*** SPOILER ALERT!!! DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE SEASON FINALE!!!***

It’s been a month since the final episode of Penny Dreadful aired. And that’s long enough for the pangs of regular withdrawal to subside. But at 11&more, we’re recognizing what we always knew—that Penny Dreadful isn’t just another good show to us. It’s a different kind of show that opens a door into a dark and sensual corner of the imagination which, once seen, can’t be unseen.

A world where reason and mysticism can co-exist in the same person (Vanessa Ives); where doctors are romantics (Frankenstein); where murderesses fight against injustice (Lily and her whores); and where mythologies from different cultures (European, Native American, Ancient Egyptian) weave through the gloom of Victorian London.

We’re so thankful to John Logan and team for setting our imagination alight. But there are so many things we want to explore in detail still. Here’s our wish list:

1. Who is Vanessa Ives?

In season 3 Dr. Seward tells Renfield that Vanessa’s a genuine split personality, “Very rare. In this one session she manifests three distinct people.” To which Renfield replies, “Really? Which people?” But alas, we never find out because Dr. Seward gets suspicious and dismisses him. We do have clues though. In season 1 it’s implied that Vanessa’s the ancient Egyptians’ primordial goddess Amunet since the undead creatures chasing her are trying to reunite Amun-Ra with his consort Amunet to unleash darkness on the world. Through seasons 2 and 3 it’s revealed that Vanessa’s also the beloved of both Lucifer and Dracula, the Christian reincarnations perhaps of the ancient Egyptian past? Yet, if you listen closely, halfway through the seance scene in episode 2 of season 1, she addresses the spiritualist Madame Kali with words that hint at a lineage far older than any hitherto mentioned, “Amunet girl? No! Much older!”

2. What is God?

The forces of darkness are everywhere—as vampires, beasts, witches, Lucifer and Dracula. But the Almighty is remarkably absent/passive. All Vanessa has to go on is faith—a faith that she loses in season 2 and only regains in her dying moments when she finally sees God in the series finale. After all the torment that she’s been through. Indeed, you wonder if Hecate has a point when she tells Ethan in episode 5 of season 3 that whatever evils he’s perpetrated, “God watched it all unfold and laughed. This is the world he’s made.” Or perhaps God is simply a parent who made the world and now wrings his hands in futile anguish as humankind screws itself over? In which case he is both above evil and unable or unwilling to influence it. Then again, the fact that Dracula and Lucifer were thrown out of Heaven by God and now wish to regain it with Vanessa’s power seems to suggest that God does operate on the same plane as them. That He can be overcome…by Vanessa…which then again begs the question of who in the whole of history is she that she’s so immensely powerful?

3. When will Vanessa’s crew find out about Dr. Frankenstein’s secret?

During their first encounter, Vanessa recites poetry to Frankenstein because she senses his romanticism. Afterwards, she tells Sir Malcolm that Frankenstein harbors a secret. But throughout the rest of the series, neither she nor any other of the core characters ever find out about Frankenstein’s activities to reanimate the dead. It’s probably a mature move on Logan’s part not to have every character’s motivations and back stories revealed—either to the audience or to each other. But don’t Frankenstein’s friends ever wonder what he’s up to when he’s not out monster-hunting with them? And what would Ethan think/do if he finds out that Frankenstein killed Brona and remade her as Lily?

4. Would Catriona Hartdegan and Vanessa Ives ever have got it on?

Images from Fuck Yeah VanCat

When the épée-wielding, leather-sporting thanatologist first took off her fencing helmet and tossed her fiery red hair, the expression on Vanessa’s face sent our shipping instincts into overdrive. Catriona, or “Cat–as in cat-o-nine-tails” is the perfect match, complement and twin to Vanessa Ives. Where Vanessa is mystically powerful, Catriona is physically lethal; where Vanessa is steel wrapped in feminine grace, Catriona is sensuality whipped through tomboyish confidence; where Vanessa’s a fierce English beauty, Catriona’s an electrifying Highlander; and both women are gifted with razor sharp wit and intellect. Move over Ethan, Dorian and Dracula. A new man’s in town, and the perfect he is a she.

5. What will Mr. Hyde do to Dr. Frankenstein?

Throughout season 3, there’s a fascinating dynamic of desire and envy between Dr. Frankenstein and his school friend Dr. Jekyll. Bonded by their experiences as misfits, the two are intellectual rivals and emotionally possessive of each other. Every time that Jekyll tries to control his anger, Frankenstein needles him about his mixed-race heritage. And every time that Frankenstein goes misty-eyed for his “perfect” Lily, Hyde literally purrs down his neck and goads him for being too soft on her. What power games might the two play with each other when Jekyll’s dark side gets the better of him?

6. How did the man who became the Creature die?

At the end of episode 3 of season 3, Vanessa flashes back to her time in solitary confinement at the asylum where it’s revealed that the only person she encountered was…*drumroll*…the Creature (in human form of course)! It was like a jolt of electricity. “Ooooooh!” we thought, “So that’s how the Creature died! She killed him.” Except, of course, she didn’t. So who or what did? And why is his fate so inextricably bound up with her’s that they become good friends in two lifetimes, each time starting from scratch?

8. How is Dr. Seward related to the cut wife?

Dr. Seward’s exact resemblance to the cut wife from season 2 is noted by Vanessa straight off. And she tells Dr. Seward about it. You can see from the doctor’s reaction that she is shaken, which means that she must know or suspect something, right? Is she literally the reincarnation of the cut wife? Can she access the memories of her ancestors given that she’s a doctor of the mind? And is her lineage destined to represent and help women in their hour of need, given that the cut wife performed abortions and Dr. Seward killed her abusive husband to defend herself? Also, how came her family to America?

9. How old is Dorian really?

The original Dorian Gray is contemporary to the Victorian era. But what’s so fascinating in this characterization of Dorian is his immense agelessness. In episode 7 of season three, he tells Lily that he is tired of the noise of revolutions—from the guillotine (presumably a reference to the French Revolution) to the sacking of the temples of Byzantium (a city in Antiquity). By the time we meet him in Penny Dreadful, he’s essentially become frozen outside of time—a picture of perfection unchanged as the world changes around him. But what has he seen and experienced along the way? What other wondrous characters has he encountered besides Vanessa Ives?

10. What happens to evil now?

In season 2 we saw Lucifer defeated; in season 3 it’s Dracula’s turn. But Dracula isn’t killed, he simply escapes; besides neither he nor Lucifer can really be annihilated can they? They survived being cast out by God after all. So what does it mean for them and the forces of darkness now that the Mother of Evil is dead? Except, she can’t really die once and for all can she? After all, if she’s simultaneously Amunet, one far older than Amunet and the beloved of both Dracula and Lucifer, she’s surely immortal in spirit and must, in time, be reincarnated into mortal flesh again. Also, Ethan is the Wolf of God, protector of the world and Dracula’s singular enemy. Now that he and Sir Malcolm are essentially each other’s only family, what will do they do? Will they go Dracula-hunting together and stop by Cairo on the way to see what the dear Mr Lyle has uncovered in Imhotep’s tomb?

We can always dream…and write fan fic 😉