Penny Dreadful - Glorious Horrors - Review

We now enter the unofficial second half of Penny Dreadful’s consistently tremendous sophomore season. Quite fittingly, “Glorious Horrors” sees most of the main characters converge at Dorian’s pad for Angelique’s coming out bash. The title refers to Mr. Putney’s exhibit of atrocious crimes, but it also acts as a theme for this episode. The glorious ball is attended by the various misfits and their inner horrors, and also, aside from the ball is Ethan, whose transformation into a werewolf at the conclusion of the episode is a glorious (more for the viewer!), but horrifying sight. Poor Sembene for having to sit so close without knowing what is in store for him.

The main story centered around Dorian’s ball who everyone but Ethan and John Clare attended. The latter of whom I thought we would have seen Vanessa take as her partner after she taught him how to dance last week and then her mention of him as a ‘friend’ to Frankenstein earlier in the episode. What a sight it would have been to see John amidst the courtly aristocrats at the ball, dancing with Vanessa, and the ensuing rage when he sees Frankenstein and Lily together. But, alas, with Vanessa, a beardless Malcolm, Frankenstein, Lily, Lyle, and Evelyn and the dastardly witches attending, there was more than enough drama boiling beneath this graceful ball.

The ball was particularly an embarrassing evening for Frankenstein. Lily, at first perturbed by faint memories of Dorian Gray and his house, finds herself entranced by the always charming host. Frankenstein and Angelique are abandoned by Grey and Lily who take each other up for a dance. This leads to a group conversation in which Vanessa, who plays the awkward fifth wheel so perfectly, finds herself in the middle of. The night was also not a memorable one for Vanessa. Following a cold rejection from Ethan, who we find out is busy preparing for the full moon, Ms. Ives ends up at the ball alone. In the eloquent words of Lyle, who steals every scene he is in with his humor and poetic expressions, Vanessa is a “spectator” among a “dizzying panorama...of toys of love scattered” around the ball. The night gets worse for Ms. Ives in quite the haunting scene where she finds herself in a hallucination of raining blood, before fainting, most likely an act committed by Hectate and the witches.

Speaking of witch (yes, I went there), Vanessa also had her first confrontation of the season with Evelyn. Ms. Ives did not hold back her displeasure of the séance, who she figures has something to do with Sir Malcolm and his unusually cheery mood; Malcolm was not distraught one bit by the news of his deceased wife, only caring about replacing the bloody carpet. The excellent dialogue between Vanessa and Evelyn, full of quips and jabs, was just a taste of the hell that is surely about to unfold between the two characters as the latter half of the season progresses.

Elsewhere, after seemingly having caught a break with the blind Tamsin Topolski over the past few episodes, John Clare frightens her with the touch of his cold hands, seemingly ruining any chances the tragic monster has with his new interest. We also get a furthering of Ethan’s story. Roper has the audacity to visit Ethan at Sir Malcolm’s abode to let his presence known and to threaten Ethan, telling him he knows where Vanessa’s bedroom is as a last statement before leaving. The Pinkerton agent is sure becoming an interesting antagonist and I hope they do not rush Ethan’s storyline this season and continue to slowly build it, as they are, for a centre of focus next year.

The episode overall was a tad bit slower than past episodes with not much story progression and it did drag in some parts. After seeing the preview for next week’s seemingly intense “Little Scorpion,” this episode was more like the calm before the storm. However, characters’ relationships were further explored, in particular Angelique and Dorian Grey who have finally become somewhat intertwined with the goings-on of Vanessa Ives and crew. It will be interesting to see how they respond, if at all, after the night's events.

What are your thoughts on the episode? Leave your comments below!

About the Author - Kollin Lore

Kollin is an entertainment writer and a film and television, in particular genre TV, freak having grown up during the 90s and early 2000s a dedicated fan of Buffy and Angel. Current shows such as Person of Interest, Supernatural, Ripper Street, Penny Dreadful, Grimm, The Blacklist, Game of Thrones, and dozens of other series are currently occupying Kollin’s nightly hours. His reviews for Into the Badlands and The Expanse will be coming this fall!

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