See a super-creepy 'Penny Dreadful' trailer

[dom]

Coincidentally, I've happened upon two movies featuring Harry Treadaway (VF) since the start of Penny Dreadful and one happens to be Depp's The Lone Ranger, and he was awesome in it as loony outlaw who likes pretty things.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

'Penny Dreadful' Season 1, episode 4: 'Demimonde' photos

[michael c]

the continued and flagrant misuse of the phrase demimonde on this series, now taken to the extreme of titling the episode, is baffling. do they just think most viewers are so stupid they won't notice it???


sort of reminds of when Depp Shadows was being filmed and everyone kept calling everything "Victorian". like it was just some generic catchall for a period piece where women wore long dresses.

[Gothick]

michael, I think it's all part and parcel of the erosion of what I would consider basic literacy.  If this show becomes big enough, I'm sure come Halloween we're going to see "demimonde" themed parties that involve mortals dressing up as various supernatural characters.

Your comment about Victorian reminds me of how surprised I always am in the DS Original Series when Barnabas finds Maggie at haunted, deserted Collinwood wearing one of Rachel's old dresses and he identifies the clothing as "Victorian"... apparently some of what he did those long nights at the Old House was paging through books of changing fashions through the ages since his imprisonment!

G.

[michael c]

interesting point about Barnabas' ability to identify "Victorian" fashion. you'd think any style of dress between 1795 (or 6? of was it 7???) and 1967 would be unrecognizable to him under the circumstances.

I have to assume the writers of PD just though "demimonde" sounded like a "cool" word and figured it was obscure enough that most viewers would not know it was being grossly misused.

and granted she's just a teenager but I recall Chloe Moretz describing Barnabas as both an "Elizabethan" and a "Victorian" gentleman during the prerelease press for the film. needless to say of which he was neither.

[michael c]

similarly on the DS I recall any character being involved in anything weird (séances. tarot card. crystal ball) was always a "devoted student of the occult".

"occult" being something of a catchall on the series.

that and having "second sight".

[Gothick]

Well, even today "the occult" is a pretty common catch-phrase that's used among people who move in certain circles.  It's kind of a stand-in for a more precise word that English doesn't have to denote a very broad spectrum of paranormal phenomena and the cultural expressions and traditions that have crystallized around said phenomena.  In recent years the word "occulture" has become popular for the social and cultural dynamics of communities that people form in the pursuit of certain inquiries.

Getting back to Penny Dreadful I thought Rory Kinnear's performance as "Caliban" was really amazing... even though the events represent a new departure for how we've seen this story played out in other narratives, the interaction and dialogue for the good Doctor and his progeny comes closest to Mary Shelley than I've ever seen on film...

G.

[michael c]

was "caliban" the first or second "creation"?

I must say they really "faked out" the audience with the first one. giving him a personality and almost a "backstory" that they appeared to be developing. he seemed to being "fleshed out" as a character before...

well, you know.

[michael c]

certainly did not see that coming at the end of episode four...

presently clutching pearls and fanning vapours.

[Gothick]

michael darling, I have just the thing to calm you down... it's this enchanting new drink called absinthe... otherwise known as the Green Faery (I am so, so disappointed the writers did not invoke "the Green Faery" phrase--I mean, you're writing for Dorian Gray... do your research!)

Needless to say, I loved every moment of the ULTIMATE scene.

Apparently Oscar Wilde fascinated some really butch men back in the day... I almost thought this was a tribute to all of that...

And can I just say how much I LOVE how character-focused this show is?  THIS is how a new DS should be done...

OK, done ranting for now...

G.

[michael c]

oh life in the demimonde...


never a dull moment.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

if you look at how those scenes are shot you get a closeup of Josh's face followed by a full back view where his face is not at all visible. makes me wonder if there is not perhaps a bit of "stunt butting" going on. is there a "stand in" or double for the actual nudity?

I finally got to watch Ep #3 last night and I took note of what you said about how the scene was filmed. Interestingly, though, I've read in several different articles that all the actors involved in the show have a clause in their contracts that requires them to appear nude if a scene should feature it. Can they get around that by using a double? I wouldn't think so - but who knows? Though any question of whether or not Josh Hartnett is doing his own nudity is moot now given how a scene in Ep #4 (which I also watched last night) was shot. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

'Penny Dreadful' Season 1, episode 5 video: Will Mina contact Vanessa?

[michael c]

needless to say over on the show's FB page the homophobes are in full-fledged meltdown mode over this development. I thought people in "goth" culture were supposed to be permissive about this "sort" of thing.


and really. in a show with unrelenting murder and gore this is what gets panties in a bunch??? whatever.

[Gothick]

I actually thought the violence against animals, especially the scene in the underground club, was quite disturbing.  Presumably the people you mention didn't bat an eyelash. For some reason, it's OK to bludgeon another human being (or animal) in close-up slo-mo, but have one man kiss another onscreen and we're scolded for "damaging my kids with your sick garbage."  Puh-leaze, mary.

One of the subtexts that's building in this story is that the "normal" humans behave in ways more monstrous than the actual supernatural "monsters." 

Only four more episodes of this brilliant show left to air. 

G.