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We create this topic especially for your twitter friends and fans of Penny Dreadful all over the world!
Let’s talk here about Penny Dreadful, the development of the plot, etc.

My thoughts on Penny Dreadful. Episode 1 Night Work.
I think the creature that took that woman in the toilet did look like Ethan.
I suppose that the voice that calls Vanessa saying “Soon, child, soon. I’m hungry” is AMUN Ra. And he’s hungry for souls.
Have you noticed that Ethan’s doesn’t always have an accent? Only when he says Darlin’ or Somethin’.
It’s so interesting to see Ethan persistently flirting with Vanessa in the beginning and Vanessa ignores him at every turn.
Vanessa: You didn't tell the truth. By my reckoning, you were a boy when General Custer died and it’s well known there were no survivors.
ETHAN: That’s what we call a tall tale, darlin'.
Vanessa: Exceedingly tall.
ETHAN: Vice of my nation. We're storytellers. Join me, won't you? You saw my exhibition?
Vanessa: Highly impressive, especially your finale.
ETHAN: Well, you gotta leave them wanting more, as we say in show business. And what might I do for you?
Vanessa: I have a need for some night work.
Ethan: Oh, honey, don't we all?
But then Ethan commits the mistake to, almost dare Vanessa to tell him what she thinks.
Vanessa: “Expensive watch, but threadbare jacket. Sentimental about the money you used to have. Your eye is steady, but your left hand tremors. That's the drink, so you keep it below the table, hoping I won't notice. You have a contusion healing on your other hand, the result of a recent brawl with a jealous husband, no doubt. Your boots are good quality leather, but have been resoled more than once. I see a man who's been accustomed to wealth, but has given himself to excess and the unbridled pleasures of youth. A man much more complicated than he likes to appear.”
Now I understand why Ethan doesn’t warm up to Malcolm right away. The first thing Malcolm does is about Ethan as if he’s not even there. He asks Vanessa (without even looking at Ethan) “Is this the individual?” Ethan’s face at that moment is priceless and when Vanessa says yes, Malcolm asks him, “You bring your weapon?” Ethan doesn’t respond, he merely smirks and moves his coat aside to show Sir Murray his gun.
I wonder how many gunmen died before Ethan came along?
I think the vampire guards knew Ethan is not entirely human because they went after him first, surrounding him, even though Malcolm was the one shouting at one of them.
Why Vanessa does leave Ethan and Malcolm while they are fighting (for their lives, literally) and goes into the other room by herself as if she’s thinking “I’ll be safe”?
I can almost hear Malcolm’s thoughts when he glares at Ethan after he helps get one of the vampires off him. “I told you not to hesitate, DIDN’T I?”
Why all those vampire women have dead babies next to them? Are the babies theirs? Or did they take the babies?
Why does that Vampire tell Vanessa “Little girls shouldn’t play with toys like that” Was he talking to Vanessa? Or was he referring to the vampire women playing with babies?
One of my favorite parts of Penny Dreadful episode 1 is when they meet Victor. He has tongue for everyone!
Malcolm: Your master said you might assist us.
Victor: I have no master.
Malcolm: The proprietor out front, I mean.
Victor: Go away.
Malcolm: I'll pay you for your time.
Victor: You'd not afford it.
Vanessa: You're very proud.
Victor: Take it to a slaughterhouse. I'm not a medical practitioner. I'm engaged in research.
ETHAN: You're a man with a bloody knife like everybody else out there, so stop putting on airs.
Victor: American?
ETHAN: You are clever.
And that was just the beginning!
Have you noticed Ethan’s reaction every time Vanessa touches his hand? He looks as if his heart skips a beat.
I wonder how we’ll react when we learn Ethan’s past. I predict we’ll all forgive him everything. We never had a chance, did we?

Penny Dreadful Episode 1. Night Work (My thoughts part 2)
Victor: “Well, it would appear you have an Egyptian man of no particular age, who, at some point in his indeterminate lifespan, decided to sharpen his teeth, cover himself in hieroglyphics and grow an exoskeleton. Or you have something else altogether.”
I think that was the moment in which Victor realized there were more creatures out there in existence besides the one he had created.
Then Ethan decided to, delicately, ask Malcolm and Vanessa who they were by saying, “Who the fuck are you people?”
Malcolm never truly answers a question that Ethan asks, does he? For example:
ETHAN: Who the fuck are you people?
MALCOLM: Do you know Grandage Place in Westminster?
He just never answers his questions.
Ethan was already upset and to top it off Vanessa hits him with, “Unless you'd rather spend the rest of your life shooting clay targets and telling lies.”
Sembene even pointed to the very spot Ethan was standing on when he said, “Wait here, please.” But what did Ethan do? As soon as Sembene turned his back on him, he started exploring the house.
I think Ethan wanted to know whether Vanessa was married or single that’s why he said, “Or is it ma’am?” and let’s not forget he didn’t know her name either.
Why is Vanessa’s reading table exactly in the center of an eight point star?
It’s so amusing to see Ethan treating Vanessa as just as an ordinary fortune teller. He had no idea of how mistaken he was.
My eyes cannot roll any further at Ethan when he said, “I think I should see Sir. Murray.” (His wouldn’t even face Vanessa as he said this)
I liked that Vanessa (being a woman used to that type of treatment from men of her era) didn’t let his comment bother her.
VANESSA: Are you a wise man, Mr. Chandler?”
Ethan: “Not especially.”
Vanessa: “A wise man would walk away from this house and make a concerted effort to forget everything that occurred last night. He would not look back.”
Ethan: “That sounds like a warning.”
Vanessa: “It's an invitation. Should you be so unwise as to entertain the idea, we have continued use of a man of your skills. Your kind of man.”
ETHAN: “And what kind is that?”
VANESSA: “One of great violence and hidden depths. You play your role well, Mr. Chandler, but this is not who you are.”
I loved how Vanessa practically kicks Ethan out as soon as he refuses to work for them on the grounds that, “There’s no exaltation in killing for gold.”
Vanessa takes advantage of the opportunity to diminish Ethan’s “Life as an actor” (She almost made the air quotes with her fingers) but she also leaves the door open just in case he decides to come back.
Ethan: “And what do you seek to escape?”
Vanessa: “Perhaps the same thing you do. We all have our curses, don't we?”
I could almost hear Ethan’s thoughts when Vanessa said that to him. “OMG! Does she know?”
Ethan’s demeanor changed at the reading table. I think he was trying to intimidate her a little. He was glaring at Vanessa when he said, “Miss Ives.” As he was about to leave but she disarmed him when she touched his hand.
I think Malcolm and Vanessa knew from the beginning what Ethan is. Why would Malcolm tell Vanessa, “He won’t. We won’t let him” When Vanessa told him Ethan was intending to leave town?
Poor Sir Murray. Always staring at the photograph, letting it break his heart.
I adore how Mr. Lyle fangirls over Sir Murray. He even fixed his hair!
I love how Mr. Lyle asks questions and also answers them himself. “Could I be more charmed? No. I could not!”
I think Malcolm brings Vanessa with him some times because she knows how to read people, or because she can tell when people are lying, etc.
I’ve just realized that Vanessa, Ethan, Victor, Dorian, and Malcolm all have/had wealth. Victor and Ethan are poor by choice.
I think Malcolm and Vanessa work well together as they know each other’s weaknesses and strengths and use them accordingly.
I think it was planned in advance that Vanessa would see Ethan and Malcolm would see Victor. I think Malcolm knew he had a better chance of succeeding in bringing Victor in if he saw him alone and on the other hand, they knew Ethan would respond better to a lady.
I was convinced that the brains of the, Let’s-save-Mina, operation was Vanessa but now I know it had always been Malcolm.

Penny Dreadful Episode 1. Night Work (My thoughts part 3)

The only thing missing from Victor as he enters The Explorer’s club to join Sir Murray was a continuous roll of his eyes. I can almost hear his thoughts. “You’re all beneath me! Look upon your master.”

Only Victor can say, “So, you are the explorer.” In a condescending way (and a face to match as well) but Malcolm was so absorbed telling his tale about mount Murray that he didn’t have time to notice this.

I think Victor was uninterested in the beginning but everything changed after Malcolm said:
“But you couldn't resist. When you see a river, you must follow it to its source, no matter the perils, no matter those comrades that fall along the way. You must know how things work. You must unlock. You are dissatisfied always.”

Did you notice that Vanessa and Malcolm used almost the same phrase on Ethan and Victor?
ETHAN: “And what do you seek to escape?”
VANESSA: “Perhaps the same thing you do.”
Victor: “What?”
Malcolm: “Perhaps the same you do.”

But Victor disagreed:
VICTOR: “I seek the truth.”  (I could almost see Malcolm rolling his eyes at this answer)
MALCOLM: “Ah, you are a young man; I’ve long since learned that the truth is mutable.”

I highly enjoyed Victor throwing a little fit of passion once he started giving his, I-will-plant-my-flag-on-the-truth, speech:
“I would never chart a river or scale a peak to take its measure or plant a flag. There's no point. It's solipsistic self-aggrandizement. So, too, those scientists who study the planets seeking astronomical enlightenment for its own sake. The botanist studying the variegation of an Amazonian fern. The zoologist caught up in the endless fascination of an adder's coils. And for what? Knowledge for itself alone? The elation of discovery? Plant your flag on the truth? There is only one worthy goal for scientific exploration...  Piercing the tissue that separates life from death. Everything else, from the deep bottom of the sea to the top of the highest mountain on the farthest planet, is insignificant. Life and death, Sir Malcolm. The flicker that separates one from the other, fast as a bat's wing, more beautiful than any sonnet. That is my river. That is my mountain. There I will plant my flag.”

I think that Victor had never in his life talked with anyone about his ambitions. I think that after he shared them with Malcolm he felt relieved.

I like the fact that none of the characters in Penny Dreadful are who or what they seem to be but, if you think about it, aren’t we all the same way?

I liked that Victor refused to work for Malcolm without knowing the truth first (or at least part of it) but it’s all right since we all know that Victor didn’t offer to tell Malcolm his truth, did he?

I find it fascinating that Victor doesn’t give the appearance of being a threat, yet we all know what he is capable of. I think the only person who doesn’t underestimate him is Vanessa.

This is how Ethan and Victor answered when asked if it matter to them to commit murder:
ETHAN: “……..”
VICTOR: “……..”

I think that Ethan was ready to move in with Vanessa and had forgotten about Malcolm until he saw him getting off the carriage.
Why did Ethan leave? Was it that Malcolm reminded him too much of his father? Or was it that he was about to turn into a werewolf and knew bad things would happen to the people inside that house?

It’s so sad to see all this characters living with guilt and the worst thing is that their biggest tormentors are themselves.

I think that Malcolm, from the first moment he saw Mina as a Vampire, knew she was gone.
MALCOLM: “We cannot unmake the past. We shall live with our guilt, you and I. After all this time, she came to me. I will find her. There was another thought when she was so very close to me, a strange working of memory. I thought of a particular lion hunt many years ago. You're moving through the tall grass, getting a glimpse of the prey, the shoulders mostly, the mane. You prepare your rifle. You're very quiet. And then there's a moment. The wind changes, the grass stops swaying. The lion turns, looks at you. The moment you realize you are no longer the hunter, you are the prey.”

I also think it was Caliban (Or the creature) who was observing Victor when he arrived at his laboratory.

Did you notice that the crucifix magically gets turned upside down (after the levitating candles suddenly fall to the floor) and Vanessa turns to look at it, as hundreds of spiders crawl from behind it? I didn’t [Sighs]

Penny Dreadful Episode 2. Seance. (My thoughts part 1)

The silhouette of the man in the beginning, the one who killed the prostitute on the bench, did look a lot like Ethan.
When Ethan woke up he looked to me as if he was thinking, “Oh, no! Not again.”

According to Ethan Chandler, what’s the first thing one should do after waking up without having any recollection, whatsoever, of what happened the previous night? The answer is quite simple: Drink a bottle of whiskey.

I like that Victor shows a completely different side of himself when he’s with Proteus. The way he talks to him and smiles at him, even the little game he plays with him to pick his name. He actually looks content, for once.

VICTOR: “We should give you a name. You're a form of new mankind, so... perhaps Adam? No. Theological connotations aren't very "us" are they?

Imagine Caliban’s reaction when he heard Victor (I’m sure he was listening to all of this) saying to Proteus, “I have two mouths to feed now.”

I love Ethan and Brona’s first encounter. I loved the way she takes one look at him and steals his whiskey right in front of his face and the best thing was Ethan’s reaction to this.

ETHAN: “Well, nice to meet you too.”
BRONA: “And you. (Gasps) What happened to your hand?”
ETHAN: “Long story.”
BRONA: “Lucky it's early.”

To me, Ethan doesn’t look interested in Brona at all in the beginning but his attitude towards her changed when he started noticing there was something wrong with her. I think right after she said:

BRONA: “A couple of years. I came in search of those green pastures you hear tell about. I tried it in the looming trade but it's all industrial now with the big machines. I worked over in a factory in Shoreditch, but 'twas a dispiriting endeavor. One by one, we were all replaced by better new machines. It's no harm. There is always a way to make a living when you've a bit of flesh, isn't there?”
ETHAN: “I couldn't say.”
BRONA: “I'll bet you could.”

And what about Malcolm? He had no problem at all with ordering Vanessa to unbutton the top of her dress, did he? I’m sure it was meant for Victor and he did look at her throat on a couple of occasions by the way so, it worked. Well done Sir Murray, well done.

Isn’t is cute that Victor carries a volume of poems in his medical bag? After all:

VICTOR: “A man does not live only in the empirical world. We must seek the ephemeral or why live?”
VANESSA: "If this belief from heaven be sent, if such be nature's holy plan...”
VICTOR “Have I not reason to lament... "
BOTH: "What man has made of man."

Dorian always says “My name is Dorian Gray.” In a way that makes it sound like he’s saying, “Yes, I know. I’m irresistible.”

It was funny that the inspector was trying to shield Malcolm from the crime scene pictures saying they were not from the faint-hearted. Malcolm had to let him know what time it was, didn’t he?

MALCOLM: “My hearts never fainted.” Isn’t that the truth.

What if Sir Murray went to pay a visit to the inspector to see if he had anything on Ethan?

Another thing, why was Dorian wearing a robe when he was taking pictures of Brona? He was fully dressed when she arrived.

Dorian couldn’t have looked more bored if he’d tried but when he saw Brona coughing, it was as if he’d just witnessed something magical.  And Dorian, being Dorian, of course wanted to have the full, dying-person, experience.

BRONA: “Sir, you shouldn't.” (But we all know she didn’t mean it)
DORIAN: “I don't know the word.”
BRONA: “I mean, my sickness, sir.”

His response? He licked her bloody lips. Ah! Only Dorian Gray!

Brona has the gift of asking men to not do things (like kissing her) while sounding and acting as if she’s dying for them to do them.

I loved seeing Dorian’s dominant side with Brona. I cannot stress this enough!

DORIAN: “I've never fucked a dying creature before. Do you feel things more deeply, I wonder? Do you feel pain?”
BRONA: “Do you?”
DORIAN: “Find out.”

And let’s remember that all this was happening right in front of Mr. Frawley (the photographer). I wonder if he works for free, since he probably gets a show every time Dorian employs him.

I so love how warm Mr. Jared Chandler is to his son Ethan.

"Ethan, it's time for you to come home. You can't run away forever. I can handle your legal problems. The Federal Marshall has been paid. Stop your foolishness and do as I instruct. Your father."

It makes one wonder why Ethan is not with his father, doesn’t it?

Victor’s drawing skills amaze me every time I see him in action.

Did Vanessa feel Dorian’s presence inside Mr. Lyle’s home? I think she did.

It seems that Dorian Gray not only doesn’t know the word “shouldn’t” he also seems to not know the meaning of personal space. He got so close to Vanessa right before introducing himself he could almost kiss her!

Then Dorian started to, pretty much, read Vanessa’s mind. You can see Vanessa’s confidence vanishing. I think she had never experienced that feeling before in her life.

DORIAN: “You do not belong here, even less than I. You are not frivolous. Your eye is careful and appraising. This is not a careful room, although there is much to appraise. That can divert you for only so long. You do not like it here. You are closed to it. Yet... you're the only woman in this house not wearing gloves. Your hands want to touch, but your head wants to appraise. Your heart is torn between the two. You were skeptical because you thought... This was going to be a wasted evening, but now you're not so sure.”

I think Vanessa was used to be the one exposing people’s most inner thoughts but when Dorian did it to her she didn’t know what to do. I think that’s when Dorian knew he had her.

Отредактировано Vanessa Ives 666 (2015-02-07 09:02:53)

Vanessa Ives 666
Many thanks for the article! Very interesting, new ideas, unexpected and interesting! 

Penny Dreadful inspired Valentine's Day cards.

Thank you so much! It means a lot to me to hear this from you! 

Ethan Chandler...

Great gifs