Penny Dreadful aired its final episode last week. I’m sure you all know how smitten I am with show: its themes, actors, and script. From the first episode to the last, the grandiose story involving Devils, Dracula and fantastic creatures of nearly every known myth, unfolds with hardly a wrinkle. Rather than be sad, I’ll be grateful that the show came to its natural conclusion—as revealed by the director/ writer in series of post-mortem videos and interviews. Knowing that the show wasn’t simply canned takes much of the sting out of its departure. I wanted to thank the cast, director, and other creatives involved in such a magnificent production. We had three wonderful years together, Penny Dreadful and her fans. I don’t know that we’ll ever forget you. I only hope that another production as moving and human rises from the ashes of your greatness. In honor of the monsters we are, and the ones we strive to not be: my poetic tribute to Penny Dreadful.

As I Walk into the Twilight

What Whispers

Cannot find my faith

What creeps through thoughts

Like blackest ivy

I speak of the Dark

It speaks to me

A struggle unending, ever be

Though I stand in time

My hand in thine

We howl, together, at the moon

And think of monsters gone

Friends, passed on

Brother devils cast down

The Great Fallen Crown

Mantle I shall not wear

A choice

My choice

At last a rest

My gentle beast

At last the grace, the sleep, the peace

If I do not wander

Should you forget our darkest bliss

Wander forever,

Stalk in Darkness

Trouble the moon, for a kiss

Scorn not the sun

As it warms

Your fur

In murky dawn

As you crawl from time

Know that while I am gone

I am forever

And that you were loved

(From the diary of Vanessa Ives)

 

I have yet to watch the final few episodes, so I’m not certain how it all wraps up. I feel, though, it will be something bittersweet—which has been the flavor of the show all along. Penny Dreadful…You were an experience.

All my love,

—C