Penny Dreadful Season 3 (2016)
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Penny Dreadful Season 3 Review
The third season of Penny Dreadful is the weakest of the show. It’s still solid, but not as good as it should have been.
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“Life, for all its anguish, is ours, Miss Ives.
It belongs to no other“
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It has nine episodes and actually most are of pretty similar quality meaning they are solid, but none are particularly great, but not bad either. It’s just a solid season that is effective to a degree, but when all is said and done, it’s the least impactful of the show.
The western elements worked, and the introduction of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Dracula also worked to a degree, but most elements felt disparate, and the entire season suffered as a result. I wanted a bigger connecting thread for all of the characters.
Dorian Gray is much less memorable this time around, but everything with Victor and the Creature was terrific. This is by far the most moving and heartfelt part of the entire show, and it continues in that fashion throughout this last season too.
But the villains were ultimately way too forgettable and underutilized. As for Ethan Chandler and Vanessa Ives, he’s great and very likable whereas she is such a tragic character in the end. Their relationship is wonderful and I wanted more of that for sure, but that final exchange between the two was tragic, and her death really left an impact on that finale and the entire season.
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It again looks and sounds good, but the action whenever there, which is rarely, is never particularly exciting and that’s the problem every season shared in my opinion. The show is at its best when dealing with characters, emotion and dialogue, but too often than not, the entertainment value was missing and the storytelling and pacing were off.
Overall, I liked this season. It was solid and effective, though overall much less memorable than the previous two seasons. But the show itself is a respectable Victorian horror drama fable which deals with these famous characters in a psychologically complex, intriguing manner.
Worst Episodes: Predators Far and Near and Good and Evil Braided Be.
Best Episodes: Perpetual Night and The Blessed Dark.
