Penny Dreadful
Season 1, Episode 04
Episode Title: Demimonde
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar
Penny Dreadful contains: Sex & Nudity, Violence & Gore, Profanity, Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking, and Frightening/Intense Scenes.
The episode starts with Dorian Gray having a party, a sex party. When the guests are gone he opens a secret door behind a painting and enters a room that contains a single cover painting. He sits down and stares at it. The opening credits role, and now we see the Creature also being included.
Vanessa is sitting outside a church were a girl sits next to her, telling her what she thinks about the services, her dead mother, her beast of a nanny, and her beliefs of death. Vanessa sees Dorian and follows him to a greenhouse. They see a rare orchid. When she asks if it is poisonous, he replays: “Like all beautiful things, I hope so.” He excuses himself with another appointment and tells her he will be at the theater that night.
Dr. Frankenstein and the Entomologist Professor Van Helsing (David Warner,) are working with the blood that was extracted from the vampire. The blood has a property that prevents complete coagulation. It seems that Professor Van helsing already knew of the vampires and tells him that Sir Malcolm doesn’t fully understand the vampires like he does. Victor sees the Creature outside the window and goes to tell him to leave, that he is working. He explains that to do what he asked of him, he needs money. The Creature tells him that he wants his bride to be beautiful.
Ethan and Brona are shown to be getting closer, and he promises her to take her out that night after his work. At work with Sir Malcolm, Victor is going to make a blood transfusion to the young man they found at the Zoo whose name is Fenton (Olly Alexander from Great Expectations). Fenton asks for Vanessa, calling her mother. Victor asks Ethan to roll up his sleeve because they need a donor, to which he tells him that it is not a good idea to use his blood. When asked why, he doesn’t respond and Sir Malcolm offers himself for the task.
Ethan gets angry when Sir Malcolm and Victor are talking about the recent killings of people. He looks troubled and throws their newspaper into the hearth. Sir Malcolm asks Ethan if he would like to go with him on his next trip to Africa. Vanessa arrives when Sembene tells them that Fenton is awake. He is hungry and Vanessa gives him an apple. He throws it back at her saying he wants blood. While Sir Malcolm and Victor are thinking what to give him, Sembene arrives and gives him a cat.
Ethan and Brona go to the theater for their date. The Creature is happy at this work, making people fascinated with the effects he creates. Dorian is also at the theater. The play is about a werewolf. In the balcony in front of Dorian, there is Vanessa, while Sembene watches her from afar.
Fenton escapes and the vampire appears. Fenton tells the vampire that Vanessa is not in the house. The vampire flees, and Fenton is killed when he is thrown and falls on a piece of wood of the window.
After the play, Vanessa meets Brona, and Ethan meets Dorian Gray. Brona is jealous of Vanessa. She tells Ethan that they know that they don’t have a future together and leaves. Dorian and Ethan leave to have a drink, and Vanessa stays to see the play. They actually go to see a gambling show were a dog kills rats. During the show Ethan starts to feel bad, he then gets in a fight with a group of men.
Vanessa goes back to Sir Malcolm’s house where she is told that Mr. Fenton is dead and that the vampire was there. They come to the conclusion that Mina is their enemy.
Back at Dorian’s house, Ethan and Dorian start to drink. Dorian plays music, and fast recap of events are shown, implying that Ethan might be the one remembering them then come to an end when he takes Dorian by the throat and kisses him. The episode ends with them starting to take their clothes off.
The episode was interesting. I liked that early scene with Vanessa and the girl. I think that the girl talks to her only to see if Vanessa had candy to give her. I still have a feeling that Ethan is something more than human (werewolf maybe). I think that Victor is going to ask Sir Malcolm to take him to Africa to escape the Creature. On the other hand, the Creature really looks happy in the theater and how he calls Victor, demon. Poor Brona, she felt less because of the kind of acquaintances that Ethan has. Would you say that Vanessa is stalking Dorian? To tell you the truth, Ethan and Dorian’s last scene was something I didn’t expect, maybe from others, but I didn’t think it was going to be Ethan. It seems that nobody is safe from Dorian’s charm. The name of Demimonde really fits the episode. We’re now halfway through the season, let see how it goes.
