11) Penny Dreadful
Characters from classic horror teaming up to take on forces of darkness sounds like the set-up for an SNL sketch, but showrunner John Logan turns Penny Dreadful into a scary, sexy and sublimely satisfying horror series. The best part about this new show may be how fully formed it was when it first arrived – boasting the incomparable Eva Green in perhaps her showiest role to date, it wants to terrify, titillate and transfix, just like the pulpy novels of its title.
It helps that Logan appears to be in no hurry to reveal all the cards up his sleeve. Over the course of the season, we’ve gotten to know the mysterious Vanessa Ives (Green), ruthless Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) and conflicted Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), but a number of characters still feel like thrilling question marks, like American werewolf in London Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), immortal Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney) and loyal right hand man Sembene (Danny Sapani). Season 2 will surely answer some questions about that, and take its time in doing so.
Penny Dreadful also employs some extremely stylish direction in its first season, filming fight sequences with rich shadow and intriguing angles, and fully committing to the Victorian London setting. It was one of the best-looking series on television this year.
All in all, it had a surefooted debut, and now that the characters have been established, it’s going to be terrific to watch Logan expand the universe he has so winningly created.
