frederikpot Review of Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful (2014–2016)

The pilot is worth your penny, the rest is dreadful.

[4/10 · 8 October 2014]

The rule of not judging a show by it's pilot seems true once again, except this time it's the other way around. Penny Dreadful starts out strong, with beautiful scenery, eloquent dialog, mysterious characters, drama, romance and the perfect amount of gore and horror. The show starts out in the fast lane, it leaves you wanting more. But then it takes a turn right into the traffic jam. The story lines unfold extremely slow, and although they provide some depth for the characters it also loses the element of surprise and the wonderfully set horror and action scenes from the pilot are scarce throughout the rest of the series and when they return, they are exactly the same. Of course, this series is based on well known horror stories so predictability is to be expected, but that doesn't necessarily mean there is no room for interpretation. The makers of Penny Dreadful seem to think otherwise, for the only thing that surprised me was Proteus demise. The grand storyline, the saving of Mina, is a quest that takes the guys from Supernatural or Buffy (with all respect) a mere episode of 40 minutes, and it would probably end in the exact same way. Penny Dreadful's league of extraordinary gentlemen takes 8 one hour episodes to do the same. This show is great for people who enjoy seeing Eva Green make funny faces and becoming less attractive each episode and for people who enjoy the anticipation of an undead monster losing it if his master doesn't do what he wants while having the patience to stand outside in the snow for 3 months. Oh, and if you thought that this first season would end with a bang, you will be disappointed. There is nothing that will leave you wanting more, no cliffhanger, nothing except for a few small confirmations of what you've been expecting to happen some 3 or 4 episodes ago...