Penny Dreadful (TV Series) The Blessed Dark (2016) User Reviews

More than A pennies worth of Dreadfully Delicious Deviousness

[DuskShadow · 7/10 · 6 June 2017]

ON a Tuesday...

Or so twas said of a weekday not being so tedious with the advent of a small army of vamps ready to suck the blood of our protagonists, new and old.

So the final fight came and went, hardly even worth the time. It was far too quick and unimpressive. The saddest thing is the show finally took the darkest turn with bodies strewn about on meat hooks with nothing to cover their rotting modesty, and the England from real penny dreadfuls was made real; with sinister fog upon the soot, brick and steel.

Penny Dreadful was a great series that could have accomplished far more with additional episodes in each season, and the way it stretched things out with both fluff and fulfilling flare, there should have been a 4th season to properly air things out. Alas, tis called Penny Dreadful for a reason. Like an M. Night Shyamalan tale, the twist is foreshadowed, and oh what an enjoyable story was here finally ended; the inevitable truth of it all fully illuminated, as I should have guessed from the start considering the shows name. Even years after most of our protagonists would have died, their memories and nature would be remembered by 4 immortals: the two living dead monsters of Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dorian Grey ( my fav). Yet the imagination must slake its own wanderlust, envisioning what might have been in dreams of fancy. What could have been with just one more episode to show what the future would hold, a final tale to tell, a last chapter to unfold. Jekyll was not as promising either, no transformation. Nothing. But at the last there was a haunting song from a celtic lass, as Lily once recounted as being the most sonorous and enchanting thing to ever be heard. And a grim poem to close the curtains with on it all; with both my love and hate. * shakes fist at John Logan*

A Fitting End

[deltaop · 10/10 · 20 June 2016]

Penny Dreadful is masterful television and I expected no less from it than to end without getting all hackneyed. This is exactly what has happened. The showrunners have beautifully, albeit a little abruptly, wrapped up the series while it was still going strong. That being said, we all would have loved for PD to continue, and it could easily have been drawn out to at least a couple more seasons but it would have lost much of its creative punch by then. Something a show of PD's caliber doesn't deserve.

Coming to the episode, it was perfectly paced. The penultimate episode was brilliant in itself and set up a great stage for the finale to shine through. There is action, heartbreak and singular pathos. And like the rest of the series the acting is top notch, the writing is pristine and the music impeccably adds to each scene.

Conclusively, I admire John Logan for running a series that was always better than it had to be, while not quite garnering the attention it deserved. It was rich and alluring, poignant and artistic, dark and mysterious - all at the same time, a truly nonpareil show. I would be very surprised if it doesn't win at least a couple of Emmys this year.

It's always too late

[sofiacyan · 10/10 · 14 August 2021]

It's taken a long time for me finally watch the final season of Penny Dreadful. Not because of anything but being too busy. But all I can say- so that I don't ruin the ending. Is that, it's always too late. Like ships passing in the night. Every single actor in this entire series, added so much value. I loved every minute. Even though I would have liked to have rewrote the ending.

Beautiful

[samtimoney-79758 · 10/10 · 13 September 2020]

Like the end of the last two seasons, it shows they not everything has a happy ending, or at least there isn't a happy ending without consequence. It's an amazing episode in a brilliant show, beautiful ending to the franchise. Such a shame they ended it. It deserved A longer run and I partly believe it was cancelled due to poor advertising.

I put the finale in the Loss Column

[lor_ · 22 June 2016]

After the classic penultimate episode, John Logan's finale for "Penny Dreadful" was quite disappointing. The actors can't be faulted, but the creator's creative juices seem to have run out before the finish line -too bad there's no Gatorade for the brain's inspiration centers.

Problem is obvious: the need to tie up loose ends, involving many disparate characters, is almost insurmountable when one's narrative is a hodge-podge, almost crazy quilt compendium of famous personalities lifted from diverse, really contradictory stories and traditions. In a satire (even those dreadful "porn parodies" that proliferate in the XXX world) or just comedy one can have Dracula meet Dr. Frankenstein and the Wolfman and even Abbott & Costello - Universal Pictures made a mint doing so in the '40s and '50s. But given the extremely serious tone of the later episodes of the series (in the finale we do get a few wisecracks to momentarily lighten the mood, as in Patti Lupone's joke about "us New Yorkers" which I could readily identify with), Logan's pivot to sentimentality and a religious basis for his conclusion came off as forced and artificial.

It's one of the reasons I have always preferred clean, clear-cut TV series to the increasingly pretentious "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" thrown in recent series that win all the awards. Most of them, ranging from "Lost" to "The Sopranos" die with me of their own weight, merely to choose two which like "Penny Dreadful" wrapped up with unsatisfactory, lousy endings. Back in the day "Perry Mason" hewed to its pulp Erle Stanley Gardner origins, and the loyal viewer knew exactly what to expect and was pleasantly satisfied week after week. Sure, it's fun and superficially "creative" to mix things up and rock the boat, but the need to betray the loyal audience's expectations nowadays is more cavalier and often insulting rather than thought-provoking. Logan certainly didn't have me wanting to apply (a little late in my life) to attend divinity school after watching segment 3.9.

In particular I would point out some particularly bad moments: near the very end we have the supporting characters, still alive ones, like Wes Studi, Lupone and Perdita Weeks, suddenly physically pivot and theatrically exit the stage, reduced to truly cardboard characters as we get to focus on the stars of the series like Hartnett wrapping things up melodramatically. Similarly, Billie Piper's exit was a yawner, while dear Dorian Gray was arbitrarily given a supreme importance that belies the whole point of Oscar Wilde's creation: after all he titled it "The Picture of Dorian Gray", not "Dorian Gray" surrounded by other folks' pictures as Logan re-imagined him - Gray is not an immortal God like the Greeks' pantheon but more of a ticking time bomb character in my reading of the story. Also, the conclusion to Jekyll/Hyde's story was lame, merely an excuse for another gag line, as Dr. Frank called him "Lord Hyde".

The best scene for me was due to technical reasons rather than thematic. When Frankenstein's monster Rory lays his dead son in a shroud in the water instead of crawling back to Doc Victor for a quickie re-animation as his wife so provocatively and forcefully requested, the entire scene hit my eyes as completely black and white - a terrific and subtle effect that gives the show's director and crew kudos. The drab look of Hi-Def camera shooting (I wish 35mm film were still used for television but you can't fight "progress") wore me out watching "Penny Dreadful" and this spot-on approximation of the good old sharp black-and-white I grew up on was a timely relief.

In the vein of true German romanticism

[Reidal80 · 10/10 · 20 June 2016]

I got to say after the great and deep season 1 Penny dreadful lower my expectations in season 2 , the writing was more direct and commercial and they skipped a lot of the romanticism lines season 1 got, and well... Witches im not so found of, but with season 3 was part happy because vampires were back, and knowing Logan and his influence of Coppola 's Dracula for sure the deep and romanticism will back, and yes, they did. Amazing ending, jhon claire was super in his words all the ending, and the last shot was a tribute to the old German romanticism in the vein of Goethe : a devastated man crying in the tomb of his dead love...

The Main Story Fizzles, but Sub-Plots Shine

[tgrock · 6/10 · 4 February 2017]

Episode 7's end saw Vanessa ready to kill Dracula, but after hearing a speech by him, she not only decided not to kill him, but to also give herself to him. This moment was extremely unconvincing and an example of forced, lazy writing unbecoming of the show. The worst was yet to come though as episode 8 and 9 sees this main story line become increasingly hokey.

For example, at the end of episode 8, Ethan is attacked by vampires who easily would have killed him if it weren't for him turning into a werewolf. Yet, in the finale, the vampires become little more than cattle, easily killed by the likes of Sir Malcolm, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Seward, and Catriona Hartdegen, who have no supernatural abilities but also seem never to have to reload their guns. It is really this whole sequence that drags the episode down.

First, our main characters decide to attack the vampire lair at daylight when they don't have their two greatest weapons, two werewolves, available. Second, the sequence occurs above. Third, we have Ethan who sneaks his way past Dracula to Vanessa. Why Dracula, who could kill the four powerless characters mentioned above in an instant (as he quickly throws them around like dolls), does not attend to protecting his bride, makes no sense. But we also have Vanessa, who earlier in the episode was shown to have completely changed into a merciless villain wanting our other main characters dead, now discoursing with Ethan for a few minutes before asking him to predictably kill her. What the heck? So, Ethan obliges and then we turn back to Dracula, who somehow is still engaged in battle with the four powerless characters. How did Sir Malcomb, Dr. Frankenstein, Dr. Seward, and Catriona Hartdegan survive, let alone not even get injured? Surely, getting tossed against a wall by Dracula should have caused some bones to break. This quarrel stops when Ethan emerges carrying a dead Vanessa. That's understandable, but then Dracula just runs away. Why wouldn't he seek revenge on these characters? It's all a just a big mess.

Thankfully, the episode is redeemed by Lily, Dorian Gray, and the Creature. I would have to admit Dorian Gray's inclusion in the show never really felt necessary until the Season 2 finale, when I assumed he and Lily would become the primary villains of the show. Even the Creature and Lily weren't that necessary. But the show stuck with these characters and it paid off. For Lily and Dr. Frankenstein, we get the most emotional moment of the show where finally both characters reveal their humanity and reject their both of their immoral campaigns. Then Lily returns back to Dorian who has killed Justine, only to reject him saying she doesn't want to live like him anymore. Dorian brushes this off predicting Lily will get lonely eventually and seek him out. Still, Lily leaves despite this truth regarding her eternal life.

The Creature's arc is complete when after the death of his son, his wife requests he bring their son to Dr. Frankenstein to resurrect or else not come back to her. He opts not to abide her request, and for a man who forced Dr. Frankenstein to resurrect a female for him so he would not be lonely, this is remarkable as he is essentially opting for a life of loneliness. Watching him submerge his dead son's corpse in the river was heart-wrenching.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this show ending. Season 3 was terrific up until the end of Episode 7 and since only the main character was lost, the show could easily move go on. Still, maybe the showrunners might botch Lily, Dorian Gray, and the Creature's arcs just like they did Vanessa's.

Disappointing end to excellent series

[zyclunt · 6/10 · 30 October 2018]

I really loved Penny Dreadful even with weaker 3rd season but the ending episode is rather bad. Let me start with good things. Resolution to both Dorian/Lily and John Clare stories are fantastic. Even as little time as Jekyll got it was good as we could see him slowly descending into madness. Acting is still great as are visuals. Too bad resolution to the whole series sucks. So Vanessa just got shot which is just plain stupid. In previous episodes we were told that she have become evil but she wasn't. We were told Ethan is important and he wasn't. Why would Dracula be afraid of him? Also Dracula wasn't as good villain as Madame Kali and Catriona felt out of place. Ending seemed rushed and forced. Really series could end like that in the middle of season 1. It makes You mad if a fantastic story told in Penny Dreadful gets a weak anding full of plot holes.

Get this over quick

[J-Tone · 5/10 · 5 December 2017]

The finale was a disappointment and it was predictable that it would be. The episodes that lead up it were already showing a lack of inspiration and the loss of the show's original spirit. This last episode had to somehow conclude the story, which however was not possible due to the already scattered plot. Therefore, I honestly did not expect much of it in the first place.

All three story lines, main and sub-plots had to end within this episode somehow, even if forced and this is the feeling I had during the entire episode. One example is when Dr. Frankenstein decides to set Lily free without erasing her memory. What a coincidence that his friends are at the same place and the exactly same time. Then it's just "Hey, Mr. Frankenstein, you are here too? Let's go fight some vampires". This is already absurd but this is just minutes after Dr. Frankenstein maybe made one of toughest decisions of his life by letting go the woman he loves although he would have had the power to keep her. This is just one scene out of others in that episode that seem forced because it all needs to end quick. The big final fight is lame and lacks logic.

Well, it was an ending that matched the decreasing quality of the series. This episode is the outcome of poor scripts prior to it – the story had to end leaving more than one question unanswered.

Anti-climactic, a waste of good ideas

[astext · 4/10 · 4 May 2017]

Unfortunately the last season didn't live up to the promise laid down before it.

Other reviews here have covered it more specifically, but I think they dropped the ball on the Vanessa Ives character and then for her to just give up was disappointing. This seemed echoed in the cast as they acted out the last of it in a very unenthusiastic and bored manner, or so it seemed to me.

It also seemed like the story didn't know what it wanted to be - some sociology themes signaling various post modern virtues eg women's lib, that some 'monsters' (Frankenstein's creation)can be good and decent etc, at the great expense of the central narrative, or perhaps as a result of the absence of a main narrative.

To me, the 3rd season in general and the final episode in particular failed the audience and its central characters Vanessa Ives and Sir Malcolm.

Loved the Wordsworth poem though.

what a waste of this cast-sad

[Benji-1031 · 1/10 · 16 November 2018]

This was the worst finale of a tv show ever. So disappointing, you know better John Logan. Vanessa gets shot because she can't muster the strength to fight dracula, even with Ethan and Malcolm by her side. Dracula runs away. Lily exits stage left. Dorian-no ending. Same for Frankenstein. All the new cast disappears and why were they even there? It all came to a nothing burger and now Showtime is claiming a spin-off with Logan back at the helm. Why? I'll pass.

Penny dreadfuls dreadful ending spoilers warning

[josepitheman · 5/10 · 22 June 2016]

Spoilers ahead

I have watched this show since the beginning and I have loved it until now. Vanessa Ives basically had been bitten by dracular in the episode previous and hasn't become a vampire apparently people can be bit and not turn now as even sir malcone gets bit. Corterising the wound heals being a vampire.

Anyways Ethan and co must save Vanessa from the clutches of dracular and the end of the world. The sky is grey with fog and the night creatures are walking the streets of London only. Not the rest of the world just London. Some people are going about their normal day to day lives. For instance dr Hyde. He goes about his normal rounds why the outside world is foggy and filled with apparent night creatures. In one scene day to day life is normal in the next their are vampires on the street.

I did like the fights in it. The werewolves taking on vampires. With the werewolves Sunderland able to control who they kill and who the choose not to kill was a new level of poor. The actors did deliver very well in their parts but I feel the end was rushed.

Penny dreadful had a chance to go in many different directions but always falls back down the same boring vampire route.

It was good in season one Season / with the witches and now back to vampires again. I think the show failed is fans in the end here.