‘Penny Dreadful’ Returns With Surreal Imagery And Eva Green

Tonight saw the return of Penny Dreadful, starring Eva Green, Timothy Dalton, and Josh Hartnett, for its second season premiere, and Penny Dreadful has lost none of its magic since it last darkened viewers’ screens. Penny Dreadful brings together a number of characters from 19th century novels in a union to battle supernatural threats to mankind. The idea seems to draw heavily on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but delivers a much more magical, thrilling drama than that 2003 film.

In Penny Dreadful’s first season, Vanessa Ives, played to luscious perfection by Eva Green, enlists help to rescue her friend Mina Harker (Olivia Llewellyn) from a vampire known only as The Master. Enlisted to help her rescue the famed Bram Stoker damsel, Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), and Dr. Abraham van Helsing (David Warner) all join the hunt.

The characters leading the fight against evil in Penny Dreadful are far from heroic and selfless. Each of them has his or her own failings, flaws, and motives, some of them fighting for the common good only when it suits their own purposes. The cast of anti-heroes is another part of what has made Penny Dreadful such a huge success for Showtime.

That mission turned out to be something of a disaster, but Penny Dreadful itself was a huge hit, mixing up classic literature and heavily gothic Victorian England with tales of horror and suspense. Season 2 of Penny Dreadful promises more of the same gothic horror, as the group continues to pursue The Master and discovers just how extensive his reach falls. The second season of Penny Dreadful reportedly draws heavily on the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, so fans can expect to see Lovecraft’s monsters in the employ of The Master in future episodes.

Specifically, showrunner John Logan revealed that Helen McCrory will pose a greater threat in Season 2 of Penny Dreadful, particularly to Eva Green’s character.

“I became very interested in a particular period in her past, and that exploration led me eventually into the occult and into witchcraft. So this season, we have a fantastic antagonist played by the great Helen McCrory: Evelyn Poole, who we’ve met in the first season. But she emerges this season to be a ferocious enemy of Vanessa.”

Logan also revealed that Vanessa will be facing internal struggles as well as this new foe, as she tries to come to terms with the demon within and how she might finally rid herself of that evil influence.

“I think Vanessa Ives is always a very complicated, dark character, and I think the pull between the light and the dark in her is what makes her an exciting character for Eva to play. And I don’t think she would be the woman she was if she were not always struggling with her identity.”

Many new shows need a season to find their footing and it seems Penny Dreadful is no exception. In fact, Logan reports that the Penny Dreadful cast has really come together while shooting Season 2, and that everyone works really well together now.

“The rhythms of the show are very comfortable to us. We know the style of the piece, whereas in the first season we were sort of inventing it and finding it as we went. And I think all the actors in particular are very brave in this season. They’re bold and brave about going to different places with their characters, and it’s been a joy to watch them do it and to help lead them there.”

Penny Dreadful airs Sunday nights on Showtime.

[Featured Image: Eva Green courtesy of Showtime]