"Santa Muerte"
Before we get into the premiere, let me first start off by saying how super excited I was when I first learned that a Penny Dreadful spinoff series was in the works. Penny Dreadful, in all of its 3 seasons remains to be one of my top 10 favorite shows of all time. The characters (all well casted with standout performances) and the overall story direction was strongly developed with a notable sense of passion behind the writing. The mysterious mythology of the show's gothic-horror world was superbly built out, and the production values were absolutely fantastic within the settings, costumes, and character designs Everything felt well thought out for the most part in concept and beautifully executed onscreen. So, when the first trailers came out for City of Angels, I thought to myself "Oh...well this is kinda different. Hmmm" which is essentially how I feel about the premiere episode in a nutshell. It's a bit different, but not necessarily in a good or bad way. It just feels like another property that has some ties to the main series but is clearly branching out in its own way.
From the opening scene alone, my initial thought was the fact that subtlety and a masterful sense of build up (something that Penny Dreadful did an amazing job with in the past) was almost thrown out the window here. Fantastical larger than life characters just appear nonchalantly, have a discussion, and lead to a questionable CGI fiery display of death. I literally had to ask myself on whether or not I mistakingly ended up watching a later episode due to the feeling of a strong lack of dramatic context with what I was seeing. Now yes, one of the many popular ways of opening a series or a film is indeed to have a no context spectacular display to which the story clearly will fill in later on. However, with City of Angels, due to the way in which the scene is directed with the characters, it felt almost jarring rather than intriguing to see such a crazy moment of spectacle and of a supernatural nature take place right off the bat.
Without getting into any major spoilers here, the ending scene which also acts as a major climactic moment of significant death, ends on the type of supernatural imagery that feels like it would take place in a season finale as opposed to a premiere. In its beginning and end, City of Angels gives off the impression as a show that is trying to throw its "big ideas" to the screen as quickly as possible for the sake of hooking its audience right away. Unfortunately, in doing this, this episode feels a little bit desperate for attention mishandling its larger concepts that should be carefully weaved in and not forced in...for a Penny Dreadful series. Another way to look at it perhaps would be that the show isn't afraid to kick things off letting the audiences know what the larger supernatural forces at play are and what they're all about. However, both perspectives lead to a starting point that feels a bit rushed, forced, or a bit of both.
That being said, this is by no means a bad premiere as I did find a few things that I admired quite a bit. First off, our protagonist Tiago Vega is a character that I'm already onboard with following along. The show sets him up to be someone of importance with a mysterious connection to the aforementioned fantastical characters while also having a very grounded family drama and racial conflict backdrop (considering the era). That's the component of City of Angels that I can happily say was done exceptionally well. There's a strong sense of family surrounding Tiago and his siblings and mother thanks to the more than solid chemistry between the actors. When the episode centers around Tiago either enjoying time with his mother, laughing around with his brothers, or arguing with them about the troubles in their community, it feels as though a lot of care and attention was placed into the overall writing and direction.
Continuing on the positives, the production values, much like the main series is at the very least noticeable in certain areas. Because this spinoff plays with an arguably less interesting setting than the highly atmospheric and visually interesting Victorian London being 1930's Los Angeles, I did like the fact that they were still able to deliver on the franchise's tradition of eye popping imagery. Although not as frequently as I'd hope, we do get a couple of noteworthy shots of creepy displayed corpses, a well lit shrine setting of Mexican folklore religious imagery, and a couple of solid establishing shots showcasing the era's environment. Again, it's not as visually magnetic as its predecessor, but I do see some glimpses of potential here and there. My hope is that the show escalates its direction sensibilities as it goes on. On a side note, I do like the costume design for grim reaper-like character that plays a crucial part in the story though I may not have enjoyed her actual scenes so far. Right...positives...stick to the positives.
As I've mentioned before, it's the more grounded plot elements that I found myself latching onto surprisingly. In this case, we have the story of a Mexican community under threat by government construction while our protagonist finds himself on both sides of the fence wrestling with a potentially family shattering moral dilemma as the LAPD's first Mexican-American detective. This narrative on its own is without a doubt the strongest part of the premiere solely on the actors' performances with both the tender and heated family moments as well as the "people vs. the court" segments. The very real idea of minorities being forced around and casted out due to government projects is well established here presenting a real sense of tension within the environmental backdrop of the narrative. Tiago's conundrum of keeping his job as a detective on the force whose already dealing with racism and having to be a part of said force to battle his own community is an engaging story all on its own.
Oh, and also his father was burned alive by some demonic lady while the Mexican grim reaper (as I'm calling her) took him away right before his eyes as a child before physically marking him and potentially traumatizing him. By the way, his mother can communicate with said Mexican grim reaper since she's a witch of sorts. So...that's a thing. I find it interesting that the most interesting [sounding] part of this story is bizarrely the least interesting thing in the actual episode.
What I will say however, before it sounds like I'm completely knocking down City of Angels' supernatural component, Magda (the aforementioned demonic lady) does have a couple of interesting scenes here. Acting in a similar fashion to Ares from the 2017 Wonder Woman movie, Magda is portrayed as a sinister presence who doesn't necessarily force men to do evil things but instead seek out the most emotionally vulnerable and whisper words of provocation to them. Having her show up as a constant presence in the episode as various characters was an interesting concept and one that definitely caught my attention. There's an even an admittedly eerie scene where her character uses her "disguise" capabilities in a rather freaky and unexpected fashion. However, not to sound like a broken record here, it's the more "look at me in all of my spectacular evilness" scenes with her that I feel should be severely toned down for future episodes.
Natalie Dormer is a fantastic actress who can masterfully play seductive, manipulative, and not to be underestimated as seen on Game of Thrones. Here, I see a talented actress who can give so much more to a scene than what the final choice of direction is offering. Only will time will tell I suppose but I do see sprinkles of potential littered throughout this episode. How her character plays into the more mystery-conspiracy angle of the story's racial war and foreshadowed resulting massacre may end up being the saving grace of the show if everything else about the dark fantasy angle doesn't hold up in the end. Call it an early speculation of mine from what I've been given thus far. Looking towards masterfully executed shows like FX's Legion, having your major villain be something of a evil parasite causing horrendous nightmarish things to take root could be the catalyst for some truly jaw dropping visual storytelling...depending on whose making it of course.
Overall, City of Angels doesn't quite stick landing in its initial hook for me as a worthy follow up to one of television's greatest horror properties to date. Many of the praiseworthy elements of Penny Dreadful feels almost absent or lacking here which is troubling to see at first but keep in mind that this is just the premiere episode so one cannot judge too strictly as of yet. However, first impressions are crucial for any series and what I can confidently say is that the main character has legitimately caught my attention alongside with the family angle and drama surrounding him. There's also a potentially interesting buddy cop crime mystery ingredient to this show that, if followed up on in an appealing fashion, could be the thing that keeps me invested.
Unfortunately, the supernatural horror component, which has been a successful staple in the franchise, feels like a major step down in artistic direction and plot intrigue thus far. To be honest, this being a spinoff of one of my favorite shows of all time is quite literally the only strong piece of thread that's pulling me towards watching the rest of the season. Hopefully things progress in a fulfilling manner sooner than later. Several fans, including myself, was begging for a Season 4, so to follow up with something that's just "okay at best" would be quite the disappointment as it would've been better to just leave the franchise alone. However, if City of Angels ends up being at the very least highly admired, we may have ourselves a great comeback story for the Penny Dreadful namesake.
Bonus Thoughts
Is That? No It Couldn't Be. Is It?
Penny Dreadful fans will immediately recognize Rory Kinnear during the premiere as he plays what seems to be a big enough role as both a pediatrician and a German-American bund leader. Putting that to the side, we have to call out the elephant in the room being that Rory played Frankenstein's monster (and temporarily what I believe to be the series' version of the Phantom of the Opera) in the original Penny Dreadful series. This brings up lots of interesting questions such as whether or not he is reprising his role as the "monster" who has taken on a new life in his assumed inhuman longevity or is he someone else entirely with a peculiar connection like a descendant of sorts. Or perhaps City of Angels is a spinoff that isn't afraid to bring back cast members from its core series in unrelated roles (which would be bizarre). Either way, if there is one element on this show that has me legitimately hooked, it's Rory Kinnear showing up bringing forth so many possibilities and a familiar face to immediately get attached to. Could that mean other familiar faces down the line? If he is the monster, will he revealed as such at some point?
Rating: 7/10
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