"Fresh Hell" For Some In PENNY DREADFUL Premiere

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Showtime’s PENNY DREADFUL returns for a second season this weekend with “Fresh Hell.” Picking up shortly after season one ended, many of our characters try to continue the paths they are on, whether that means raising a bride from the dead, or leaving England for good. A new villain arises, though, that may change their plans.

WARNING: The following contains light spoilers, but is mostly just a preview of the sophomore premiere.

It’s extremely interesting that the Big Bad of season two is a human, a fact well-publicized, so I don’t feel bad about revealing it here. Madame Kali (Helen McCrory), introduced in the first year, now has witches at her command and bathes in blood. She is the same woman viewers have met, yet different, with a lot more power at her command. We don’t get her origin, at least not right away, so I’m curious to see how she became this new person. But in a show full of the supernatural, seeing someone who is a human being as the threat is pretty cool.

Kali’s first attack is sent against Vanessa (Eva Green), an obvious target since she’s the one Kali has seen in action, and may just simultaneously be the most powerful and the most vulnerable of the group. The two women are similar in some ways, although Vanessa is on the side of good, for the most part, anyway. As Kali prays to a demon, Vanessa puts her faith in Jesus Christ. It seems a no-brainer that God will defeat Satan, but the battle is only beginning, and already seems quite exciting! There could definitely be casualties along the way.

Vanessa is less vulnerable than she was, though, because she has a bit of a family around her. From Ethan (Josh Hartnett), who changes his plans when Vanessa’s life is threatened, to Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), who views her as a daughter, to Sembene (Danny Sapani), the protector, to Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), perhaps the least enthusiastic member of the band, but willing to serve when called upon. They have formed a sort of club against the dark forces, and PENNY DREADFUL is fast making them a real team.

The characters in PENNY DREADFUL do not make the most obvious family. They are, for the most part, antisocial and fairly concerned with their own affairs, which happens when people are going through what they are going through. Yet, somehow it makes a certain amount of sense for this particular set to stick together, and it makes the show more satisfying  and easier to invest in when they do.

The person most involved in outside work in “Fresh Hell” is Dr. Frankenstein, as he helps The Creature (Rory Kinnear) raise the lady he loves, Brona Croft (Billie Piper), from the dead. The Creature is supremely lonely, and he hopes that Brona going through what he did will give them a sort of connection that will draw her closer to him. It seems dubious to me that it will work, but “Fresh Hell” gets that story arc going pretty quickly.

Thankfully, PENNY DREADFUL doesn’t tie all The Creature’s hopes at social interaction up in this particular plot, giving a possible alternate life for him should Brona not be happy to be his bride. He finds a job in the season premiere that allows for his appearance. It’s hard to tell if the people The Creature gets involved with are trustworthy or not; attitudes seem mostly positive and good-natured, but like any person who would hire him, they want something from him. Since The Creature is not part of the central unit of the show, he has no one to rely on should things go south, always a strong possibility.

And that’s how PENNY DREADFUL begins, with “Fresh Hell” for a number of players, especially Malcolm, who I didn’t really discuss, but possible paths forward for a few. It’s a dark enough show that I don’t see any happy endings working out for anyone in the near future, but any bit of time that can be enjoyed is welcome, relieving a bit of the misery. Though, their misery does make for compelling narrative, too.

PENNY DREADFUL airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.

A PENNY For Your Thoughts

Article originally written for Seat42F.

Showtime’s latest effort is PENNY DREADFUL. Set in a fictional version of 1890s London, we meet a cast of odd characters drawn together by the supernatural. Threats loom below the surface of the thriving city, and only these people are aware of what’s going on and have the ability to do something about it.

PENNY DREADFUL is stylistically an idealized version of Victorian England just before the turn of the nineteenth century into the twentieth. The setting is what people like to romantically think back about the city being like, probably not how it actually was. This series is more concerned with building a Sherlock Holmes-era tone than faithfully following history.

This is clear very quickly in the characters introduced. Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett, Black Hawk Down) is a formerly wealthy American now performing in a traveling Wild West show. He’s recruited by the severe Miss Vanessa Ives (Eva Green, Casino Royale), a medium, to assist her and Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton, Licence to Kill, Chuck), a rich explorer of Africa, to hunt down a missing girl that means a lot to both of them. These are all interesting, outsize personalities that feel quite familiar to the type of story in this time and place, rather than being like someone that actually existed.

To make PENNY DREADFUL even more fantastic, the trio soon go to Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway, The Lone Renger) – yes, that Dr. Victor Frankenstein – for help. Frankenstein is researching electricity and the human body as he builds his creature (Rory Kinnear, Skyfall), and Malcolm and company need him to examine a corpse of something vaguely vampiric and definitely not human.

What this makes for is sort of a Once Upon a Time-like series, twisting and combining tales we already know into something new, though the tone is completely different. PENNY DREADFUL is so faithful to the fictional Victorian England that it feels very much like it is based on a book written within that genre. It’s a very slow moving piece, conveying horror more through the moods of the characters and their reaction to discoveries than by action-packed sequences, but is extremely effective in doing so.

Now, this is 2014, and viewers demand that pacing not drag on too much. To satisfy those urges, there are a couple of sequences in the first episode where fighting is had and blood is spilled. I would not call PENNY DREADFUL boring; instead, it’s a slight update on a popular period that never existed, but feels like it did. Still, there’s definitely commitment to the style, such as the way Vanessa slowly spreads out a stack of cards, that show just how deliberate the production is with its choices and committed to the path its on.

The plot is chock full of mystery. We don’t know the backgrounds of any of the characters right away, and none are exactly forthcoming about themselves. In fact, when Ethan first asks Vanessa if she has a name, she simply replies “Yes” as she walks away. The teases are tantalizing, but this is one show that will be holding its cards very, very close to its vest, doling out little bits at a time.

To illustrate just how little PENNY DREADFUL gives us at once one only needs to look at how it brings the main characters in very slowly, one at a time. Three of the publicized main cast, Irish immigrant Brona Croft (Billie Piper, Doctor Who), manservant Sembene (Danny Sapani, Trance), and the infamous ever-youthful Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney, The Tempest), don’t even appear in the pilot screened for critics. I’m also looking forward to Helen McCrory’s (Harry Potter) Madame Kali, whom isn’t glimpsed. This show is going to build tension and story arcs, not just give them to you.

All of which is why I very much enjoyed PENNY DREADFUL. Full on intense, compelling performances from the likes of Dalton, Green, and Hartnett, masters all, there’s something that just draws you into the telling and will not let you go. You are transported to this world that actually feels real because of the level of detail and development, even though you know no place like it ever existed. It’s dangerous and sexy and full of fascinating secrets. Who wouldn’t want to go on an adventure there? It’s built for exactly that.

PENNY DREADFUL premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.

Vexed anything but vexing to watch

Acorn Media has recently released Vexed Series 1 on DVD. Previously unavailable in the United States, this single disc set contains all three, hour long episodes of the first series. (A second series recently aired in Britain).

Vexed is the story of two police detectives, but unlike many crime dramas, it is not a procedural. There are cases in each episode that must be solved, but these by far take a back seat to the tale of the main characters. This is a show about personalities, and those personalities are entertaining and engaging. Plus, it's light-hearted, making it more a dramedy than a straight drama.

DI Kate Bishop (Lucy Punch, Ben and Kate, Bad Teacher) is new to town. She is driven and smart, but not so good with her personal life, which is why her marriage to husband Dan (Rory Kinnear, Quantum of Solace) is crumbling. While at work, she plays by the rules and follows the clues. At home, she reacts erratically and jumps to conclusions. She does her best to keep it all together, but sometimes her best just isn't enough.

Enter DI Jack Armstrong (Toby Stephens, Wired, Die Another Day), a lazy, bumbling cop who would rather charm everyone than actually listen to them. Yet, somehow he manages to get the job done. He's a good balance for Kate, doing things that she would never do during the course of their investigation, and at the end of the day, he comes to care about his partner. They make an interesting, and surprisingly effective, team.

These two leads are the reason I like Vexed a lot. Punch and Stephens have great chemistry, and the focus is always more on them than the murder or kidnapping they are looking into. Punch is more toned down than in many of other roles, which works very well here, and Stephens captures that Damian Lewis-esque character, but with a much more free-style spin to it. The bottom line is, whatever the merits of this series may be, it is genuinely fun to watch.

It is supremely disappointing that Punch's Kate has been replaced by a different character in series two, though not having seen the newer episodes, I am unable to say if the show is able to hang onto what it has without her.

The only thing that didn't really work for me was Kate and Dan's relationship. When they fight, it's great, and the way she continuously injures him is amusing. But then, as they try to make up, it feels a little hollow. It's almost like two distinctly separate couples, their interactions in those two types of scenes being so wildly different. This is an important element to Vexed, but it's not so big that it can't be overlooked in favor of the better parts.

The supporting cast includes Ronny Jhutti (Ideal) as Naz, a nerdy analyst who works the crime scenes, and Roger Griffiths (Holby City, Family Affairs) as Tony, a former cop who runs the restaurant Jack works out of, as Jack claims he doesn't like for the police station. Neither Naz nor Tony get a lot to do, but Griffiths' character is especially interesting, having a mysterious past that I'd like to learn more about, and messing with Kate in the funniest of ways. Hopefully, series two will give more insight into him.

The only bonus features are promotional trailers and a photo gallery.

I would recommend picking up Vexed just because the series doesn't really feel like something we have in America. We've done versions of this sort of thing, but watered down over dozens of episodes. The short arc and terrific cast makes Vexed worth watching, and a series I won't soon forget.

Vexed Series 1 is available now on DVD.

If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter! Check out my website, JeromeWetzel.com! First posted on TheTVKing