penny-dreadful

With the third season of ‘Penny Dreadful‘ having come to a close it now seems that the series has as well. When the recent season closed with “The End” flashing across the screen, did mean that things have come to a close. Interestingly enough, this wasn’t a decision based on the show’s ratings but by creator Josh Logan himself who was coming to the end of the story that he wanted to tell. I’m sure fellow fans of the series are going to wonder how exactly that was the ending anyone would want as it felt both rushed and forced with so much more to give us.

According to Showtime’s president David Nevins who agrees with Logan:

“That’s where television is now. We don’t have to make seven seasons for the sake of making seven seasons. Some shows are built for that, and some shows aren’t.”

This is true, however, that ending felt as if it left much to be desired. It wasn’t hard to see this coming though as the seeds of the series coming to an end were actually planted in the second season:

“This is a show about Vanessa Ives and her struggle with faith — how one woman grapples with God and the devil. Midway through the second season, when we were filming it —so about two years ago— I realized where we were heading. A woman who loses her faith in the second season, she has to grasp her way back. What that would take? To me, that was an apotheosis — she would find peace finally with God. I realized that’s where the show was heading, and so I talked to Eva about it and then I talked to David.”

This wasn’t just about Eva’s character, though, and quite enjoyed working with all of the cast and heaped praise upon them:

“Some poems are meant to be haikus, some are meant to be sonnets and some are meant to be tone poems. And this was meant to be a sonnet. It just feels right to me. And I have to say it’s not just [working with Eva I’ll miss]. To get the chance to work with Josh Hartnett and Tim Dalton and Rory Kinnear day after day has been an absolute joy. Their commitment to the show is without equal. It was a tough decision for everyone. There was a lot of emotion involved. It wasn’t a blithe or facile decision. It was something we all talked about.”

With everything ending because of Eva, was it strange to not use her much in the final 2 episodes?

“It’s akin to the decision of not announcing [Season 3 as the final season]. I believe in the coup de théâtre. I believe audiences want to be surprised. They want to have their breath taken away. I wanted to do a major reveal when you saw Vanessa as the Mother of Evil, per se, when she’s living with Dracula and you see what she’s become. Because she is responsible for this horrible plague that’s killing London. I thought less of her was better to make her appearances much more powerful. And she becomes the Maltese Falcon — that thing they’re all striving toward. It was purely a dramatic decision.”

Below you can see Eva Green herself describe why this was a fitting send off for her character:

I’m not sure if I would agree with her that this was a fitting ending but as the actress who embodied the character for three years, I’m at least happy that she felt it was done right.

Are you glad that ‘Penny Dreadful’ ended where it did or did the series have more life in it? Share your thoughts below!

Sources: Slash Film and TV Line.

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Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!