Penny Dreadful: City of Angels

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WqFMwMiF3I

Anyone catch the premiere last night?

[SiegePerilous02]

I did! Really liked it, interested to see where it goes. Loving the time period and Natalie Dormer.

I never finished the first series, I lost interest when I found out ahead of time how it ended. May go back and re-watch it all now.

[ZeroBG82]

For context, I adore the original series. Except for that last episode. Hell, even just the last 15 minutes. Everything up to that was gold. But what Logan did to that show is unforgivable. Talk about a creator absolutely betraying his characters, his story and his audience, and you talk about John Logan. I honestly considered not even watching this, because having one amazing series completely and utterly destroyed before it's time is frankly enough to sour me on the man. But then he cast Natalie Dormer, so I have to give it at least one episode.

This wasn't terrible, it was just boring.

Tiago Vega is bland as all hell. His family drama bored me. LA bores me, and just continued to do so all through this. The supernatural elements are dull and trite, with nothing novel or compelling to bring a viewer back.

But it wasn't all bad. I liked the way they introduced Dr. Kraft (or Craft, I didn't catch the spelling on the door). Humanizing him, making us see him as a sympathetic and caring doctor before revealing he's a Nazi was actually well done. I want to hate him because of his ideology, but he's a likable fellow. That kind of contrast, humanizing monsters, was one of the strengths of the original series. And I liked Nathan Lane. It's a very different role for him, kind of playing grizzled if not quite jaded.

Natalie Dormer is probably one of the hottest women on the planet, and I liked seeing her take on the different roles as Magda moved events towards the climax. But the character is so one note and cliche that at this point even Dormer can't save her.

I'm going to give it a second episode to see if that can breathe life and layers into the concept. As I recall, I was much more intrigued but not completely sold on the original after just the first episode. This left me cold, but has not completely turned me away. But it's on a short leash, if the next episode isn't 10/10 I'm out.

[GOLGO 13]

Dormer has this beautifully twisted smile that just beams malevolence. She's great.

[Midvillian1322]

Are their gonna be any recognizable characters in this like there was in the original?

That said it was nice to see Timone himself in something again and the guy who played Frankensteins monster made for a likable Nazi Dr. But what I really loved about the first one was the characters I knew. Like I knew we saw like a witch and a Godess of death ( I think that's what they are throughout but yea iono) ill give i another episode I need to rewatch the first one fell asleep 3/4ths the way through.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Dorian Gray feels like an obvious one but you never know. I could see them being kept separate but they might sneak in a few characters or references. Maybe even an actor or two but in a different role.

[Midvillian1322]

Dorian Gray feels like an obvious one but you never know. I could see them being kept separate but they might sneak in a few characters or references. Maybe even an actor or two but in a different role.

I don't even mean the same characters but just other classic characters. But yea Dorian makes sense. Also yea they already brought back the actor who played Frankensteins monster so why not. Problem is others characters like Dr Jekyll or invisible man or whoever don't fit LA in this time period. Dorisn is the really the only who works. Though I guess they can change stuff.

So who is Dormer playing? Just a witch or someshit? Looked like the other lady was Santa Muerte but iono didn't finish the episode.

[tv horror]

They could always add Baron Samedi.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I don't even mean the same characters but just other classic characters. But yea Dorian makes sense. Also yea they already brought back the actor who played Frankensteins monster so why not. Problem is others characters like Dr Jekyll or invisible man or whoever don't fit LA in this time period. Dorisn is the really the only who works. Though I guess they can change stuff.

So who is Dormer playing? Just a witch or someshit? Looked like the other lady was Santa Muerte but iono didn't finish the episode.

They could pull from contemporary 1930s fiction but I could see them sticking more to folklore. Granted would you want them to either adapt those classic stories and set them in the 30s like what the BBC did with Sherlock? Or would you want them to follow up on Penny Dreadful and show what those characters are doing in the 30s?

Dormer is playing Magda a malevolent spirit of chaos and sister to Santa Muerte.

https://nerdist.com/article/penny-dr...l-inspiration/

[Midvillian1322]

They could pull from contemporary 1930s fiction but I could see them sticking more to folklore. Granted would you want them to either adapt those classic stories and set them in the 30s like what the BBC did with Sherlock? Or would you want them to follow up on Penny Dreadful and show what those characters are doing in the 30s?

Dormer is playing Magda a malevolent spirit of chaos and sister to Santa Muerte.

https://nerdist.com/article/penny-dr...l-inspiration/

Ok so the two supernatural character we got so far are basically goddesses of Death and Chaos. But yea Dorian and any long lived character can show what they are doing now but I feel like Jekyll or Invisible man or basically any character who isn't a vampire, Gray, or a mummy would need to be adapted for 1930s L.A.

Are there any American folklore that they can use to fit this show that I'm just not thinking of? I mean Native American spirits are all I'm coming up with. Guess they can have some old ass man be like hey I'm Billy the kid or I'm John Henry and add some mystical stuff to those characters. Iono just liked how the old show wove all these famous characters together. Then reveal oh your American protagonist is actually the Wolfman. Iono just liked the world they built. Not sold on this one yet.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

For the original show, I binged it on Netflix after it was over. I liked but had a few issues with it as I felt some characters like Dorian and the Creature were on the periphery too long. Plus we never got to see Mr. Hyde or Lily interact with Ethan.

I'm liking the new show so far. It does feel pretty different from Penny Dreadful but I saw Penny Dreadful as using the pop culture of its era to explore the era itself. City of Angels seems to be doing the same thing with less big names and literary allusions.

Any thoughts on episode 2? I think this show could go the way of Terror: Infamy where its ghost story was separate from the era it took place but that doesn't seem to be the case.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Any thoughts on episode 3? I enjoyed it but the show is starting to buckle under all its stories.