Penny Dreadful

[EricMontreal22]

I don't think they ever said much about his background--except that he saw his mom die.  I rather like the idea that one reason he (and to a much more degree John Clare) always speak as if they were in the romantic era to be due to the fact that Frankenstein was written then, and isn't a Victorian creation.

[CATSNYrevival]

I like watching Spider-Man make out with boys. Is it just me?

[EricMontreal22]

Nope.

 

And man I need to stop reading pieces on this show on a certain other site.  Complaints that "gays" are ruining "their" show.  Apparently they are completely unaware that this is a show written by a gay man.

[CATSNYrevival]

Dorian clearly isn't gay anyway. That's a narrow minded way of looking at it.

[JerseyGirl2]

And his new friend* is clearly transgender, so she isn't either.

 

*(with quite the impressive Lady Speed Stick)

[CATSNYrevival]

Is he transgender though? I was imagining something more along the lines of Billy Crudup in Stage Beauty. 

[JerseyGirl2]

Perhaps not, as I was make big a bit of a joke, but he has spent all of the time we have seen him as a woman.

[EricMontreal22]

This show is so great. I have no idea why more people aren't watching it.

[JerseyGirl2]

I am going to need them to amp up the Dorian/Angelique scenes. I mean, show some skin! o_O

[CATSNYrevival]

They showed enough, I thought. It was fairly erotic for cable and I'm sure they're worried about pushing it too far and alienating whatever percentage of their audience doesn't want to see that. I couldn't help but notice that it was intercut with two other heterosexual love scenes though. Perhaps that was an effort to soften the blow so to speak. 

Lily and Frankenstein though! I figured that was coming but it still surprised me. Inevitably John Clare will find out, yes? Also what happened to Lily's scars? I didn't notice them. Did they heal? Why does she look so much more alive than Mr. Clare?

And the way Angelique described her childhood I think it's safe to assume that she is transgender or at least experiencing some form of gender dysphoria in a time when little information and resources would have been available to her.

 

[JerseyGirl2]

Just a bit of sarcasm.

 

I think Frankenstein's second creation looked much more living than the first, right? He is probably getting better with time.

[EricMontreal22]

Right I think that's the assumption we are meant to make--that model 3 is an improvement over the awkward first model.  They implied as well that when he mentioned how each creation learns to speak, etc, quicker. 

[CATSNYrevival]

I feel like they're just going to kill her off though. Clare may murder her the same as he did to Proteus when he finds out they slept together. Although to be honest I was really getting the feeling that Frankenstein wanted to sleep with Proteus in the first season. Was that just me? Wishful thinking perhaps.

[EricMontreal22]

VIctor seems to have awkward/sexual vibes with every single person, male or female.

[CATSNYrevival]

I'm kind of thinking he may have been a virgin until the last episode.

[EricMontreal22]

Oh me too.

 

They won't killher off, will they?  Besides Clare has blind girl...

[CATSNYrevival]

That's true but I still don't think he's going to take it well if he finds out. 

[JerseyGirl2]

Well, blind girl is onto Clare. I am so hooked on this show!

[CATSNYrevival]

There was so much going on in this episode I feel like nothing actually happened. I need to watch it again.

[stage_star]

I just finished episode 8 (two more to finish the season) and Billie Piper just STOLE the show! She killed her scene with The Creature. I'll be sure not to forget her performance during the next Emmy season. And I'm not a native English speaker, but did I notice her slipping into Brona's Irish accent during her rant? If so, that was a nice touch! Between her, Eva Green, Helen McCrory and Patti LuPone, the ladies are running away with this show!

[JerseyGirl2]

Patti LuPone stole the whole season for me. I wasn't a big fan of the end. I won't give spoilers, but it honestly had me wondering if there would be a season 3. I see now that there will.

[Farmer's Daughter]

I hope this is the place still to post about this show.

 

Hooked all over again with season 3's first episode (available free at Sho.com and places like Amazon, which is where we watched). I think I'm going to have to subscribe to Showtime at least for the season. The cost in the long run will probably be, give or take, about what buying the season outright would* (only that's not an option at present).

 

Figuring with the 30 day free trial, and a 9 episode season, we should only have to pay $8.99 monthly fee once to see the last four episodes of the season.* (And I would've paid around $30 to "own" the season outright in HD without having to subscribe to Showtime!)

 

I have a feeling Patti LuPone may steal this season too, JG2.

 

*Edit: Obviously I cannot do Showtime math.

 

[EricMontreal22]

So often when characters on these shows get so separated into their own stories, it's a danger sign. But so far it has worked wonderfully for Penny Dreadful. I am enjoying the show even more than ever. And such a smart decision to bring Patti back. 

I am a bit worried this might be the last season. The show remains under the radar and Logan said he initially had a three year plan. Add to that, that it always seemed that Dracula was the end game. And disappointed Lyle is not a series regular this year but Beale did say he was too busy with other projects and appears as much as possible. 

[geneb5]

The art direction is still absolutely luscious, even more intoxicating than Mad Men.

 

But the plot and characters now seem so capricious and malleable as to be, well, anything the writer damn well feels like. Miss Ives recovers from the depths of devastating mental illness awfully well in 3-1, imo. 

 

And you can tell when a writer has run out of viable ideas when everybody starts talking portentously and smoking like fiends--such a tired cliché.

 

But truthfully, I've been disappointed since Season 1.

 

Since this is BroadwayWorld, I'll note how I loved the presentation of the Grand Guignol, something you rarely see in the arts any more--and both backstage and in the eyes of those who'd never even imagined such wonders (Piper). It was amazing to see how a TB-ridden Irish whore can, after mixing unsatisfactorily with the higher classes, go and find a unused corner of the busy London streets in which to cough her bloody lungs out as the crowds pass by. The memes of late 19th Century London were vibrantly sculpted, and Brona's emotional journey was spectacular (as was Miss Ives' in the next, flashback episode). Although Seasons 2 and 3 hold some interest, it is this rich confluence of history, class, society and character that I miss.

[EricMontreal22]

I thought only Miss Ives continues to smoke *fiendishly*    I get some of your complaints, I guess they don't bother me (I've always found the show wonderfully over the top in how seriously it takes its elaborate dialogue--and to be fair, I didn't think we were meant to think Vanessa recovered from her depression over one episode, the implication being she was just starting to come out of her depression or see some hope.)

I actually think so far the show has done a good job of something that so often spells the downfall of serialized tv shows--having the characters islanded on their separate stories.