Penny Dreadful

This is everything the league of extraordinary gentleman should have been. Some of the focal characters change, but it's essentially the same with top notch actors an insanely Gothic script n set, and the time to fully develop these under appreciated characters. Also love that vampires have a link to Africa and the Egyptian book of the dead... which is a direct tie into Sir Malcolm. If you enjoy Gothic in any artform this is for you.

I am generally a fan of macabre dramas, but this one fell short for a number of reasons. 1, While the characters are reasonably complex, they don't seem to have any real development from the beginning to the end of the series. 2, There's a lot in this show that seems to be added just for shock value, possibly to make up for the mediocre writing. 3, For being a show with a supposedly strong female protagonist, the story is distinctly anti-feminist. There's a difference between showing a woman facing the patriarchy of her time (which would be good) and a woman whose choices are dismissed by filmmaking choices, her agency minimized and overshadowed by the (poor) development of man characters. The latter is the overall pattern of the show and is incredibly disappointing given the show's potential.

Penny Dreadful is as gorgeous in its cinematography, as it is brutal in its originality of story telling. The characters portrayed are lively and abundant in personality. Each scene leaves one wanting more and questioning answers one thought one knew. Though this series is 'Chalk-full' of sex and nudity, i stand by my score of, "Must-See".