With characters from other worlds crossing over and meeting each other becoming a very popular thing recently. You'd be forgiven for forgetting the fact that the same thing also happened in a horror TV show that was actually pretty successful and while I personally didn't really see that much of this show nor it's spin off while either were airing I thought that now was the absolutely right time to check out the first episode of this show just to see if it was as good as alot of people claimed it to be and so then join me as I review the episode that has a very strong James Bond and Doctor Who connection with the episode in question being called simply just "Night Work" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when his daughter is taken by something supernatural Sir Malcolm Murray goes on a quest to find her no matter the cost. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot thats actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad but that's also the issue as the plot of this episode wasn't all that good either with this episodes plot just being very dull at best and downright weak at it's worst with this not being helped by the fact that the episodes plot doesn't make me want to watch episode two of the show as that's how boring this episodes plot really was in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Timothy Dalton as Sir Malcolm Murray , Eva Green as Vanessa Ives and Josh Hartnett as Ethan Chandler. Also starring in this episode is Danny Sapani as Sembene , Harry Treadaway as Victor Frankenstein , Simon Russell Beale as Ferdinand Lyle , Alex Price as Proteus , Olivia Llewellyn as Mina Murray , Lorcan Cranitch as Inspector Granworthy , Fady Elsayed as Lead Familiar and Robert Nairne as Master Vampire.
Now the interms of what I personally thought felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. Which really isn't all that surprising as alot of the cast in this episode are a bunch of really good actors and actresses with this really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is really good and so all the cast just have to do is say the words as they are written and a good performance will and in this case does come out of them naturally which really does help the overall quality of the acting in this episode.
Something that I wasn't expecting was for this episode to do is to set up a major character arc that lasts the entire of the show. With the chief example of this being the fact that in this episode they set up Vanessa's role in the show and what her arc in the how will be not by having any line of dialog but by having one vampire act scared of her that was a really subtle way to set up something that i'm assuming is scary an it's that kind of subtlety that I miss in TV shows as alot of TV shows these days just lack subtlety with them instead opting to out right way say whatever it is that there hinting at and so it was shocking to see this show set up something in a rather subtle way especially as she is a main character in this show.
This show is basically the horror version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with this episode alone introducing many characters from all across the world of horror literature. With the biggest reveal being the fact that the doctor that the group meet and work with in this episode is infact Victor Frankenstein with him having just created a creature of his own and even Malcolm's daughter Mina could very well be Mina Harker from Dracula and I have to admit that it was great to see all of these horror icons come together in a way that felt natural and yet at the same time seeing new sides not only to their personalities but also to their established characters which made those iconic characters feel fresh and different.
For the most part this episode is basically really just setting up the world in which this show takes place in. Which is fine for the first ten minuets or so but when a huge portion of the episodes running time is just setting up the world and not really doing anything with the characters it really go along way to make the whole episode feel like a chore sit through which is made even worse when you take into account that alot of the world building really didn't need to be seen as it could ave been spread out all throughout the episode as that would have made the episode a little bit easier to sit through instead of feeling like a chore to sit through however I will admit that when this episodes wants to get exciting it can be really exciting to sit through.
Making Victor the good guy of this show really does make alot of sense as at his core the character was a good guy. Even going back to the original Frankenstein movie you can see that he was a guy that trying to do his best but was corrupted by his work which became his downfall where as in this show he's got somewhat of a troubled past with him still trying to be a good man which does make him seem like a tragic figure as anyone who has read the original novel or has seen the original film or it's sequel will know that it doesn't end well for this character ad while i'm not sure if that's two for the character in this show it would make his story feel all the more tragic as once again his work would have corrupted him.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly fifty three minuets and one second. Which Im will admit is a bit of a long running time for this episode to have as it really doesn't have alot their interms of either plot or story to cover that large amount of running time which means that we do get alot of scenes that just feel like padding as they add nothing to the overall plot of the episode with this episode being better of if those scenes were left on the cutting room floor as it would have helped the episode feel alot less like a chore to sit through and it would have helped the episode flow better as well altho I will admit this episode really does have some some really good pacing in it tho.
So now then as there are some scares in this episode that means that I have to actually talk about the actual scares that are actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual scares that are actually featured / presented to us in this very episode were in all honesty really good. With this episode having some really good and creepy scares to it with alot if not all of the scares working really well and while yes alot of the scares in this episode were jump scares they were jump scares that were done really well as they were built up all throughout the scene instead of just having someone jumping out and yelling boo which is what alot of jump scares basically amount to in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall this episode was at times a chore to sit through but at the same time because it has some really good and creepy moments in it and some really good acting from all involved it really does make this show look really good in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are n his very episode in this very review and as such that meas that this very episode earns it self a grand old score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Penny Dreadful fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from these very special that I used in this very review being Google Images simply just due to the fact that alot of the images that are on Google Images are all really fairly high in quality and as well as being fairly freaking high in definition.