Filming for Season 3 of the British-American horror TV series “Penny Dreadful” on Showtime is underway as of last month which is why details of castings and plotlines of the show are already making the internet rounds.
The producers of the popular TV series released the first official photo of Season 3 of “Penny Dreadful” and it shows Dr. Seward, to be played by the returning Patti LuPone, an enigmatic American psychiatrist comforting Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green.
Vanessa is seen wearing a straightjacket in what looks like a padded cell, which prompted fans to assume that the female lead star of the TV series will be committed in an asylum.
Many literary and horror fans will recognize the name of Dr. Seward as having been derived directly from Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula,”
In Stoker’s novel, Dr. Seward is a male and one of the main protagonists who are fighting the evil vampire. He was also a head psychiatrist in an asylum where one of his patients was, in fact, working for Dracula.
It can be recalled that during the Season 2 finale, Vanessa has begun to accept her dark side. In fact, she was even seen removing the cross and burning it on the fireplace. Showrunner John Logan explained that at that moment, Vanessa is accepting the scorpion as her destiny.
Logan went on to say that Vanessa has accepted the complexity and duality of who she really is. Apparently she is partly angel and partly monster, as every person is. And that is what the series is all about. The executive producer added that Season 3 of “Penny Dreadful” will further delve on the dual identity of Vanessa Ives, details the Vine Report.
Returning as regular cast member
Patti LuPone is actually a returnee to “Penny Dreadful.” She was a guest star during episode 3 of Season 2 of the popular TV series where she played the cut-wife Joan Clayton, notes the Christian Today.
Cut-wife is a term used during the Victorian era to describe a hedge witch, who decided to sever her ties to her coven and supposed marriage to the fallen angel Lucifer. But when she appeared in that episode of Season 2, Patti was more than just a cut-wife, she and her remote house became the refuge of Vanessa Ives when she was out trying to find herself and who she was.
It was also in the same remote house in the glades that Vanessa and Ethan Chandler, played by Josh Harnett, decided to head through to protect Sir Malcolm Murray, played by Timothy Dalton, whose house was easily penetrated by dark forces at play.
It was through the cut-wife that Vanessa rediscovered her faith who told her that it was to be her greatest weapon in defending herself against the attempts of Lucifer, and his minions, to get her soul.
But the cut-wife was regarded by the townsfolks as someone who was practicing witchcraft and she was burned to the stake, thus ending the guesting stint of Patti LuPone, although flashbacks of Vanessa Ives often feature her leading to the penultimate Season 2 episode.
Apparently, Patti LuPone has done remarkably well as the cut-wife that the producers and showrunner have given her a chance to return on Season 3 of “Penny Dreadful.”
Naturally, she could no longer return to the TV series as the cut-wife as her character has already been burned to the stake after being accused of practicing witchcraft.
Patti will return Dr. Seward who shall be treating Vannesa Ives for her alter ego’s battle with evil forces that she can’t seem to escape.
The good news for the fans of the show is that Patti LuPone will not just be returning as a guest star but as a regular cast member already of the TV series.