Despite the various periods its characters originate from, the series seems centred in the late Victorian period (judging by a Jack the Ripper reference, about the 1890s) which is better suited for the gritty, dark, and dirty English atmosphere. After a classy opening of a woman being abducted while taking a shit, we’re introduced to the mysterious Vanessa Ives who recruits American frontier performer and sharpshooter Ethan Chandler for a special operation. That operation being to assist her and Sir Malcolm Murray in taking out a vampire and his minions who are connected with the being who kidnapped Malcolm’s daughter. They also enlist a young scientist with supernatural interests to learn more about these creatures, who by the end of the episode is revealed to be Victor Frankenstein himself.
The cast they got for this show is really exceptional! Timothy Dalton adds credibility and some classic British gravitas, but there’s also heavy-hitters in Eva Green and Simon Russell Beale. Harry Treadaway is also great, giving this iteration of Frankenstein a disturbing presence. And Josh Hartnett is fine -I’ve never found him that great an actor but he’s decent enough in this as the audience’s eyes into the story. It helps being surrounded by such talent playing interesting characters. And these characters really are interesting being perhaps the show’s best feature so far. Frankenstein is captivating in his creepiness and obsession. In one of the episode’s best scenes he talks with Sir Malcolm about how other scientists seek discovery for their own gain, while he is concerned only with breaching the barrier between life and death. You believe he’s legitimately mad in a way many versions of Frankenstein aren’t (except perhaps Gene Wilder). Vanessa and Sir Malcolm are shrouded in intrigue and mystery. Vanessa in particular has some connection with supernatural forces almost like a possession (oh and Eva Green does a surprisingly good English accent). And I like how the show also establishes that these are morally inconsiderate characters. In recruiting Chandler and Frankenstein both Vanessa and Sir Malcolm asked “does it matter?” or “do you care?” in response to inquiries whether joining them would require committing serious crimes like murder. Sir Malcolm especially, talks of murdering the world to get his daughter back. It makes you realize that even though these are our protagonists, they’re very dark characters, capable perhaps of being just as dangerous as the creatures they’re hunting. Except perhaps Chandler.
The literary connections make for some good speculation but also are used so that they don’t require the audience be familiar with the source. Yeah it’s fairly obvious who Treadaway’s character is before the revelation at the episode’s end (the term “resurrectionist” applied to him is really a giveaway), but the connection of Sir Malcolm and who he’s hunting isn’t quite as apparent. Those who know the story of Dracula like myself though can pick up on the fact that he’s the father of famed victim Mina Harker, and through that detail that Dracula is indeed the creature they’re looking for. But the show doesn’t feel like they need to be blatant about it. It’s clear John Logan is writing it more focussed on the characters, the tension, and the drama, and drawing from the literary sources comes second. That being said I’m glad it’s gradually setting up future characters and conflicts. Even if you suspect where it’s going your curiosity can’t help but be piqued by Vanessa’s hallucinations or the discovery that the markings beneath the vampire’s skin originate from the Egyptian book of the dead (wouldn’t it be weirdly awesome if Ash from The Evil Dead made an appearance?)
The horror element is there as well, though subdued a little for this first episode. This show is plenty violent.as we see in the first big action sequence where a vampire and his minions (one of whom is Nosferatu!) take on the trio. There’s also a gruesome bloody alleyway full of vampire victims with one bearing the signature holes in the neck of Dracula. And the designs of the vampire and Frankenstein’s monster are pretty striking and horrific. But even in the less bloody sequences, the show knows what it’s doing in creating terror. I love the background-figure-scare in horror, and we get a couple instances of that here, where we’re caught off guard for a second by a sudden person in the back of a shot. Though the scares aren’t huge in this episode (the opening was also predictable) it promises more and better in the future.
But Penny Dreadful may be more of a thriller than horror series anyway, based on how important the period setting and character drama is. I’m very interested to see where it goes. There are more characters to meet -both Billie Piper and Rory Kinnear are listed in the opening credits but don’t appear. I want to know who they’re playing and how they’ll fit in with the ensemble being built. This certainly isn’t League of Extraordinary Gentlemen so not all of these characters will be recognized figures but I’m willing to bet a few are. Overall “Night Work” was a pretty solid first episode with a lot of promise. I’m invested in where this story goes and who these characters are, and just what this world has waiting for us. Sir Malcolm tells Frankenstein there are “at least two” vampires in the world. Knowing there’s likely more, I’m beyond curious what other terrifying creatures they’re destined to come across.
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