I was a huge fan of the original and watched it weekly. If anyone was a devout fan of the original, then they know how big of a shock it was when S3 ended with Vanessa dying and the words "The End" appearing on the screen with John Logan early the next morning confirming the show was only meant for 3 seasons (he did say this but there is speculation it was meant to go on for much longer). Anyways, when he announced this spinoff, I was very conflicted by asking "Why use the Penny Dreadful title if he was so ok with abandoning the characters that lifted that title, to begin with? Why not just call it City of Angels?" But then I noticed the series was made available on Netflix and the fandom grew (although Logan states it was his decision to end it, I feel like Showtime did have a say considering it was expensive and by no means did it have a bookworm fanbase like Game of Thrones or Outlander to make an argument for it to keep going. This is all speculation by the way). So I tuned in for this episode.
I enjoyed it, but it wasn't strong enough to warrant a Showtime subscription. What I enjoyed was the Santa Muerte mythos but how it was introduced with the mom who thinks she's a witch was super off. And Natalie Dormer is pretty great here (I'm bummed I didn't get to see Kerry Bishe but I heard her on the radio). Nathan Lane is pretty awesome playing a mentor cop (being a Mexican American, I didn't hate him when he used the racial slur used against Spanish speaking individuals because everyone should've been super racist in this era. Therefore calling it a show with iffy representation might be harsh and a little opportunist if you're white).
Anyways, I don't care for the 1930's California setting or that it's paying homage to the hard-boiled cop genre seen in films like Chinatown (another reason I'm intrigued by HBO's decision to set Perry Mason in a similar era when the character can live in any time). Some of it only made me miss the original and Victorian London (where Logan got to nerd out and put lit references). I do love that they made Mexican Americans the protagonists but it didn't catch. Will wait for more word of mouth about the last couple of episodes if I decide to watch the rest but for now, it's just an odd creation.
Review by DeletedBlockedParentSpoilers2020-05-24T22:08:36Z— updated 2020-05-27T02:19:37Z
I was a huge fan of the original and watched it weekly. If anyone was a devout fan of the original, then they know how big of a shock it was when S3 ended with Vanessa dying and the words "The End" appearing on the screen with John Logan early the next morning confirming the show was only meant for 3 seasons (he did say this but there is speculation it was meant to go on for much longer). Anyways, when he announced this spinoff, I was very conflicted by asking "Why use the Penny Dreadful title if he was so ok with abandoning the characters that lifted that title, to begin with? Why not just call it City of Angels?" But then I noticed the series was made available on Netflix and the fandom grew (although Logan states it was his decision to end it, I feel like Showtime did have a say considering it was expensive and by no means did it have a bookworm fanbase like Game of Thrones or Outlander to make an argument for it to keep going. This is all speculation by the way). So I tuned in for this episode.
I enjoyed it, but it wasn't strong enough to warrant a Showtime subscription. What I enjoyed was the Santa Muerte mythos but how it was introduced with the mom who thinks she's a witch was super off. And Natalie Dormer is pretty great here (I'm bummed I didn't get to see Kerry Bishe but I heard her on the radio). Nathan Lane is pretty awesome playing a mentor cop (being a Mexican American, I didn't hate him when he used the racial slur used against Spanish speaking individuals because everyone should've been super racist in this era. Therefore calling it a show with iffy representation might be harsh and a little opportunist if you're white).
Anyways, I don't care for the 1930's California setting or that it's paying homage to the hard-boiled cop genre seen in films like Chinatown (another reason I'm intrigued by HBO's decision to set Perry Mason in a similar era when the character can live in any time). Some of it only made me miss the original and Victorian London (where Logan got to nerd out and put lit references). I do love that they made Mexican Americans the protagonists but it didn't catch. Will wait for more word of mouth about the last couple of episodes if I decide to watch the rest but for now, it's just an odd creation.