Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

New series.

Ep1 was decent enough to make me want to watch the second. Josh Hartnett is somewhat annoying with his 'western' accent.

Liked the first episode - can't wait for Billie Piper's character to debut.

Hope it's good. No Showtime access here, alas.

Originally posted by Stealth Moose
Hope it's good. No Showtime access here, alas.

Got torrents?

Nah bro. That shit is dangerous.

So is using dirty needles to inject heroine while having unprotected sex with West African prostitutes, but that never stopped you before.

They promised me it would stop the voices.

wasn't encapsulated by the first show.. will watch 2nd ep and go from there

Encapsulate these nuts, Brucie!

Originally posted by Robtard
Encapsulate these nuts, Brucie!


lol rob lol

I just watched the first episode of this show. I'm a massive horror buff, so this may be the horror show I've been waiting for. The tone is ****ing perfect.

Frankenstein and his monster in the first episode, and allusions toward Jack the Ripper, Dracula, and werewolves. I'm in.

There really should be a lot more posts about this show.

I've been marathoning Archer, so I'll watch it when I'm done that.

I just watched the second episode. Holy shit, that was unexpected. O_O

I finished the first season!

This show seems to be almost completely about character development. There isn't much payoff to all the build up besides a sad or ****ed up scene that leads to more character development. Thats not a bad thing. Having a bunch of 3 dimensional characters is great. They managed to establish the team and make me care about every single member (although Dorian seems like he's just observing or passing through).

And when I say there isn't much payoff, there isn't much payoff. All the build up with Frankenstein and his monster made me think he would start personally targeting the doctors closest friends (the team) which would lead to a brutal team vs monster confrontation.

Bringing in Dr. Van Helsing, one of the most notable characters in horror literature and the single biggest vampire authority in the show, only to have him killed by Frankensteins monster two episodes after he's introduced. I mean, the prospect of Van Helsing encountering Dr. Frankenstein and his monster is epic, but they way they did it was just straight shock factor. Having Helsing dragged down a dirty alley to get his neck snapped? It's not like he's never encountered beings with massive strength. You'd think he'd have little combat maneuvers or measures in place just in case something like this happened. It would have been better if they drawn out the fight between him and the monster to show that he's a force to be reckoned with. Even if he got overwhelmed at the end. Him passing the torch to young Frankenstein was cool though. Still, I was reeeaaally hoping he would join the team. Having him encounter Dracula again in his life would have been awesome, although it would retread old ground in his past I suppose. The dude was at the end of his life and long retired after all.

Also, Ethan being the Wolfman had no big payoff either. I was expecting him to transform from stress or something when they were all being overwhelmed by Dracula girls. I was expecting him to transform during one of the teams outings or something too, for a Hulk vs Avengers type situation, but they still don't have the slightest idea about his past or disease. I was also expecting a Wolfman vs Dracula encounter in the season finale, but it turns out that wasn't even Dracula. Thats a good thing though. I wanted Dracula to be a much bigger force to be reckoned with. Thank god they saved him for season two. Hopefully they cast him well. Now that the team is fully established (with the exception of Dorian Gray), and we know/care about the characters, we can get a good story in next season.

One thing I'll say had awesome pay off was Vanessa's entire 'Exorcist' plot. Seeing her past with Mina, her first possession, and then episode 7 blowing everything up was well done. Eva Green is a great actress.

I'm very much looking forward to the next season. It should be epic.

I actually lold at the bisexual American werewolf in London twist.

Originally posted by Robtard
I actually lold at the bisexual American werewolf in London twist. Ya, I felt shocked at first, but then bust out laughing. The director of the show is gay himself, so it was to be expected. Still loled

Anyone still watching this? Season 2 has been excellent so far.

I am. It had a very slow and tedious start for the most part, but it's started to shape out these last few eps.

I am, I'm enjoying it and thankfully it has been renewed for a 9 episode 3rd season. We also just found out Ethan's last name is actually "Talbot" which was of course the last name of the "Wolf Man" played by Lon Chaney Jr. and others.

But I'm pissed off..why did they have to kill Sembene??

I cheered outloud when Caliban "took care" of his captors in this latest episode. Boy did they have it coming..and then him not killing their blind daughter but instead leaving her to stumble across the bodies..that is a fate worse then death for the girl I'd think. Well played good sir.

So it looks like Dorian and Lily might be the villains next season.

Ugh. I hope not. Season finale was very good though.

It seemed like it with their disgust and comtempt of humanity and their Third Reich "Master Race" comments.

Even if they do go villain, it's still possible to have more than one villain/plot. Isn't their still a Vampire Lord running around out there? Can't recall S1 very well.

Yeah and before Dorian really wasn't portrayed as all "I'm the master race and want to conquer the world". Just seemed like a dude who loved banging people.

Though on the other hand if they are the villains there is a chance we'd get to see a Dorian vs Caliban fight.

I kind of feel bad for Viktor even if he is a creepy little bastard.

Also the vampire lord is apparently still out there somewhere.

Originally posted by Surtur
Yeah and before Dorian really wasn't portrayed as all "I'm the master race and want to conquer the world". Just seemed like a dude who loved banging people.

Though on the other hand if they are the villains there is a chance we'd get to see a Dorian vs Caliban fight.

I kind of feel bad for Viktor even if he is a creepy little bastard.

Also the vampire lord is apparently still out there somewhere. Typically dorian gray has always been a character who reveled at new experiences. He would kill just to see how it felt. Lily offering new experiences would be enough to lure doran to her but I dont see him being with her indefinitely. Only until he gets bored.

Originally posted by HueyFreeman
Typically dorian gray has always been a character who reveled at new experiences. He would kill just to see how it felt. Lily offering new experiences would be enough to lure doran to her but I dont see him being with her indefinitely. Only until he gets bored.

Yep and this is the thing I see as the downfall of the couple. You could see Dorian take over the world one week and then the next week he decides to go do something else. But Lily seems to have more of an actual lust for power now. Power for the sake of power.

In other words Dorian is a hedonist, but with Lily it goes deeper. I think she knows this and that is why she gave Caliban a taste..she knows in the end it will just be her and him.

Just started watching this and enjoying it pretty thoroughly. Quite a bit darker than the strain and the characters and dialogue is very well done. Worth a look for fans into both horror and period-based series.

Yeah, and the new season starts in a few weeks.

Noice!

Good show, great characters and atmosphere. I really dig all the references to romantic poetry and classical lit too.

Not too keen on Lily and Dorian as the villains though, hopefully they're just side-villains and we get some more vampire action. I think we'll also see a lot of action in the Old West too now that the American is going home.

But can any villain ever top..a doll possessed by Satan?

New season begins tonight, can't wait.

It was a pretty good premiere.

Saw it like a week ago.

Lol holy shit@ Caliban just snapping the little kids neck like that. I get why he did it but damn..he didn't even hesitate.

Back in July I mentioned the "vampire lord" reference in the show, seems that is Dracula and who will be the main villain this season, which isn't surprising since they heavily rely on literature.

Was a good season premiere overall, touched on several of the main arcs without dwelling too deep. Did like they introduced another hero/anti-hero to the group. Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

How good is this show? I've been meaning to start watching it.
Also and more importantly does Eva Green display her best "traits"?

I enjoy it, the writing and acting are decent and it's a smorgasbord of old literary characters all mashed together. There are dull moments though, but they don't last very long.

There's a fair amount of nudity, Eva's amazing breast are seen on multiple occasions. Edit: I actually think we get the Full Monty with here in a few scenes in S1 and/or 2, iirc

Nice

Definitly going to start watching soon.

The possession episode from season 1 was some of the finest television I've seen in years on a lot of levels.

Originally posted by Inhuman
How good is this show? I've been meaning to start watching it.
Also and more importantly does Eva Green display her best "traits"?

It's almost like a weird "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" type of show, only in a similar but more macabre setting. You have a guy who is basically Alan Quartermain. His name isn't Alan, but he has a lot in common with him. Then they toss in Dorian Gray, a werewolf, dr. frankenstein, van hellsing, dr. jekyll, frankensteins monsters. Then Satan is involved and his brother is friggin Dracula. Also Dorian Gray basically has f*cked all of the main characters, including the men lol.

I'm basically just waiting for the Invisible Man and Captain Nemo to show up.

Also I don't know if we see Eva naked, I do think we see the chick from Doctor Who's boobies. Rose Tyler.

Anyways was I the only one who get this vibe that Victor Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll seemed kind of like..former lovers? They try to play it like they are old friends but there was something underneath it all.

Originally posted by Surtur


Also I don't know if we see Eva naked, I do think we see the chick from Doctor Who's boobies. Rose Tyler.



We do, google "penny dreadful nude" and you'll get a bunch of hits of nude characters, Eva is among them.

The possession episode OV talked about has her nude in it.

This all sounds great

I enjoy the mystery minority men this show seems to be fond of. First we had mysterious black guy with a waffle ironed face, now we have mysterious apache guy who can visit your dreams by smoking a pipe.

Only question is when will a cocaine addled Sherlock Holmes show up? Which of course he'll show up with his partner Dr. Watson with him, who will somehow also be the Invisible man.

Sherlock Holmes may not appear as he isn't a supernatural character. Although I could see him having a cameo if they encounter something like the Hound of the Baskervilles.

True, but I could see him fitting in with Dr. Frankenstein and Hyde, who aren't supernatural and are more just about esoteric science.

Then perhaps even seeing him confront an eventual supernatural entity and how he'd handle it would also be interesting.

But it's doubtful we'll actually see him. I'm still not sure who the main villain will be. Either Dracula or maybe Ethan's father I guess. All I know is the dude who played "William Stryker" in the X-Men sequel X2 is playing his father this season.

Thought Holmes was an opium and/or heroine guy?

Dracula's the main this season, though I guess you could say he's been behind the scenes since season one.

Brian Cox? Awesome, he's a talented actor.

Getting really tired of the Frankenstein bullshit. All of the plot-lines dealing with Frankenstein and his monsters are an absolute bore. Which is a shame considering the rest of the plot-lines are really interesting.

shows needs more nudity

And more blood. Or more blood and nudity together... oh wait, we had that.

Originally posted by Robtard
Thought Holmes was an opium and/or heroine guy?

Dracula's the main this season, though I guess you could say he's been behind the scenes since season one.

Brian Cox? Awesome, he's a talented actor.

He liked his cocaine and his morphine. But it'd be funnier to just see him strung out on cocaine. BTW Watson used cocaine too lol, just not as much.

To be fair though the use of cocaine was a lot more widespread at the time, but it's still funny. There was a time people put cocaine in pretty much everything. So I guess the past wasn't 100% shitty.

Why is it every season they have one entire episode devoted completely to Miss Ives? These episodes always suck.

Because she's the focal character and all the stories somehow tie into her own?

I guess, but I just find them terrible. I guess the end when Lucifer and Dracula were talking to each other was cool.

Yeah it dragged on a bit. But Lucifer en Dracula together were pretty neat.

Latest episode was good, I'm beginning to like the witch character.

Well... not much more left to like. ;-)

I like season 3 better than season 2...

5/10 finale

Euh??? Please elaborate? Bad final episode?

Sad that it's over. It was such a good show.

decent ending to a pretty good show

My biggest disappointment from the finale was that we didn't get to see Dracula fight Ethan in his wolfman form.

Originally posted by Omega Vision
My biggest disappointment from the finale was that we didn't get to see Dracula fight Ethan in his wolfman form. Felt like everything was rushed.

Could have definitely used another episode.

Dorian Gray storyline went absolutely nowhere this season, that was a huge disappointment.

I'm just so sick of hearing Lily whine about her previous shitty life. We get it: men treated you bad, but you were also kind of a skeevy diseased hooker.

Dorian Gray should of slapped the utter shit out of that one chick who dared to put a blade to his throat and talk back to him.

Felt the last half or so and especially the ending ep were lacking. Gray's arch was all but pointless, introducing Jekyll was kind of worthless. As Mindset said, really felt rushed.

Almost like they expected another season and mid-way through filming they were told, 'no, wrap it up as is'.

I'm not a fan of how it ended. It indeed did feel like halfway through the season they found out there would be no 4th season. They also for some reason chose to air the final 2 episodes on the same day, when for the other seasons they never did that. Almost like the network was really eager to just get this show over with. Maybe it was the ratings? Though it did average at least half a million viewers each episode. I don't know how successful those numbers are considered by the network. On a normal network they would be bad ratings, but Showtime is a network not a lot of people have.

The plot with Caliban and his family was just awful and boring to me. The plot with Ethan really felt like it didn't go anywhere. The plot with Frankenstein and Jekyll felt the same way. You could say the same about the plot with Lily and Dorian Gray. Every other scene with Lily has the person who plays her really overacting.

I also expected sooner or later for Ethan to find out Brona(Lily) was still alive, but it never happened.

They should have just ended it at season 2

Originally posted by Mindset
Felt like everything was rushed.

Could have definitely used another episode.

Dorian Gray storyline went absolutely nowhere this season, that was a huge disappointment.
Yeah, one more episode would have been perfect.

Pisses me off that Ethan's wolfman powers ended up not being necessary to save the day (all he really needed was a gun and a distraction) after two seasons of being told that only the "Wolf of God" could save the world. Seems to me like anyone could have just killed Vanessa if they had the chance.

Originally posted by Mindset
They should have just ended it at season 2

Either that or ended it at season 3 but added about 4-5 episodes onto the season.

Finally finished this show. Shit ending. So many leftover plotlines.

No Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde transformation? No Ethan finding out about Frankenstein's happenings with the corpse of his love? In fact, the entire team never found out about Dr. Frankenstein's other life. The monster also stayed completely separate from the team the entire time, when he would have made a great addition. Lily just walks off and disappears (which I guess I'm actually kind of thankful for, annoying character). Dracula just flying off and leaving the team was also pretty wtf worthy. He should have murdered them all in a fit of rage. He spent thousands of years waiting for Vanessa (way more actually), but we get no closure to him or his storyline. They could have at least had him killed by Sir Malcolm to give their story lines an ending. Vanessa randomly playing and making it into heaven at the end was also strange. She read from the book of the devil, cursing her soul right there. She burned her Jesus cross. She willingly made a choice that she knew would lead to the death of likely millions (though "only" ended up killing a few thousand). Still, she somehow makes it into heaven after one prayer.

Also, Dr. Frankenstein remained a pointless and incapable part of the team. They might as well have given a child a gun and welcomed it in. After he became Van Helsings protege in season 1, I always figured he'd become more capable when it came to the occult (or at least specialize in vampires). This would have been more fun than his arc with Lily and Jekyll, both of which went nowhere, and would have made him a respectable part of the team. I also didn't like his arc becoming completely separate from Calibans. They should have been tied together for the duration of the show, for better or worse.

Speaking of never joining the team, I'm actually glad they kept Dorian separate from the rest of them. He, and Frankenstein's original novels are the only ones I've read. Him joining the team really wouldn't fit his character. He's not a savior. If anything, the new world would be a breath of fresh air for him, so I actually liked where his story went. We finally got to see the character I've been waiting for since season 1 in him. I was getting real tired of the respectful nice boy the show was playing up. In the end, they actually did his character justice, though I predicted basically everything he ended up doing (only because I know the character well).

I'm also still salty about Van Helsing being absolutely wasted back in season 1. Instead, we get a random psychologist and a poverty Selene (Underworld) randomly joining this late into the game? Terrible characters.

They handled the ending poorly. That said, everything that happened in the West was gold. Brian Cox was the best part of this season. I wouldn't have minded an entire season centering around him as the villain. Amazing character.

Just finished this too and I agree with most of your post.

The end was rushed and plots were left unresolved . I think it was because the series was canceled out of nowhere. Im sure they were planing more seasons but for whatever reasons they had to end it asap.

Yep Showtime gets rid of this but hey we need "The Affair" around to continue.

Originally posted by Arachnid1
Finally finished this show. Shit ending. So many leftover plotlines.

No Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde transformation? No Ethan finding out about Frankenstein's happenings with the corpse of his love? In fact, the entire team never found out about Dr. Frankenstein's other life. The monster also stayed completely separate from the team the entire time, when he would have made a great addition. Lily just walks off and disappears (which I guess I'm actually kind of thankful for, annoying character). Dracula just flying off and leaving the team was also pretty wtf worthy. He should have murdered them all in a fit of rage. He spent thousands of years waiting for Vanessa (way more actually), but we get no closure to him or his storyline. They could have at least had him killed by Sir Malcolm to give their story lines an ending. Vanessa randomly playing and making it into heaven at the end was also strange. She read from the book of the devil, cursing her soul right there. She burned her Jesus cross. She willingly made a choice that she knew would lead to the death of likely millions (though "only" ended up killing a few thousand). Still, she somehow makes it into heaven after one prayer.

Also, Dr. Frankenstein remained a pointless and incapable part of the team. They might as well have given a child a gun and welcomed it in. After he became Van Helsings protege in season 1, I always figured he'd become more capable when it came to the occult (or at least specialize in vampires). This would have been more fun than his arc with Lily and Jekyll, both of which went nowhere, and would have made him a respectable part of the team. I also didn't like his arc becoming completely separate from Calibans. They should have been tied together for the duration of the show, for better or worse.

Speaking of never joining the team, I'm actually glad they kept Dorian separate from the rest of them. He, and Frankenstein's original novels are the only ones I've read. Him joining the team really wouldn't fit his character. He's not a savior. If anything, the new world would be a breath of fresh air for him, so I actually liked where his story went. We finally got to see the character I've been waiting for since season 1 in him. I was getting real tired of the respectful nice boy the show was playing up. In the end, they actually did his character justice, though I predicted basically everything he ended up doing (only because I know the character well).

I'm also still salty about Van Helsing being absolutely wasted back in season 1. Instead, we get a random psychologist and a poverty Selene (Underworld) randomly joining this late into the game? Terrible characters.

They handled the ending poorly. That said, everything that happened in the West was gold. Brian Cox was the best part of this season. I wouldn't have minded an entire season centering around him as the villain. Amazing character.
I agree with most of what you've said here, the one thing I'd want to point out though is that this wasn't Dracula's last chance to get with the mother of evil and bring about the apocalypse. The Mother of Evil curse seems to pass on like a mantle from tragic woman to tragic woman--Vanessa wasn't the first and she won't be the last. Dracula probably figured it was time to cut his losses. To add to that, he might have been genuinely too distraught to do anything but flee since he seemed to legitimately care for Vanessa in his own way.

Well, there's really nothing for me to say that hasn't been said. Seasons 1 and 2 were amazing. 3 just felt rushed and there were so many things that went nowhere. Mr. Hyde never coming into play and Dorian's weaksauce exit--though I'm guessing both were due to them calling a sudden halt to the ending--were garbage. Much of what went on in America was over the top and rushed as well. Ethan not even having to use his wolf form to break the curse. They literally could have had John Claire show up and talk Vanessa into taking a bullet if that was all it took, and he honestly understood her better than Ethan, even if he didn't fully know why.

Season 2 was so, for lack of a better word, dreadful, and some things like the psych angle and what went on during the fugue state were great and gave me hope for season 3, but for the most part it was just poo.

I dunno... I thought season two was a bit too much at times. Too much into the bizarre occultness, too 'dreadful' as you put it, too much suffering that is healed too soon and then starts again... I mean, how much suffering can Ms Ives take... that's what I was wondering all the time... And mostly: why? What is it with her that all these occult creatures want her, make her suffer and why does she go on?

Season three felt, to me at least, more profound, refined and balanced.

S2 was the best season of the show.

Well, I disagree.

Personally I loved season 1 above all.

S2 had the best story and character development.

But to each their own.

But Season 2 also had most of the boring Frankenstein Monster story. ;-)

Originally posted by queeq
But Season 2 also had most of the boring Frankenstein Monster story. ;-) S3 was the only good season for Caliban.

Agreed.

I hated Caliban. He was so boring in the 3rd season. The highlight was when he snaps the starving kids neck on that ship.

As opposed to the first season where he wasn't taking any shit and was murdering people and all this shit. That was interested. Hell him getting caught by those sidehow people was interesting. Especially when he leaves their blind daughter to find the dead bodies. That shit was epic.

But then it's meh..my family blah blah.

Season 3 was a crap fest. There wasn't even any real rising action aside from Dracs tricking Ms Ives and luring her in. They pretended like the American saga and the Dr Jekyll thing would get interesting but neither ever really did. Ethan's "fall" was okay, but it was a poor plot line overall in terms of what they did with it.

I loved S2 for the visceral points it had and the constant sense of danger, even with the flashbacks that you knew chars were going to survive. I'm still not sure why they pulled the plug the way they did. Made me a sad panda.

Dracula turned out to be a huge letdown too. So did Jekyll actually. Not a single transformation into Hyde? Bah.

Also like I said before,the worst offender: Ethan never finds out that Frankenstein resurrected Brona.

Do think they had planned a 4th season, why so many archs either felt rushed midway through the season or went nowhere. Otherwise it's just real shit writing.

Originally posted by Surtur
Dracula turned out to be a huge letdown too. So did Jekyll actually. Not a single transformation into Hyde? Bah.

Also like I said before,the worst offender: Ethan never finds out that Frankenstein resurrected Brona.


Yeah, Jekyll was VERY underused.

I would like to think they were indeed planning to flesh out Jekyll more.

I also feel the show missed some great opportunities for awesomeness. In the first season they brought in Van Hellsing and you had Van Hellsing and Dr. Frankenstein essentially teaming up. A show based around that premise alone would be cool, but what do they do? Kill Van Hellsing off after like 2 episodes.

I will also admit I never cared at all about Brona's/Lily's story arc. Essentially the entire time I was waiting for Ethan to find out what Viktor did to Brona. Though I would have been curious if they'd gone into Dorian Gray's background more.

With the exception of season 1 the show seemed to always end their seasons with a pretty big let down. In the second season finale it ended with..battling a doll that was possessed by Satan. You can somewhat excuse how the final season ended since they probably had thought they'd get a 4th season, but with the second season? They ended it that way knowing they'd be getting another season. Both Satan and Dracula were let downs.

Though still..I respect the show for trying to attempt something a little bit different.

I do think that with the build up in terms of the power that the witches possessed and Satan himself going after Ms Ives the final battle of words alone was a bit of a letdown.