hope that, at least, the third season ends on a high note.
