Review: ‘Penny Dreadful’ Season 3 Is Still So Much Better Than It Should Be. Watch Legacy Online Freeform on this page. As John Logan’s “Penny Dreadful” returns for Season 3, Vanessa Ives — the all- powerful medium played to utter perfection by the captivating Eva Green — has become a recluse. Green plays ravenous just as enticingly as she portends possession, and it’s in these enthralling details that “Penny Dreadful” works better, perhaps, than it should. After all, the Showtime horror series, which could read like bibliophile fan fiction if it weren’t so damn gorgeous (and cleverly plotted), ended last season with Green chanting in tongues to a ventriloquist doll designed to look just like her — and be her equal in power. Throw in Hartnett’s wild werewolf storming in as scorpions crawl out of the dummy’s shattered face (I guess it wasn’t so powerful after all), slicing open the throat of another medium who’s threatening Vanessa, and you were caught in a firestorm of over- the- top action.

Yet Logan must have wisened quickly to his madcap impulses, capping them within the finale’s first 2. But for as well as that worked for Season 2’s final hour, Season 3’s disconnected starting point felt troublesome, as it becomes clear it could be some time before anyone — let alone everyone — gets back together. The latter half of the Season 2 finale focused on the core group of “good guys” going their separate ways: Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) sailed away to bury Sembene (Danny Sapani). Ethan (Josh Hartnett) was extradited to America to stand trial/be hung for his many crimes on both continents. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) reserved himself to a life of lovelorn loneliness, as the partner he created for his first monster, John Clare (Rory Kinnear), spurned both the creature and its creator in favor of Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) — turns out Lily (Billie Piper) aspired to more devious dreams than Frankenstein or his monster.

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Below is the full list of known pilots for 2016. We'll be doing our best to keep this continually updated as and when new information is posted and new pilots are. 26th October 2017 Sky Store adds more choice for customers with more ways to Buy & Keep the latest movies. Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your Watchlist and rate your favorite movies and TV shows on your phone or tablet! IMDb Mobile site. Created by John Logan. With Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green, Reeve Carney. Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor. Metacritic TV Reviews, Penny Dreadful - Season 1, In Victorian London, Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton) encounter Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney. The official site of the SHOWTIME Original Series Penny Dreadful. Find out about new episodes, watch previews, go behind the scenes and more. The legendary John Carpenter is returning for a new Halloween movie! He'll executive produce (and potentially score) a new big screen feature film.

That left Green’s character, who, by the end of Season 2, had rebuked Ethan’s advances and then tried to give into them. Alas, it was too late, and his mysterious departure combined with the past losses she’s suffered drove her to become sequestered. Purposefully distancing characters from each other to such literal and figurative extremes can sometimes feel like desperation. While disconnected from the dark, period genre of “Penny Dreadful,” “The O. C.” is the example that sticks out as a series so frantic for new plot lines, it ruined itself seasons too early by breaking up the core four. Similar complaints have been lodged against “The X- Files” for breaking up Mulder and Scully, “Parks and Recreation” in its final season and “Arrested Development” Season 4 (the Netflix year, as it’s known). While “Penny Dreadful” has always functioned as an ensemble built of strong individual pieces, we saw the true potential of the cast when they were forced into group during Season 2. The new season properly notes this loss, as the house they all met and/or resided within is promptly given a lengthy and haunting montage depicting its empty and decrepit nature.

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No longer are the unique creations of Logan’s mind — all inspired by literature without being directly connected to trademarked characters — as firmly united as they once were. And yet this proves no detriment to the series, in part because of the incredible talents of each performer involved, but also thanks to Logan’s rejiggered efforts to set up a truly frightening tease in the first two episodes. Starting with Green and running straight down the line of series regulars, “Penny Dreadful” remains a treasure trove of acting talent. Showtime has pulled out all the stops in past years to get Green, at least, some well- deserved awards recognition, but be it the early May release — which kept Season 1 from qualifying until the following year’s Emmys, when Season 2 actually aired enough episodes to make a run on its own — or the general genre bias against horror shows (except “American Horror Story,” apparently), “Penny Dreadful” has come up empty- handed. It’s not for lack of merit. While I could spend 1,0. I may do just that during this long, ongoing Emmys season — those who watch know the talent within, and this season these thespians are relied upon to carry plot lines crafted singularly for each of them.

Logan’s trust is justified, but “Penny Dreadful” has never merely been an actors’ showcase. Season 3’s American- set storyline breaks things up nicely with some classic western elements mixed in with the show’s established creature horrors, and the aesthetics of the production have never looked better. Always willing to experiment with enticing character crossovers, Logan also cleverly incorporates a partnership between Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyl. But his true masterstroke comes in the slow roll out of a yet- to- be- announced “big bad,” which makes the endings of both new episodes truly terrifying.

Will the good guys have to unite to stop him? Perhaps, but until they do, we’ll be just fine enjoying this lavish and beloved blend of stories. Stay on top of the latest TV news! Sign up for our TV email newsletter here.

Creator John Logan and Showtime’s David Nevins on the Decision to End ‘Penny Dreadful’ – Variety. This post contains spoilers about the season three finale of “Penny Dreadful.”Two words appeared on the screen at the end of “The Blessed Dark,” the season three finale of the Victorian horror series “Penny Dreadful”: “The End.” As it turns out, the season finale of the Showtime drama (which was recapped here) was also its series finale. Vanessa Ives died in the last episode of season three, and the show will not return. Variety spoke to Showtime president David Nevins and “Penny Dreadful” creator John Logan about why they made the decision to end the show after making a grand total of 2. That’s where television is now,” Nevins said. We don’t have to make seven seasons for the sake of making seven seasons. Some shows are built for that, and some shows aren’t.”“I was just joking that Flaubert said ‘Bovary, c’est moi.’ And I say, “Vanessa Ives, c’est moi,'” noted Logan, whom Variety interviewed at the start of season three.

Logan said he saw the character’s endgame approaching during the making of season two, and the writer, who is adapting Patti Smith’s “Just Kids” for Showtime, said wrapping things up at the end of season three just felt like the right decision. Why is “Penny Dreadful” ending? Nevins: My short answer is, because John convinced me that this was the right end, and the right time to end. It gives closure to Vanessa Ives, and without Vanessa Ives, the show shouldn’t go on.

Logan: This is a show about Vanessa Ives and her struggle with faith — how one woman grapples with God and the devil. Midway through the second season, when we were filming it —so about two years ago— I realized where we were heading.

A woman who loses her faith in the second season, she has to grasp her way back. What that would take? To me, that was an apotheosis — she would find peace finally with God. I realized that’s where the show was heading, and so I talked to Eva about it and then I talked to David. There was no doubt in your mind that it had to end?

Logan: No doubt in my mind. Eva Green really is my muse, and I set out to write a story about a very complicated character that I love deeply. She represents so much of what I am, what I hope to be, what I fear I am. I’m deeply invested in that character. Then I met an artist, Eva Green, who inspired me more than any actor I’ve ever worked with before, and that became the show for me. To continue it past Vanessa’s death would be, for me, an act of bad faith.

Obviously the show has a passionate audience. But if the buzz and the ratings had been much greater, would there have been much more of an impetus to keep it going? Nevins: I didn’t need more impetus to keep it going. This show was very effective and meaningful to us. I have a little bit of heartbreak over it.

But ultimately every show I think has the right trajectory, and John convinced me that this was the right way to handle this show. It’s painful to me, but after a little bit of kicking and screaming, in a relatively short amount of time, I got it. Logan: Some poems are meant to be haikus, some are meant to be sonnets and some are meant to be tone poems. And this was meant to be a sonnet. Watch Slash Online Forbes. It just feels right to me. And I have to say it’s not just [working with Eva I’ll miss].

To get the chance to work with Josh Hartnett and Tim Dalton and Rory Kinnear day after day has been an absolute joy. Their commitment to the show is without equal.

It was a tough decision for everyone. There was a lot of emotion involved. It wasn’t a blithe or facile decision. It was something we all talked about. Nevins: Television is in a place now where each show can have its own sort of rhythm, its own trajectory. There’s not “one size fits all.” There’s no longer an economic imperative to get to 1. This show is going to live for a very long time and I think it’s going to get re- watched.

You know, “Arrested Development” went three seasons, and that was enough. It’s a very similar situation, and I think it’s exciting to handle each show as a very individual organism. I sometimes wonder if the period aspect, the Victoriana of it all, which I loved, might have been an aspect of why it didn’t become even bigger. Logan: That’s not a question I ask myself, because to me it’s the world it is. I’ve written a lot in my 3.

I can say is when I meet fans of “Penny Dreadful,” they are more passionate, more engaged and more drawn into the reality of these characters than any fans that I’ve met in my life. So whether the numbers could be bigger or smaller, I can’t comment on that. Nevins: This show is pretty big worldwide, not the biggest, so you may be surprised it’s not the biggest hit, but it’s been a significant show for us, in terms of audience and in terms of impact. But you knew this was the final season going into it, right? Can you talk about that? Nevins: We deliberately made the decision not to announce going into season three this was the final season, because given where we knew the season was ending, that would have been a massive spoiler. It would not have felt like the right way to handle this show.

If it had been a more conventional show, I think I would have given a little more warning to the audience. But it felt like, in this case, that was the obvious move, but not the bold move. Logan: Right. And also not appropriate to what “Penny Dreadful” is. What I hear from the fans time and time again is they love the theatricality of this show.

They love the vigor, the panache, the fact that we’re not afraid to make strong choices and to surprise them and shock them and upset them. After the episode last season where Patti Lu. Pone’s character was burned at the stake, people came up to me angry. They were so emotional about it. But that’s the kind of fans we have — very emotionally committed fans. And to treat them with less than absolute respect would have been the wrong thing to do.

The way you treat them with respect is you give them what they want, which is strong drama and strong decisions. If John had never broached the idea of ending the show, David, were you prepared to have a season four or beyond of “Penny Dreadful”? Nevins: Absolutely. On its own merits this show would absolutely keep going if there wasn’t a creative reason to be done now.

This show had these themes of oppression, power, creating your own family, resisting power structures. Logan: Breaking free. Breaking free from your demon and accepting your demon at the same time. Did you feel like you got enough time to play with those themes?

Logan: Completely. If I weren’t, I’d keep writing. But those themes are also just part of me, and every writer has their themes. I’m an Irish- American writer, and the idea of damnation and salvation are in my DNA. That’s really what this show is about and really that’s a subject I will always return to, because at the end of the day, I don’t write to darkness. I write toward redemption.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s “Penny Dreadful” or “Just Kids” or “Skyfall” — you have to write to the light. What is the most surprising thing you learned about yourself as a creator from this experience? Logan: I have more stamina than I thought I was going to.

It is a tiring job, running a show, and the fact that if I could do it, I found very surprising and sort of delightful. In a way, the better answer to that is, I love writing episodically, because I’d always written in two- hour blocks. To write like Dickens or to write like Thackeray, to write like, “Tune in next week!” — it was a very fulfilling thing.

I’m just struggling a little with the fact that, this was a show that was so often about women empowering themselves. And then to see Vanessa actually sacrifice herself so that these guys could learn something, and so the world wouldn’t end — can you talk me through that? Nevins: You have such conventional ideas of life and death. If you had a less conventional idea of death, you wouldn’t feel that way.