I’ve always wanted to write a headline like that.
So…I’m now writing a weekly recap of Showtime’s Penny Dreadful for Random House’s romance and pop-culture blog, Romance at Random.
The show is interesting in a very unfunny Abbott & Costello Meet the Wolfman sort of way: Every horror trope/monster you can think shows up in one surprisingly well-constructed universe. It has some problems — a few scenes that don’t go anywhere and casual racism that’s, as you’d expect, offensive and tedious — and it may not be for everyone. There are a lot of spiders and the gore is pretty intense.
But one thing that really sets it apart is that the pilot contained no female nudity whatsoever. However, we were treated to a man’s bare ass during text, and full frontal nudity on several male cadavers and Dr. Frankenstein’s creature. In a cable media landscape where we’re still talking about the rape-factor in Game of Thrones, this is a completely unique viewing experience. It’ll be interesting to see if they can keep it up, and how it impacts the narrative, the viewership and the reviews.
Please go check out my first recap and get yourself caught up for next week’s episode. Penny Dreadful‘s first season is only eight episodes, so it’s not a huge time investment for you to play along.
Letters from Titan 