Penny Dreadful Episode 5: Closer Than Sisters SPOILER ALERT!!
By:DimSumHottie
First off let me start by saying that I am absolutely smitten with Penny Dreadful. I think the way they started by throwing the audience right in to the grit of things was a brilliant move on the writers behalf. Too many times first seasons are incredibly boring because they spend too much time on the back story, up front. Penny Dreadful hooked the audience by thrusting us smack dab in the middle of the madness. By doing so, it is my opinion that the audience is ever more interested in finding out the rationale of each character.
I read an overwhelming amount of complaints about using the entire episode to reveal Vanessa Ives place in this show. It is my belief that in order to completely encapsulate the depth in which Miss Ives is driven, an entire episode was a must have.
Episode 5 answered all of my questions about Vanessa Ives!
Who is Vanessa Ives?
She is the childhood friend of Sir Malcolm Murray’s daughter, Mina, whom they are currently trying to extricate from a vampires clutches.
Why does Vanessa Ives feel such tremendous guilt/responsibility?
She is the one that inevitably was responsible for driving Mina into Jonathan Harkers life therefore resulting in Mina’s current predicament.
Why is there such an immense, underlying contention between Sir Malcolm Murray and Vanessa Ives?
Sir Malcolm Murray’s torrid affair with Vanessa Ives’ mother ignited her relationship with the darkness that resided deep within her therefore causing Vanessa’s tryst with Mina’s first fiance and ultimately driving her to the mental hospital where I give credence to her gift consummating.
I was drawn to the relationship between Sir Malcolm Murray and Vanessa Ives this whole time, thinking that they were on the same page through and through. I am even more enamored knowing that they are the cause of Mina’s turmoil! Knowing that there is much disdain for each other yet their mutual guilt/love for Mina empowers their ability to work as one draws me in even further.
