‘Penny Dreadful’ Season Finale: ‘More Danger Than They’ve Been In Before’

The devil may be in the details, but in last Sunday’s Penny Dreadful Satan brought an extremely creepy doll to life so he could have a word with Vanessa. And if things couldn’t get any worse for Ms. Ives, the episode’s final moments saw her would-be rescuers split up and in peril, each facing down personal demons. With the cards forecasting nothing but danger for the upcoming season finale, we spoke to supervising producer Chris King about just how much trouble our heroes are in.

We need to talk about that doll scene. How much danger is Vanessa in?

Vanessa is in a whole lot of trouble. I don’t think she expected to be facing down Satan in the form of a doll. The fact that Satan is now speaking through the doll puts her in extreme danger, as well as the rest of the guys who are trying to help her and Sir Malcom get out of that house.

Everyone seems to be in a lot more danger compared to last season’s finale.

That’s true, in Season 1 they were hunting vampires and searching for Mina. In Season 2, they were the hunted. The witches were after them and they were constantly under attack. So in the finale, they finally take it upon themselves to go over there and take out the witches. They’re in over their heads a little bit, and not quite as sure of all the different mind games Hecote, Evelyn Poole and the other witches can play as they’re entering the witches’ castle. Our heroes have put themselves in a lot more danger than they’ve ever been in before.

Are there any more of Evelyn’s spells that we haven’t seen? Or is everything currently in play?

Most of it is in play. Frankenstein is trapped in the parlor and his family, his sins, and guilt from the past are coming to greet and attack him—as are Sir Malcom’s. Evelyn’s conjured the devil in the form of the doll. Her powers are in full effect now.

I love that Sir Malcolm and Victor are trapped together because it really highlights how similar a lot of their issues are.

Absolutely. It worked out perfectly. Mina and Peter confronting their father, who’s basically responsible for all their deaths. And we’ve got Frankenstein who is responsible for bringing these three people back to life. So it is a very interesting parallel.

Sir Malcolm fought off Evelyn’s spell once, is there a chance he or Victor might be able to do so again?

Sir Malcom is in a really bad situation. He can’t tell if it’s a spell, or if it’s real. He’s been suffering with the guilt of what he’s done to his family for so long. Perhaps he will succumb to what they want and not come to the realization that this is all just part of Evelyn Poole’s evil witchery…

As she mentioned a few episodes back, Hecote is playing a longer game. Is she still working with her mother right now, or has she gone rogue?

Hecote’s gone a little rogue. She is playing a longer game, and we’ve slowly seen it over the course of the season. She follows what her mom says, but occasionally she starts to question her. Now she’s playing her own game, which is different from her mother’s.

What about Ethan and Vanessa? Is this the last we’ve seen of their romance?

That’s a good question. Their romance is extremely important to the series itself, and not just this season. The demons inside of them are what figuratively and actually bring them together and also what pulls them apart. As an audience you root for them and you want them to be together and happy. Unfortunately they have these issues that they’re dealing with that start to pull them apart. But this isn’t the end of their relationship. That’s for sure.

Penny Dreadful season finale, Sunday, 10/9c, Showtime