Eerie, erotic and wholly engaging, Penny Dreadful was one of the best new shows of the year, and I’m impatiently counting down the days until the Victorian-set horror-drama returns for its second season. While Showtime has announced no premiere date as of yet, a brief new teaser, titled “A Curse and a Blessing,” has just surfaced online, promising a continuation of the gory thrills that made season 1 such a compelling watch.
Unfortunately, there’s not much to the clip, which finds haunted protagonist Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) vowing to use her unusually strong connection to the shadowy Demimonde in order to help others throughout London. Elsewhere, American werewolf Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) looks pensively off into the distance, tough-as-nails explorer Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) looks sadly off to the side and scientist Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway)… really, you too, Victor?? There’s a lot of contemplation going on here. About what is anyone’s guess, though my money is on season 2 baddie Madam Kali (Helen McCrory).
In addition to Green, Hartnett, Dalton, Treadaway and McCory, Penny Dreadful‘s sophomore run will also bring back Reeve Carney, Rory Kinnear, Billie Piper and Simon Russell Beale. Those season 1 stars will be joined this time around by Patti LuPone, Douglas Hodge, Sarah Green and Jonny Beauchamp.
Here’s the official synopsis for the upcoming season, which will arrive sometime in 2015:
This season, Vanessa and Ethan form a deeper bond as the group, including Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), and Sembene (Danny Sapani), unite to banish the evil forces that threaten to destroy them. Meanwhile, Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), the Creature (Rory Kinnear) and Brona (Billie Piper) are all waging battles of their own. Patti LuPone will guest star as a mysterious character of great importance in Vanessa’s past. Helen McCrory returns as Evelyn Poole (a.k.a. Madame Kali), the seductive spiritualist who will pose a unique threat to our protagonists this season, along with Simon Russell Beale, who is back as eccentric Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle. Additional guest stars include Douglas Hodge as a Scotland Yard investigator; Sarah Greene as Poole’s powerful daughter, Hecate; and Johnny Beauchamp as a man with a singular past.
