Update: 16:15 Thanks to J for the heads up. It's now confirmed that Season 3 was the last.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How did the decision come about to end Penny Dreadful now?
DAVID NEVINS: I always knew it wasn’t going to be a really long-running show — John made that clear coming in. As he was laying out what he wanted to do this season, John came in and said, “This needs to be the end of Vanessa Ives. I know exactly how I want to end it. And when Vanessa Ives, when that character, is done, I think the show is done.” And I went through the usual stages of grief, of, “No, there’s lots of other great characters. You can keep going.” But eventually he persuaded me that that’s not the smart way to handle it, and that different shows have different rhythms and fit in different boxes, and that this was the right rhythm and the right box and the right ending. I told him, “You have to promise me that you’re going to make an incredibly satisfying ending.” And I think he really has.
Then the question was: At what point do we announce it to the world? And at some point we looked at each other and said, “Well, why should we announce it to the world? Just to sort of ease the pain, ease the surprise? That’s not how the world works.” We could have maybe tempered the emotional ending and given people a little warning, but what’s the fun in that? Who wants to be warned that there’s going to be a surprise to come? It just seemed like the not-bold choice. So we said, “We’re going to end it, and there will be a title card that says, ‘THE END.’ And that’s the end of the story, when that title card comes up.” John? [Laughs]
JOHN LOGAN: I knew well before David did, which is sort of midway through the second season, so two years ago. I was planning out the third season. Penny Dreadful is about many things, but for me it’s always been about one really simple thing, which is a woman’s journey of faith — a deeply religious woman who loses her God and then finds him again. I realized that’s where the third season was going to head. It was going to head to Vanessa sacrificing herself and reuniting with God. And that had to be the apotheosis for the character, the end of the character. I really thought about it deeply, because I love these characters so much, and I care about them so much, but it seemed that’s what had to happen. Anything other than that would be, for me, an act of bad faith, and the last thing I’d ever want to do is treat Vanessa Ives or Eva Green with anything less than completely good conscience and good faith. So I had the discussion with Eva, and then finally it just became apparent. I talked to David about it, and here we are.
DAVID NEVINS: I always knew it wasn’t going to be a really long-running show — John made that clear coming in. As he was laying out what he wanted to do this season, John came in and said, “This needs to be the end of Vanessa Ives. I know exactly how I want to end it. And when Vanessa Ives, when that character, is done, I think the show is done.” And I went through the usual stages of grief, of, “No, there’s lots of other great characters. You can keep going.” But eventually he persuaded me that that’s not the smart way to handle it, and that different shows have different rhythms and fit in different boxes, and that this was the right rhythm and the right box and the right ending. I told him, “You have to promise me that you’re going to make an incredibly satisfying ending.” And I think he really has.
Then the question was: At what point do we announce it to the world? And at some point we looked at each other and said, “Well, why should we announce it to the world? Just to sort of ease the pain, ease the surprise? That’s not how the world works.” We could have maybe tempered the emotional ending and given people a little warning, but what’s the fun in that? Who wants to be warned that there’s going to be a surprise to come? It just seemed like the not-bold choice. So we said, “We’re going to end it, and there will be a title card that says, ‘THE END.’ And that’s the end of the story, when that title card comes up.” John? [Laughs]
JOHN LOGAN: I knew well before David did, which is sort of midway through the second season, so two years ago. I was planning out the third season. Penny Dreadful is about many things, but for me it’s always been about one really simple thing, which is a woman’s journey of faith — a deeply religious woman who loses her God and then finds him again. I realized that’s where the third season was going to head. It was going to head to Vanessa sacrificing herself and reuniting with God. And that had to be the apotheosis for the character, the end of the character. I really thought about it deeply, because I love these characters so much, and I care about them so much, but it seemed that’s what had to happen. Anything other than that would be, for me, an act of bad faith, and the last thing I’d ever want to do is treat Vanessa Ives or Eva Green with anything less than completely good conscience and good faith. So I had the discussion with Eva, and then finally it just became apparent. I talked to David about it, and here we are.
Source:
Note: Please don't watch unless you've seen the finale due to major spoilers.
Showtime hasn't officially announced a cancellation or renewal, or confirmed that this 2 hour finale is indeed the last installment. However, the Penny Dreadful YouTube account has shared two video interviews thanking "#Dreadfuls for three wonderful seasons", seemingly hinting towards the end. We'll update when we hear official confirmation.
