John Logan's gothic horror television series, Penny Dreadful, delighted fans of classic monsters and more slow-burn horror stories for three seasons before its controversial series finale effectively ripped the rug out from under everyone, much to audiences' dismay.
Penny Dreadful adapted many classic stories from gothic horror and the Victorian era, such as Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and even less-adapted classics like The Picture of Dorian Gray. While it seems like it might be difficult to fit so many different characters and worlds into one universe, John Logan, who has impressive credits that include everything from Skyfall to Gladiator and The Aviator, and his team managed to weave the stories together seamlessly. For the most part, Penny Dreadful was a critical success and beloved by audiences, receiving high ratings for all three seasons; season 2 managed to get a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
However, all good things did come to an end when it was announced that the show's third season would be its last. Season 3 wasn't the end due to cancellations; Logan had decided during season 2 that he knew how the story was meant to end, but kept that under wraps until the series finale - which wasn't known to fans as the definitive end, at the time - aired. Apparently, the choice was made to keep from distracting fans with an announcement or spoiling the ending, somehow, by taking away from the fact that it was truly the end until after they'd already had time to sit with it. The series finale was highly rated as well, with critics praising it on technical merits, but fans and those who truly became connected to the characters and the show marking it down significantly for how it betrayed its best characters.
Why Penny Dreadful's Series Finale Angered Fans
Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green, was the character in Penny Dreadful who was perhaps most special because she didn't have as obvious of a literary doppelgänger. Ives was a specially crafted character who was integral to the story of Penny Dreadful, and also somewhat of the linchpin that held everyone else - all the other narratives and story arcs - together. Vanessa was tormented most often by her significant and special powers; she was a gifted medium, clairvoyant, highly observant, and had a special and complicated relationship with God. All of her abilities made her even more seductive to the powers of darkness, to beings like Dracula and the Devil himself.
This culminated in her increasing loss of sanity, a disconnect with the innate good of her, and showed an internal struggle where she did everything in her power not to succumb to evil, even though they did everything to obtain her for themselves. The major conflict in season 3 revolved around Vanessa trying to subvert her role in a prophecy where she would become the Mother of Evil and bring about the end of days. After being bitten by Dracula, Vanessa sees Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), an old friend, a man she loves, and a werewolf known as "lupus dei", which translates to "wolf of God." She asks Ethan to kill her as an act of mercy and though he's clearly conflicted by the request, he shoots and kills her, allowing her to find peace in death and connect with God before she died.
It was very clear for a lot of reasons that Vanessa might not get a happy ending - that many of the tragic characters in Penny Dreadful would not experience happiness by the series finale. However, fans who followed the show from the beginning felt that the ending left too many characters' fates up in the air, unresolved, and Vanessa's death at Ethan's hands was out of character for them both and a controversial, heartbreaking twist ending to their story.