Penny Dreadful season 1, episode 1, “Night Work” just aired on Showtime. Penny Dreadful is set in Victorian London and features some of literature’s most terrifying characters.
The first episode introduced us to an intriguing cast of characters, including Sir Malcolm Murray and his mysterious sidekick Vanessa Ives, as well as potential recruit American gunslinger Ethan Chandler.
The episode opens with a young woman going to the loo in the middle of the night only to be ripped through a window. Her young daughter wakes up and leaves the bedroom only to find something horrific in the hall. Later we learn that the woman had been ripped to shreds and dismembered.
The next scene cuts to Vanessa Ives praying in Latin. She then looks to become possessed and the scene cuts away. Vanessa is next seen at a Wild West show featuring Ethan Chandler, an American showman who knows how to use a gun and woo the ladies.
Vanessa finds Ethan at the bar and calls him on his ‘tall tales’ in the show. She is looking for someone not afraid of danger and who is good with a gun. She then makes some deductions about Chandler almost as good as Sherlock Holmes. He accepts the night work without knowing what it is.
Vanessa and Chandler enter an opium den where they meet with Sir Malcolm Mallory. Mallory warns Chandler to not be amazed by anything he sees and to not hesitate to use his weapons. The eerie music only adds to the creepiness of this scene.
They enter a basement in search of someone who was taken from Mallory. He confronts a vampire-like creature while Vanessa follows the cries of a girl further into the darkness. Chandler joins the fray by shooting the attacking vampires.
Mallory takes the creature’s corpse to the resurrection men. They meet an unwilling man who is engaged in research and does not wish to help with the necropsy. Once he sees the corpse, however, he becomes very interested. Under the corpse’s skin is a hard shell etched with Egyptian symbols.
Handler visits Sir Malcolm’s home the following day. Vanessa tells him about the demi-monde, a half world between what they know and what they fear, a place in the shadows rarely seen but deeply felt. Vanessa tries to warn Chandler off, but he is curious about the situation. Vanessa tells him about Sir Malcolm’s daughter being kidnapped by a creature but refuses to talk about her involvement. She is incredibly mysterious and speaks of curses. Before he leaves, she asks him to pick a tarot card. He flips the lovers. She makes no comment but you get the feeling this pleased her immensely.
Sir Malcolm and Vanessa visit an Egyptologist, Mr. Lyle, to inquire about the hieroglyphics on the creature. He looks at the first image and says that it means blood curse. When he looks at the second image he stops and stalls. He invites Vanessa and Sir Malcolm to a dinner party at his house. Before they leave he tells them the writing is from the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Sir Malcolm invites the young man, who did the necropsy for him, to the Explorer’s Club. We don’t know his name at this point and that becomes very relevant later. The man seems fixated on studying the boundary between life and death. Sir Malcolm is focused on finding a cure and asks the man to join him because he wasn’t afraid.
Sir Malcolm returns home and the setting is quite eerie. The lights begin to flicker and the sounds of a crying girl fill the room. Malcolm calls out for Mina. She is in the room crying one second and the next she is screeching, causing the lights to flick and explode. It is important to note that Mina Murray is a character from Dracula.
Malcolm is shaken and talks about the incident with Vanessa. They are unsure why Mina would show herself like she did. Vanessa says it is all her fault because of her transgression, which is a very interesting statement that isn’t expanded on. Vanessa goes to pray on the matter, but her cross flips upside down and spiders fill the wall. Probably not a good sign.
The young doctor returns to his flat where it seems he has been keeping a secret. In his secret lab the doctor has been experimenting with electricity and reanimation. The power surges and Victor Frankenstein gets his monster. The final scene is of the monster and Victor standing in the lamp light and Victor introducing himself.
Penny Dreadful is an intriguing new show that is definitely worth checking out. It combines all the elements of Gothic literature, including the characters, into a fresh new show. The possibilities for the show are endless as it explores the demi-monde of the shadow world.