‘Penny Dreadful’ Brings Everything ‘Crashing Together’ In The Season Finale


Warning: This article contains spoilers for Penny Dreadful.

Penny Dreadful will come to a close this Sunday and, even though it comes a day after Independence Day, it seems fans can expect Penny Dreadful to go out with a big bang. Last week saw the mismatched heroes of Penny Dreadful confronting Evelyn Poole (Helen McCrory) on her own turf and, as might have been predicted, the team found themselves at more than a slight disadvantage.

While Vanessa (Eva Green) faces the devil in the guise of Evelyn Poole, Ethan Chandler confronts his own inner monster at the most inopportune moment, risking the life of the only soul in the group to know the entire truth of his identity, Sembene (Danny Sapani).

Those are only a couple examples of the abundant story fragments that will come together in a powerful conclusion in the second season finale of Penny Dreadful, according to showrunner John Logan.

“I’m exceptionally proud of the season finale,” the Penny Dreadful creator says, “because I do think it delivers something very surprising. A lot of characters and a lot of plot strands are in function in season 2, and in the finale, they all come together — sort of come crashing together — and in a way, the family that we built so carefully over two seasons is really challenged and begins to fracture in what I think are interesting ways.”

There’s a general theme in Penny Dreadful that, although present throughout the series’ previous episodes, will be seen forcefully in the Penny Dreadful finale.

Logan hopes Penny Dreadful is compelling in the way that it reminds fans “that all of us are flawed, and you can either embrace your flaws and let them empower you, or you can let them cripple you.”

In combining that theme with the story at hand, Logan reminds Penny Dreadful fans to bear one episode in mind as they head into the season finale. John says that “The Nightcomers,” which featured the cut-wife (Patti LuPone), was really important for setting the stage for one final confrontation in particular.

“It was such an intense episode, because it was really almost just those two actors [Green and LuPone] for an hour, and it relied on the text; it relied on their performance; it relied on a sensitive director.”

Looking back, the Penny Dreadful creator admits to feeling more at ease with his characters and with developing their personalities, something he feels confident has contributed to a more well-rounded second season of Penny Dreadful.

“I was more confident writing lighter moments for the characters, and the actors were more confident embracing those, so I think in the second season we were more romantic—we were certainly more musical, more choreographic—and funnier.”

John Logan admits Penny Dreadful may have been a bit too dire in its premiere season.

“There’s only so much melancholy brooding you can do in Victorian fog.”

Penny Dreadful airs Sunday on Showtime.

[Featured image: Eva Green and Helen McCrory courtesy of Showtime/Penny Dreadful]

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