The 8-episode, 50+ minutes each series starts out well and embraces the shows title. There are two clans, Fairbourns & Bloods with the intrigue of shifting loyalties as you learn more about each side. By the third episode you should have mapped out who the aggressors are, and while there no clear good vs evil side, it is obvious which group is doing a bit more evil to the other.
Sadly, for all it's promise, Episode 2 is the peak and by mid-way through Episode 3, the writers begin to get lazy with the story. However, before commenting on the downfall of the script, let's call out a few things that are downright terrible about this series:
Sound (editing, scoring) - The music score is absolutely dreadful in many parts of the series. The music simply doesn't go with the scene and jarringly rips you away from the story. In a few incidences, it appears that the music was selected for its lyrics without any regard to the music track. There were several parts that it was better to turn off the audio and watch CC to avoid the distraction.
The other part was in several scenes that the music played over the audio track delivered by the actors, making it difficult to hear their lines (ergo why CC was turned on).
Photography (lighting) - Not exactly sure what happened but when you get to Episodes 4 - 8, the show either fired their lighting crew, they went on strike, the show ran out of budget to pay them...whatever the reason, you find everyone stumbling around in dark buildings and forests, illuminated by a birthday candle. I have a new OLED TV that is properly configured and I had to go to vivid mode (where everyone looks like a plastic soap opera star) to lighten the scenes enough to see the action. It is a very noticeable shift when you get to the fourth episode and beyond.
As for the writing, here is where I am fully inserting my opinion on what make a potentially good show become dreadful (not in the Penny Dreadful good way).
The main characters go from England (sometimes in a major city, other times somewhere between Wales and Scotland - ha) to France via a tug boat (both are near the channel). They only have 5 days to get to see a mysterious witch and retrieve a sample of family blood. Despite this time crunch, it appears Ryan Air isn't operating, nor is Uber, AVIS, Hertz, etc. Instead we go from the coast of France to Paris (yes, Paris is located on the Atlantic Coast) and generally walk the whole of France where it appears that, outside of Paris, France is one big field and forest devoid of people, cities, motorways, or any civilization. Meanwhile, the baddies are driving about from the same location as the main characters on foot, yet all arrive at the rendezvous point at the same time.
Also during the 5 days, we walk slowly, do a lot of talking, have some sex, get held captive, join in chores and dinners, and find our protagonists hunted by multiple groups, all who have to pass through the territories of other witch lands, but only our characters get caught; everyone else more or less cruises through with few exceptions. There is a point in the show that they discuss the LOTRs and you have to think of the continuity issues of why Gandalf didn't just take an Eagle to Mt. Doom and toss the ring in the fire. A 14 month journey and a whole lot of people dying could have been avoided with a 30 minute ride on a bird. The comparisons are a bit too on the nose to miss.
There is also a disturbing love triangle occurring (all actors are of legal age) with our lead character, Nathan, who is 16, falls for his girlfriend who is only a few months older. He also falls for his traveling companion who is around 30 or so which feels a bit off to have a 30 year old in love with 16 year old. The story works but I would have made them a bit closer in age to avoid the creep vibe.
Eventually they make it to the witch to get the blood, but later, in fight scene, the character gets shot in the chest, shattering the vial of blood in his jacket pocket. Strangely, he isn't hurt so it appears glass vials can stop bullets (something good to know, I guess). As the vial has been broken, they need a new source of blood, and this is another huge plot hole. You only need a tiny drop of blood and you could take it from what's left in the vial, off his shirt, in his jacket pocket, etc...but no one thinks of this and we go headlong into more needless danger and death for the lack of an absorbent paper towel.
The big baddie is obvious, as is the prophesy, so the build up is a let down. Another big build up is Nathan and his father, whom we hear about for 8 Episodes only to see them interact for a 5 minute scene and...that's it. A true GoT moment for a few of the Stark characters. Additionally, we have a goodie who is obviously evil, Jesse, and when the time comes to kill her, they don't. It becomes one of two cliffhangers that will never get made nor will we care about.
There a few scenes were we see some good acting but overall most of the cast are support actors trying to step into leading roles and it falls flat. Not sure if its the actors or how the scenes were edited but there is only so long that a guy, lightly growling at people, can be believed to be a wolf.
I heard that on Dec 9 the show would not be renewed on Netflix. Doesn't mean it won't pop up elsewhere but I seriously doubt it. It was just too poorly written to carry forward.
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