My thoughts on Season 3 of Penny Dreadful
Just watched the season finale of Penny Dreadful so I feel a need to voice my thought.
I have pretty mixed feeling about this season. It had some good and bad points. So here are my thoughts/impressions :
Stuff I liked :
- I liked how at least shit was actually happening. After 2 seasons of slow buildup and character development, it was nice to see some things get done.
- Shazad Latif as Dr. Henry Jekyll. He displayed the perfect balance of arrogance and beauty. Tho it did remind me how badly miscast Reeve Carney is as Dorian Grey. The show should've cast Shazad Latif as Dorian.
- Some of Ethan's backstory. Finally we found out why his dad was so hellbent on bringing him back to the USA. I love Brian Cox so seeing him cast as Ethan's dad made me happy. He is great at playing dick-characters.
- Catriona Hartdegan!! It's great to see another kickass female character. Just wish we'd seen more of her.
- I loathed Caliban the past 2 seasons. So it's pretty impressive how much season 3 made me care for him. It was heartwarming to see him reunite with his family and seeing them accept him the way it is. That's why it broke my heart when his son died and his wife gave him the ultimatum of 'bring our son to Dr. Frankenstein or never come back'. So sad.
- As for sad tales, I nearly cried when Lily/Brona told us the story of little baby Sarah. That poor little baby. Just the thought of losing a child like that is enough to make me tear up ;__;
Stuff that I have mixed feelings about :
- The Jekyll/Hyde story line. As much as I liked the character, it served no purpose to the main story.
- Lily's call for revolution. I don't think anyone can blame Lily for being so angry at men. They treated her like filth. So I get that she wanted them to pay. However, it felt a bit weird how she complained about the suffragettes being 'loud' and then she orders her women to kill a man and bring her his right hand. Judging by the number of women sitting at the table and the pile of hands, they must've killed several dozens of men. No way is that not going to alert the authorities.
- Dorian Grey. I already felt that he wasn't really involved with the main plot but after 3 seasons of him doing nothing, I'm seriously starting to question what purpose his story line had.
- Patti LuPone as Dr. Seward. I'm gonna assume that the show really enjoyed working with her. But it seemed weird to have her play another character on this show. In a way, I'm glad that the show did actually address the likeness. Also, as a non-native English speaker, it struck me as odd that she referred to Joan Clayton as an ancestor.
Given that Vanessa met Joan perhaps a decade or so before meeting Dr. Seward, I would think 'relative' or 'aunt/great-aunt' would've been more suitable.
Stuff I didn't like :
- I'm *NOT* here for Ethan's 'White Saviour of Apache' nonsense. I was okay with him being 'God's Wolf' sent to protect Vanessa from her tormentors. But not this.
- Speaking of Native Americans, I'll admit that I know very little of their culture but it struck me as odd that Kaetenay kept talking about God in the Christian meaning of it. He didn't strike me as the kind of person who had converted to Christianity.
- Victor Frankenstein. Good heavens, I HATED him so much this season. His sense of entitlement and complete disregard of Lily's wish made me RAGE!!! I seriously wanted to punch him in the face. Eventho he backed out of domesticating Lily in the end, I really can't forgive him for what he did to her.
- Ethan never finding out what Victor did to Brona. Victor deserved to pay for that.
- WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FINALE?!?!? So after all this, Vanessa just decides to end it all. What bullshit is this? Throughout the series, she was so determined to fight those tormenting her. I get being fed up with being tormented and being hunted down but I'm seriously disappointed with her decision.
I was surprised that she allowed herself to become Dracula's bride but I assumed that she did so to be able to spy on him, learn his weaknesses and destroy him once and for all.
Also, why was Prof. Lyall not at her funeral? Are you seriously telling me that he wouldn't come all the way from Egypt to say goodbye to his 'dear Miss Ives'?
- So Vanessa dies and Dracula just moves on without flinching? This was suppose to be the Big Bad. Without Vanessa, his master plan failed. Yet he barely seemed to care that Vanessa was dead.
- Why did Vanessa's death reverse 'The End Of Days'? I would think that once the End of Days began, it couldn't be reversed.
What did you think?
I have pretty mixed feeling about this season. It had some good and bad points. So here are my thoughts/impressions :
Stuff I liked :
- I liked how at least shit was actually happening. After 2 seasons of slow buildup and character development, it was nice to see some things get done.
- Shazad Latif as Dr. Henry Jekyll. He displayed the perfect balance of arrogance and beauty. Tho it did remind me how badly miscast Reeve Carney is as Dorian Grey. The show should've cast Shazad Latif as Dorian.
- Some of Ethan's backstory. Finally we found out why his dad was so hellbent on bringing him back to the USA. I love Brian Cox so seeing him cast as Ethan's dad made me happy. He is great at playing dick-characters.
- Catriona Hartdegan!! It's great to see another kickass female character. Just wish we'd seen more of her.
- I loathed Caliban the past 2 seasons. So it's pretty impressive how much season 3 made me care for him. It was heartwarming to see him reunite with his family and seeing them accept him the way it is. That's why it broke my heart when his son died and his wife gave him the ultimatum of 'bring our son to Dr. Frankenstein or never come back'. So sad.
- As for sad tales, I nearly cried when Lily/Brona told us the story of little baby Sarah. That poor little baby. Just the thought of losing a child like that is enough to make me tear up ;__;
Stuff that I have mixed feelings about :
- The Jekyll/Hyde story line. As much as I liked the character, it served no purpose to the main story.
- Lily's call for revolution. I don't think anyone can blame Lily for being so angry at men. They treated her like filth. So I get that she wanted them to pay. However, it felt a bit weird how she complained about the suffragettes being 'loud' and then she orders her women to kill a man and bring her his right hand. Judging by the number of women sitting at the table and the pile of hands, they must've killed several dozens of men. No way is that not going to alert the authorities.
- Dorian Grey. I already felt that he wasn't really involved with the main plot but after 3 seasons of him doing nothing, I'm seriously starting to question what purpose his story line had.
- Patti LuPone as Dr. Seward. I'm gonna assume that the show really enjoyed working with her. But it seemed weird to have her play another character on this show. In a way, I'm glad that the show did actually address the likeness. Also, as a non-native English speaker, it struck me as odd that she referred to Joan Clayton as an ancestor.
Given that Vanessa met Joan perhaps a decade or so before meeting Dr. Seward, I would think 'relative' or 'aunt/great-aunt' would've been more suitable.
Stuff I didn't like :
- I'm *NOT* here for Ethan's 'White Saviour of Apache' nonsense. I was okay with him being 'God's Wolf' sent to protect Vanessa from her tormentors. But not this.
- Speaking of Native Americans, I'll admit that I know very little of their culture but it struck me as odd that Kaetenay kept talking about God in the Christian meaning of it. He didn't strike me as the kind of person who had converted to Christianity.
- Victor Frankenstein. Good heavens, I HATED him so much this season. His sense of entitlement and complete disregard of Lily's wish made me RAGE!!! I seriously wanted to punch him in the face. Eventho he backed out of domesticating Lily in the end, I really can't forgive him for what he did to her.
- Ethan never finding out what Victor did to Brona. Victor deserved to pay for that.
- WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FINALE?!?!? So after all this, Vanessa just decides to end it all. What bullshit is this? Throughout the series, she was so determined to fight those tormenting her. I get being fed up with being tormented and being hunted down but I'm seriously disappointed with her decision.
I was surprised that she allowed herself to become Dracula's bride but I assumed that she did so to be able to spy on him, learn his weaknesses and destroy him once and for all.
Also, why was Prof. Lyall not at her funeral? Are you seriously telling me that he wouldn't come all the way from Egypt to say goodbye to his 'dear Miss Ives'?
- So Vanessa dies and Dracula just moves on without flinching? This was suppose to be the Big Bad. Without Vanessa, his master plan failed. Yet he barely seemed to care that Vanessa was dead.
- Why did Vanessa's death reverse 'The End Of Days'? I would think that once the End of Days began, it couldn't be reversed.
What did you think?