John Logan, creator of the British-American horror drama TV series “Penny Dreadful” on Showtime, is a great writer. He showed his brilliance during the first season of the TV series which made it easy for Showtime to renew the show for a second season.
Season 2 of “Penny Dreadful” also looks okay but it is not as great as the first season, prompting critics to say that John Logan may have decided to slow down a bit in his writing thought.
However, during the third season of the TV series, it was clear that “Penny Dreadful” was groping for form. It became a talk-fest among characters that it proved to be a drag.
In fact, in the fourth episode of “Penny Dreadful” Season 3, the show went for nearly an hour with Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green, in asylum, and trying to make a sense of it all by talking to the asylum care assistant in the person of the Creature, played by Rory Kinnear, when he was still not a monster, but who was actually disguised as Dracula.
In the fifth episode, it was the turn of Ethan Chandler, played by Josh Harnett, to have the same with his father, Mr. Talbot, but instead of featuring the backstory how he became a werewolf, nothing of that sort happened.
Critics believe that John Logan wanted to toy around with his thoughts and not zeroing in on the point during Season 3 that there are plenty of times that “Penny Dreadful” became such a drag and a bore to many viewers.
They also think that Logan failed to utilize to the hilt the star power of “Penny Dreadful” to the show’s advantage.
It is likely that Showtime has also noticed the same and the declining ratings of the TV series was a clear indication that the audience were not happy about the direction or the dragging pace of “Penny Dreadful.”
It was during the last two episodes of “Penny Dreadful” Season 3 that the TV series decided to pick up the pace, which comes off to some as that John Logan already knew by then that the show is going to be axed after its third season, which is why he decided to wrap up the storylines really fast.
Still hopeful of a revival
It seems that there are still hardcore fans of “Penny Dreadful” on Showtime out there who are still hoping against hope that the show might be rescued from its cancellation and make a go for a possible fourth and last season.
Rumors have it that the revival hopes for “Penny Dreadful” has been buoyed up by the ongoing online petition at Change.org which is now almost near its 15,000 target.
However, both series creator John Logan and Showtime CEO David Nevins have yet to change their mind on the decision to end the popular TV series after its third season.
According to speculations, the fans who have initiated and supported the petition are fairly confident that Nevins would reconsider the network decision and push for the renewal of the show for a fourth season instead, reports Chatt Sports Net.
Since there is no official statement coming from Nevins at this time, the rumors are merely putting words into his mouth and as such, everything should be taken in with a fine grain of salt.
In fact, there are even reports saying that Nevins’ upcoming announcement of the show’s renewal for a fourth season is nothing but a PR stunt. But practitioners do not see the logic of making a PR stunt out of a TV series that has already ended except perhaps change the mind of the decision maker.
Good for only three seasons
Officially, “Penny Dreadful” is over and done with on Showtime after airing its Season 3 finale in June.
By putting a ‘The End’ on the ninth and final episode of “Penny Dreadful” Season 3 after the death of Vanessa Ives, played by Eva Green, it becomes clear that the show has already hit the end of the road, notes the Christian Times.
Showtime claims that it wanted to renew the TV series for another season but then they thought about the story arc that series creator and showrunner John Logan had for the show and it was only good for three seasons.