I haven't done a TV post in a while, which is unfortunate because I feel like it's been a particularly good year for TV. Or maybe just a particularly good year for me and TV; I feel like I've been watching and enjoying so many more shows than I did in recent years past.
As of right now, I am desperately obsessed with Penny Dreadful. Desperately obsessed. I have honestly not felt like this about a show in a long time; FX's You're the Worst probably came the closest to rustling up such intensity of feeling in me. And of course excluding longer-running now-defunct stuff like Mad Men. I am just so satisfied with Penny Dreadful; it is like everything 13-year-old goth me would have ever wanted in a show, except also attuned to 25-year-old me's non-asshole tastes. What do I even do until season three.
I don't know if anyone on my flist watches it so I'mma try to keep this post a mix of spoilery and spoiler-free; let's just all dive in together.
![]()
Eva Green was a big draw to the show for me because I've been a fan for years and the show more than delivers on the Eva front. It's an ensemble but she is undoubtedly the centerpiece, and I find it really delightful to watch the show revel in and cater to her immense talent. No one else could be Vanessa Ives. She's it. She's so casually terrifying in the role and then simultaneously vulnerable; gentle and good one second and then viciously vengeful the next. Her physicality is astonishing. And I always felt Eva had a very Old Hollywood quality, just in that she can be incredibly cool and self-possessed and glamorous, but there is also something hella weird and zany about her. She's just amazing and I am so happy she has a role on a show that deserves her. I don't want to be tooooo spoilery about the Vanessa stuff because it's so great but man. MAN. THE END OF SEASON TWO.
(I feel like my Eva section is too short but how much could I rhapsodize on her perfection??)
Also lusting after Josh Harnett like it is 2001???????? I thought he had fully faded from cultural relevancy, but who knew he was actually just quietly becoming cuter this entire time? I adore Ethan and it's made me realize a type I have, or perhaps have always had, and it is such a cliche type: i.e., very tall, very gentle men. It's so Porn for Women but there you have it. Ethan is so kind and so protective but it's not in an obnoxious or overly self-serving way. He's not insensible to his own faults or mistakes, but he's also able to function as a person while managing his remorse and self-loathing. I really like how the show handles the sins of Ethan's past and the small ways it lets you know he never, ever forgets them. Nor does he sugarcoat or rationalize them, as other characters (cough cough Victor) can do. It's really the best Josh Harnett has ever been in anything, bar none.
Ethan is also an incorrigible flirt and I love this. He will flirt with anyone any time, any place, anywhere.
(Also is everyone on Penny Dreadful super petite or is old Joshua really that huge??? He's always towering over everyone and hunching into little Victorian chairs and putting his big hands tenderly onto women's faces.)
![]()
check that hair flip; he does that a lot
Ethan/Vanessa reeeeaaaallllly gets me as a ship because of the sheer RESPECT they have for each other. Mutual respect is catnip to me. I think it is an Ella-and-Char definitive thing from my youth, but maybe a Lois-and-Clark thing even before that. It just works for me. And part of what's great is that it's not unique to their relationship; it's not because Vanessa is ~so special. Ethan is equally respectful to Brona and I really loved them together too. Being new to the show and entirely unfamiliar with fandom, I'm curious how Ethan/Brona was received. I suspect…not well though admittedly I have absolutely nothing to base this on except a feeling. The point is Ethan was never once judgmental or cruel to Brona, only kind and supportive. And I love that, because it's rare, especially in a complicated antihero of a leading man.
Ethan and Vanessa are also interesting from a romantic standpoint because even though from episode one it's obvious that they're the ShowTP, they hit the usual beats in a much nicer way. I don't know, ShowTPs tend to bother me a lot of the time, partially out of spite because I don't like being told what to do, and also because any informed qualities on television can be iffy in reception. Like, if you're told two people are Destined and Connected but the actors don't have just the right chemistry, or you personally as an audience member aren't feeling it, then the entire endeavor can fall flat and a huge portion of the show rings false. I wouldn't say Eva and Josh have heartstopping chemistry or anything, but the relationship between their characters feels deep, true, and grounded.
![]()
Speaking of unexpected kindness, I think that is kind of a hallmark of the show? This is not to say people aren't cruel on this show; they can be very cruel at times. Part of it is perhaps mannered Victorian politeness but I think there is just a kind heart beating at the center of this entire production. Supernatural shows are often better than most at creating believable found families, and PD is no exception; the way these people grow to count on each other, the depth of friendship formed between them, the creation of family where there was none – it's all very beautifully done. I was really missing that aspect of a show. And so like (some, I should say) family, even when there's bitterness or anger, there is a still a baseline of love. Even when some of that kindness is selfish or at the very least self-serving (looking at you so very hard, Victor), I still respond to its being there at all.
While I'm nudging old Victor, let us actually speak of him. Again, I'm not in fandom for this show, but I would hazard a guess that Victor is relatively popular among fans. And I really like the character but wowza is he a mess internally. He reminds me a lot of season one Simon from Misfits, in a way: a character who is cagey and awkward, or just, you know, the Weird Kid but played by a cute actor who lends the character an irresistibly endearing quality. I think this was ultimately to Simon's detriment, as the show turned him into more of a classic hero and that kind of dissolved his more creeper qualities, like that time he had a pizza with a corpse (remember?). But the show is thankfully not ignorant to Victor's shit qualities, they are obviously very much on purpose, and I appreciate that conflicting push-pull of like-dislike as a viewer (when it's done right). Mad Men was the best at that. So, like, Victor is not doing anything with the intention of being malicious and he gets ahead of himself and he believes himself to be wholly justified but he's wrong and fucked up and we all know it.
Actually, with regards to the men on this show (Victor, Malcolm, Ethan, and even Dorian though perhaps not Caliban/John Clare), part of what I love is how aware the show is of the character's sins. It does not flatter or romanticize or even lowkey enjoy, which I feel is sometimes the case even with shows that are purposefully morally ambiguous. It's hard not to do that tbh! Especially because as mostly non-garbage humans, writing is such a safe way to experience shady shit and it can be very fun to do that. But there is a distinct lack of it on PD that I find refreshing. It's messy and gross and the characters do fucked up things but the show makes you look at it. I love Victor even though he's garbage and it's definitely a huge relief to have it narratively acknowledged. Like, for example, Victor is emotionally abusive to Lily and abuses his position of power over her. At one point Lily flat-out says to him, "It's abuse." It's like when Betty finally got to divorce Don and there was that amazing episode when they finally hashed out all the dark, gross, murky parts of their relationship. I love emotional ambiguity a lot but there is a immense satisfaction in finally getting to call a duck a duck, you know?
My only qualms are Dorian Gray (Grey?) and Caliban/John Clare and I feel like a lot of that is due to miscasting tbh. I don't know if I'm supposed to have sympathy for Caliban (I think we are supposed to be sympathetic to him based on his scenes with Vanessa??), but he's such a fucker that all I actually want for him is bloody death. For such a whining, pathetic, cringing man he's also such an entitled prick. Dorian is, at times, pure fan fiction (I don't even mean that in a bad way, at all, and in fact I find it quite interesting how fanfic has invaded the narratives of Real Shows, PD is a good example of it done in a good way) and I would probably like him a lot if someone else were playing him. For a character who is supposed to be overwhelmingly attractive and charismatic to an absurd degree, they could not have picked more of a charisma black hole than this dude. His new haircut and the delightful introduction of Angelique have made him more bearable in season two, but oh man did I want to murder him all throughout season one (it probably also helps that he's steering clear of my faves this year). This is a dude who supposedly bags Josh Harnett AND Eva Green in rapid succession??? THAT guy??? He's not even cute which would be fine if he could act, but he can't, and it's especially glaring when put opposite someone like Eva who rips apart the very molecules in the air when she so much as glances at someone a certain way. Their sex scene made me so mad, lol, like GET AWAY FROM HER who gave you the right to breathe Eva Green's air????? Swanning around in his Victorian Jim Morrison outfits, all rings and leather pants, which should by all rights be amazing but is actually just incredibly annoying.
Though, again, much improved in season two.
AND THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT ALL THE MONSTER WOMEN. Oh my god so many monster women! So many monstrous women literally and figuratively!! There is much talk of The Master on this show, by which one means the literal devil and not that movie with Joaquin Phoenix. But we never see the Master, so primarily we are dealing with his female henchmen, so to speak. In the first season there are vampires and while the main ones are rather genderless but presumed male, the sheer numbers of Dracula's Wives types is staggering; and Mina is the driving force behind a lot of the first season's action, and she's both victim and antagonist herself. But my favorite, my absolute favorite, is the WITCHES. MY GOD THE WITCHES. The devil language, the rituals, the monstrous appearance, the contorting physicality. Helen McCrory's KNIFE RINGS. Not to mention good old devil-possessed Vanessa herself, the burgeoning Head Witch.
And there's Billie Piper. She's another one I've always liked (never watched DW but I loved Secret Diaries of a Call Girl) and she is phenomenal on this show. If you have seen The Scene on tumblr…it does not even do it justice. I was, like, sitting there wide-eyed at my computer with my hands on my face. Chilling. Shattering. It's a damn shame genre shows never get nominated because Eva Green and Billie Piper both deserve little statuettes with their names on them for their work on this show. Their performances are STAGGERING. I absolutely love when you can see an actor really sink their teeth into something and then shred it to little tiny pieces.
Also for a show that is so Serious Business and full of literature and horror there is also such a sense of humor! Dr. Frankenstein and Vanessa go shopping! Ethan Chandler's Wild West Show & Accompanying Moustache! Dorian goes on a Victorian table tennis date! Vanessa teaches Ethan how to waltz!
![]()
![]()
It is just such a good show and it makes me so happy and everyone should go watch it. I have not even talked about the fashion. I have not even talked about things with the specificity they deserve. I have not even talked about the worldbuilding or built-in mythos of the show. There is just TOO MUCH I am too pleased.
As of right now, I am desperately obsessed with Penny Dreadful. Desperately obsessed. I have honestly not felt like this about a show in a long time; FX's You're the Worst probably came the closest to rustling up such intensity of feeling in me. And of course excluding longer-running now-defunct stuff like Mad Men. I am just so satisfied with Penny Dreadful; it is like everything 13-year-old goth me would have ever wanted in a show, except also attuned to 25-year-old me's non-asshole tastes. What do I even do until season three.
I don't know if anyone on my flist watches it so I'mma try to keep this post a mix of spoilery and spoiler-free; let's just all dive in together.
Eva Green was a big draw to the show for me because I've been a fan for years and the show more than delivers on the Eva front. It's an ensemble but she is undoubtedly the centerpiece, and I find it really delightful to watch the show revel in and cater to her immense talent. No one else could be Vanessa Ives. She's it. She's so casually terrifying in the role and then simultaneously vulnerable; gentle and good one second and then viciously vengeful the next. Her physicality is astonishing. And I always felt Eva had a very Old Hollywood quality, just in that she can be incredibly cool and self-possessed and glamorous, but there is also something hella weird and zany about her. She's just amazing and I am so happy she has a role on a show that deserves her. I don't want to be tooooo spoilery about the Vanessa stuff because it's so great but man. MAN. THE END OF SEASON TWO.
(I feel like my Eva section is too short but how much could I rhapsodize on her perfection??)
Also lusting after Josh Harnett like it is 2001???????? I thought he had fully faded from cultural relevancy, but who knew he was actually just quietly becoming cuter this entire time? I adore Ethan and it's made me realize a type I have, or perhaps have always had, and it is such a cliche type: i.e., very tall, very gentle men. It's so Porn for Women but there you have it. Ethan is so kind and so protective but it's not in an obnoxious or overly self-serving way. He's not insensible to his own faults or mistakes, but he's also able to function as a person while managing his remorse and self-loathing. I really like how the show handles the sins of Ethan's past and the small ways it lets you know he never, ever forgets them. Nor does he sugarcoat or rationalize them, as other characters (cough cough Victor) can do. It's really the best Josh Harnett has ever been in anything, bar none.
Ethan is also an incorrigible flirt and I love this. He will flirt with anyone any time, any place, anywhere.
(Also is everyone on Penny Dreadful super petite or is old Joshua really that huge??? He's always towering over everyone and hunching into little Victorian chairs and putting his big hands tenderly onto women's faces.)
check that hair flip; he does that a lot
Ethan/Vanessa reeeeaaaallllly gets me as a ship because of the sheer RESPECT they have for each other. Mutual respect is catnip to me. I think it is an Ella-and-Char definitive thing from my youth, but maybe a Lois-and-Clark thing even before that. It just works for me. And part of what's great is that it's not unique to their relationship; it's not because Vanessa is ~so special. Ethan is equally respectful to Brona and I really loved them together too. Being new to the show and entirely unfamiliar with fandom, I'm curious how Ethan/Brona was received. I suspect…not well though admittedly I have absolutely nothing to base this on except a feeling. The point is Ethan was never once judgmental or cruel to Brona, only kind and supportive. And I love that, because it's rare, especially in a complicated antihero of a leading man.
Ethan and Vanessa are also interesting from a romantic standpoint because even though from episode one it's obvious that they're the ShowTP, they hit the usual beats in a much nicer way. I don't know, ShowTPs tend to bother me a lot of the time, partially out of spite because I don't like being told what to do, and also because any informed qualities on television can be iffy in reception. Like, if you're told two people are Destined and Connected but the actors don't have just the right chemistry, or you personally as an audience member aren't feeling it, then the entire endeavor can fall flat and a huge portion of the show rings false. I wouldn't say Eva and Josh have heartstopping chemistry or anything, but the relationship between their characters feels deep, true, and grounded.
Speaking of unexpected kindness, I think that is kind of a hallmark of the show? This is not to say people aren't cruel on this show; they can be very cruel at times. Part of it is perhaps mannered Victorian politeness but I think there is just a kind heart beating at the center of this entire production. Supernatural shows are often better than most at creating believable found families, and PD is no exception; the way these people grow to count on each other, the depth of friendship formed between them, the creation of family where there was none – it's all very beautifully done. I was really missing that aspect of a show. And so like (some, I should say) family, even when there's bitterness or anger, there is a still a baseline of love. Even when some of that kindness is selfish or at the very least self-serving (looking at you so very hard, Victor), I still respond to its being there at all.
While I'm nudging old Victor, let us actually speak of him. Again, I'm not in fandom for this show, but I would hazard a guess that Victor is relatively popular among fans. And I really like the character but wowza is he a mess internally. He reminds me a lot of season one Simon from Misfits, in a way: a character who is cagey and awkward, or just, you know, the Weird Kid but played by a cute actor who lends the character an irresistibly endearing quality. I think this was ultimately to Simon's detriment, as the show turned him into more of a classic hero and that kind of dissolved his more creeper qualities, like that time he had a pizza with a corpse (remember?). But the show is thankfully not ignorant to Victor's shit qualities, they are obviously very much on purpose, and I appreciate that conflicting push-pull of like-dislike as a viewer (when it's done right). Mad Men was the best at that. So, like, Victor is not doing anything with the intention of being malicious and he gets ahead of himself and he believes himself to be wholly justified but he's wrong and fucked up and we all know it.
Actually, with regards to the men on this show (Victor, Malcolm, Ethan, and even Dorian though perhaps not Caliban/John Clare), part of what I love is how aware the show is of the character's sins. It does not flatter or romanticize or even lowkey enjoy, which I feel is sometimes the case even with shows that are purposefully morally ambiguous. It's hard not to do that tbh! Especially because as mostly non-garbage humans, writing is such a safe way to experience shady shit and it can be very fun to do that. But there is a distinct lack of it on PD that I find refreshing. It's messy and gross and the characters do fucked up things but the show makes you look at it. I love Victor even though he's garbage and it's definitely a huge relief to have it narratively acknowledged. Like, for example, Victor is emotionally abusive to Lily and abuses his position of power over her. At one point Lily flat-out says to him, "It's abuse." It's like when Betty finally got to divorce Don and there was that amazing episode when they finally hashed out all the dark, gross, murky parts of their relationship. I love emotional ambiguity a lot but there is a immense satisfaction in finally getting to call a duck a duck, you know?
My only qualms are Dorian Gray (Grey?) and Caliban/John Clare and I feel like a lot of that is due to miscasting tbh. I don't know if I'm supposed to have sympathy for Caliban (I think we are supposed to be sympathetic to him based on his scenes with Vanessa??), but he's such a fucker that all I actually want for him is bloody death. For such a whining, pathetic, cringing man he's also such an entitled prick. Dorian is, at times, pure fan fiction (I don't even mean that in a bad way, at all, and in fact I find it quite interesting how fanfic has invaded the narratives of Real Shows, PD is a good example of it done in a good way) and I would probably like him a lot if someone else were playing him. For a character who is supposed to be overwhelmingly attractive and charismatic to an absurd degree, they could not have picked more of a charisma black hole than this dude. His new haircut and the delightful introduction of Angelique have made him more bearable in season two, but oh man did I want to murder him all throughout season one (it probably also helps that he's steering clear of my faves this year). This is a dude who supposedly bags Josh Harnett AND Eva Green in rapid succession??? THAT guy??? He's not even cute which would be fine if he could act, but he can't, and it's especially glaring when put opposite someone like Eva who rips apart the very molecules in the air when she so much as glances at someone a certain way. Their sex scene made me so mad, lol, like GET AWAY FROM HER who gave you the right to breathe Eva Green's air????? Swanning around in his Victorian Jim Morrison outfits, all rings and leather pants, which should by all rights be amazing but is actually just incredibly annoying.
Though, again, much improved in season two.
AND THEN LET'S TALK ABOUT ALL THE MONSTER WOMEN. Oh my god so many monster women! So many monstrous women literally and figuratively!! There is much talk of The Master on this show, by which one means the literal devil and not that movie with Joaquin Phoenix. But we never see the Master, so primarily we are dealing with his female henchmen, so to speak. In the first season there are vampires and while the main ones are rather genderless but presumed male, the sheer numbers of Dracula's Wives types is staggering; and Mina is the driving force behind a lot of the first season's action, and she's both victim and antagonist herself. But my favorite, my absolute favorite, is the WITCHES. MY GOD THE WITCHES. The devil language, the rituals, the monstrous appearance, the contorting physicality. Helen McCrory's KNIFE RINGS. Not to mention good old devil-possessed Vanessa herself, the burgeoning Head Witch.
And there's Billie Piper. She's another one I've always liked (never watched DW but I loved Secret Diaries of a Call Girl) and she is phenomenal on this show. If you have seen The Scene on tumblr…it does not even do it justice. I was, like, sitting there wide-eyed at my computer with my hands on my face. Chilling. Shattering. It's a damn shame genre shows never get nominated because Eva Green and Billie Piper both deserve little statuettes with their names on them for their work on this show. Their performances are STAGGERING. I absolutely love when you can see an actor really sink their teeth into something and then shred it to little tiny pieces.
Also for a show that is so Serious Business and full of literature and horror there is also such a sense of humor! Dr. Frankenstein and Vanessa go shopping! Ethan Chandler's Wild West Show & Accompanying Moustache! Dorian goes on a Victorian table tennis date! Vanessa teaches Ethan how to waltz!
It is just such a good show and it makes me so happy and everyone should go watch it. I have not even talked about the fashion. I have not even talked about things with the specificity they deserve. I have not even talked about the worldbuilding or built-in mythos of the show. There is just TOO MUCH I am too pleased.