Penny Dreadful: ONE Change That Would’ve Fixed The Divisive Ending – Screen Rant

Penny Dreadful, John Logan's Gothic horror supernatural drama on Showtime, had a controversial series finale that could have easily been fixed.

Fans of the Showtime supernatural drama,Penny Dreadful, were largely disappointed by the controversial and highly divisive series finale, which happened without prior warning; disappointing as the finale was, it could have easily been fixed with one small change.

John Logan's Gothic horror series ran for three seasons from 2014-2016 and starred Eva Green, Josh Hartnett, Reeve Carney, Harry Treadaway, Timothy Dalton, and Rory Kinnear. Adapted from classic horror stories such asDracula,Frankenstein,The Wolf Man,The Picture of Dorian Gray, andDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the characters inPenny Dreadfulwere relatively faithful versions of their respective literary counterparts. The show's evoked a dreary aesthetic and setting in Victorian era London, which was the origin of the name; it stemmed from "penny dreadfuls", or cheap paperback novels that often depicted grotesque murder and horror.

Related: Penny Dreadful: Why The Series Finale Was So Controversial

The series finale ofPenny Dreadfuldidn't quite hit the chord with its audience that they were hoping for; Logan surprised fans of the show with a sudden ending that was, in his opinion, the natural conclusion of the series. For him, everything happened as it should have, with the different character arcs playing out to their natural conclusion. Even so, the death of the tortured Vanessa Ives (Green) at the hands of Ethan Chandler (Hartnett), the man who loved her, was a painful ending for numerous reasons. Though some considered it to be the most natural fate for Vanessa, and in a way, she earned her freedom from the forces of darkness in death, it didn't have to be so grave.

In the series finale ofPenny Dreadful, Vanessa finally finds peace in death after Ethan fatally shoots her. This was a dissatisfying ending for audiences not only because of the love between Ethan and Vanessa, but because he was always supposed to be her protector. One perspective might argue that, by killing her, he was protecting her from the grip of darkness and the Devil's clutches; this discounts his overall role in the show, however, and eliminates much of the "lupus dei" prophecy.

The majority of season 3 had Ethan in America, while Vanessa stayed in London. This opened her up to a new romantic relationship, albeit a dangerous one with Dr. Alexander Sweet (Christian Camargo), who is actually Dracula. Dr. Sweet adopts the form of a charismatic zoologist in order to win Vanessa's trust and seduce her. Vanessa is vulnerable after Ethan and Sir Malcolm (Dalton) leave her to her own devices; they are the two men who, throughout the show, offered Vanessa understanding and kindness, even respect. While she had her own troubles with Sir Malcolm over the years, due to her history with his family and his daughter, Mina, the two had a paternal relationship. Her bond with Ethan was much more romantic in nature, but losing a father figure and a potential lover in one fell swoop had an adverse affect.

If Ethan had never left for America, and had instead chosen to stay with Vanessa, there wouldn't have been as much of a plot in season 3 regarding Dracula and the prophecy where Vanessa becomes the Mother of Evil. The prophecy states the Mother of Evil is responsible for bringing about the Fallen Angels, which would in turn destroy God and all humankind. Vanessa once made Ethan promise to kill her if she ever was going to hurt anyone; he followed through on his promise, but if he hadn't left, she likely would have never gotten involved with Dr. Sweet/Dracula in the first place. Ethan could have stayed by Vanessa's side as her protector, her lover, and helped her overcome the darkness organically, allowing her to find a happier ending.Penny Dreadful could have then delivered a stronger message that love can conquer evil, rather than forcing Vanessa to only find true peace in death.

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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival. In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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Penny Dreadful: ONE Change That Would've Fixed The Divisive Ending - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero