Penny Dreadful Season 3 Episode 1 “The Day Tennyson Died” Let’s get it out of the way: Dracula has arrived. Penny Dreadful started out as a strange, Gothic adventure, throwing audiences right into the world of vampires, Egyptian magic and a collection of characters from Gothic and Victorian literature, or at least those that fit […]
Penny Dreadful Season Two Finale Review
S2E09 “And Hell Itself My Only Foe” “And Hell Itself My Only Foe” served as an epic set up for a season finale, filling itself with developments and cliffhangers, with the right pacing to keep the story moving forward. It also showed a marked improvement in John Logan’s pacing compared to season one. Although both […]
Penny Dreadful S2E08 “Memento Mori” Review
A tip of the hat to creator and writer John Logan. Beyond the occasional pacing issue, he’s kept Penny Dreadful a rich and smart show, but most of all treated the audience with respect. He’s avoided drawing out plots that could easily become frustrating — Hecate (Sarah Greene) attempting to seduce and distract Ethan (Josh […]
Penny Dreadful S2E07 “Little Scorpion” Review
The ties that bind in Penny Dreadful are a strange thread. The company of heroes isn’t full of nice people — Vanessa Ives has committed selfish actions that doomed others, Ethan Chandler took part in the genocide of Native Americans, Sir Malcolm Murray killed and abused his way across Africa in the name of “exploration,” […]
Penny Dreadful S2E06 “Glorious Horrors” Review
As Penny Dreadful enters the back-half of its second season, the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together, and they paint a dark picture for the heroes of the story. In the previous episode, Ethan (Josh Hartnett) described the heroes as being under siege, and said they need to bunch up and prepare […]
Penny Dreadful S2E5 “Above the Vaulted Sky” Review
Only Penny Dreadful could make a breather episode so intense and fraught with developments. “Above the Vaulted Sky” features some big developments, but they are developments that set up the second half of the season and trouble to come. But best of all, the episode gives two storylines — Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and Victor […]
Penny Dreadful S2E4 “Evil Spirits in Heavenly Places” Review
After last week’s flashback detour into Victorian witchcraft, Penny Dreadful returns to the main action, and pushes the story forward in big ways. “Evil Spirits in Heavenly Places” does some bait and switch with painful narratives, and even manages a bit of levity, and yet still manages to pull off an incredibly suspenseful final act. […]
Penny Dreadful S2E3 “The Nightcomers” Review
For the second time in its so-far 11 aired episodes, Penny Dreadful takes a break from the main narrative to dive into the past of Eva Green’s Vanessa Ives. Last season gave us “Closer Than Sisters,” an ode to the epistlatory format of Dracula, while answering many of the questions the first four episodes. This […]
Penny Dreadful S2E2 “Verbis Diablo” Review
“Verbis Diablo” is a rare specimen. It is both Penny Dreadful‘s most minimalist episode and also it’s most terrifying. Nestled within it lies a wonderful look at Victorian hypocrisy and otherworldly manifestations of evil. Penny Dreadful thrives on its exhaustive knowledge and application of Victorian literary characters and themes. For tone, though, Gothic horror reigns […]
I Don’t Belong Here: The Mind of Mark Defriest is a Frustrating but Effective Documentary
Ostensibly, Found Object Films’ new documentary The Mind of Mark Defriest concerns itself with exposing the deep-rooted corruption and bureaucratic malfeasances of the American prison system. The film tells the story of Mark Defriest, who was convicted of a petty crime in 1980 and who, through a convoluted series of Kafkaesque events, wound up with […]