“There are creatures whom God has cast into darkness.” John Logan’s Penny Dreadful invites gothic literary heroes, heroines, and monsters to prowl the foggy streets of Victorian Era London. Walking among them is the original to the series’ main character, Vanessa Ives. Vanessa is a practicing medium possessing substantial supernatural abilities and a strong devotion to God. Given my personal history with Catholicism, I’m not usually very interested in devoutly Christian characters. Vanessa quickly changed my mind. She’s tenacious and compassionate, and a modern take on the gothic heroine. Even if Vanessa’s supernatural foes aren’t necessarily relatable, her internal struggle to accept certain aspects of herself certainly resonates.

(Spoilers ahead for Penny Dreadful)

Joined by Ethan, Malcolm, Sembene, and Frankenstein, Vanessa initially sets out to rescue her former best friend, Mina Harker, from the icy grip of Dracula. Demons, witches, and other night creatures relentlessly pursue the party. Throughout all this, she’s haunted by a prophecy damning her as the Mother of Evil. If she were to embrace Lucifer or Dracula of her own free will, the world would fall into darkness and humanity would suffer the End of Days. If she can just save Mina and atone for past sins, she can be free.

Vanessa contends with a rigid duality. She’s either good or she’s evil. There is no room in her soul for both, and it feels like she is running out of time to choose. The same person who selfishly betrayed Mina cannot possibly be the same person who talks poetry with Frankenstein’s monster, who prefers to go by John Clare. Fighting tooth and nail against inevitable damnation is draining. She’s frequently preoccupied with fate and free will. Rarely do we get to see her truly happy, and the moments we see are fleeting. They also presented normalcy and uniqueness as opposing ideals. Vanessa shallowly engages with societal expectations to blend in. Several times, she’s urged by friends and foes alike to “be true.” But does being true mean being good enough or plunging the world into apocalyptic darkness?

Lucifer and Dracula cannot account for Vanessa’s own formidable powers. Powers strong enough to have them shrinking back into the corners of her cell at the Banning Clinic. Before the start of the series, her parents institutionalized Vanessa, and eventually stopped visiting when she showed no signs of improvement. No sign of returning to “normal.” The two demons try to tempt her with promises of being free to be her true self, never having to conform to anyone else’s expectations again. If only she would let them in. They even resort to wearing the face of the only orderly who has shown her any kindness during her imprisonment. Despite this, she holds her ground against them. She proclaims God is on her side. Except there is no sign that God has intervened.

Unlike Lucifer, God does not speak through avatars or project a disembodied voice. The writing does not cast any doubt about his existence as an entity. He’s treated as a distant figure, uninvested in the mortal realm. Vanessa firmly believes until the end of season 2 that he is the only one that will not abandon her. However, the party ends up scattered across continents. This separation coinciding with turning away from God plunges her into despair. Letters gather at the front door and dishes pile precariously high in the sink. Finally, at the urging of one of her friends still in London, she seeks therapy sessions with Dr. Florence Seward, an American alienist. Seward is blunt yet empathetic. She gives Vanessa the space to confront her demons - personal and literal. For the first time, she feels her self-perception can be reconciled. Vanessa can decide her future without input from a cosmic entity.

That is until her “harmless” romantic interest, Dr. Alexander Sweet, is revealed as Dracula in disguise. Betrayed and hurt, she confronts him, intending to kill. Yet in a moment of doubt and vulnerability, she embraces Dracula’s promises of kinship, fulfilling the prophecy. “I accept myself,” she says. This choice leaves her wandering the sunless, fog-choked streets virtually as a ghost. Emotionally exhausted from trying to outrun fatalism. Ethan goes to rescue her from a literal tower. Instead, she asks him to kill her. She believes there will be no peace as long as she loves. She will forever be hunted and her friends always at risk. Ethan reluctantly shoots her. Hope returns to her when she sees God as she’s dying in Ethan’s arms.

Logan had intended Vanessa’s death as a triumphant return to God. Personally, this felt like a major disservice to Vanessa’s journey. All the progress she had made with building close friendships and reconciling her self-perception was undone in favor of a forced ending. Oddly enough, I felt that it somehow acknowledges that some people can feel so low that they believe the world is better without them. That being said, I wish it had leaned into refuting that idea instead. Inner demons cannot always be banished, but it’s okay to lean on others for support.

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