Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels

SHOWTIME | Release Date: April 26, 2020

4.0	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Ratings

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User Reviews

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MercinarieMay 4, 2020

Only in name is this series comparable in quality to the original series.
It's difficult to become attached to any of these characters, especially compared to the fantastic writing and casting of the first series.
Maybe if it was a standOnly in name is this series comparable in quality to the original series.
It's difficult to become attached to any of these characters, especially compared to the fantastic writing and casting of the first series.
Maybe if it was a stand alone, without the Penny Dreadful title, it would have been received better? At least for me all I'm doing is wishing it was season 4… Expand

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

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josegveMay 5, 2020

I started watching this because the original series was excellent. This is crap. Watch a couple of episodes and you will see what I mean.

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

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mikey5Jun 28, 2020

What a waste of resources, good cinematography and period scenery. Terrible would be the skinny version comment of this show. Nathan Lane is terribly miscast and unconvincing as a "tough, LA police detective".
The main character Tiago wasWhat a waste of resources, good cinematography and period scenery. Terrible would be the skinny version comment of this show. Nathan Lane is terribly miscast and unconvincing as a "tough, LA police detective".
The main character Tiago was flaccid and mediocre. The script was probably written while intoxicated, because it made little sense. Watched the last episode and could not stop laughing at the stupidity of the series. What a finale the Jewish detective becoming the executor of an innocent kid bragging about dreams, and then nothing happens! So silly! Burn all copies of this monstruosity and flagelate those responsible. Cheesus!… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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brettrenwickApr 27, 2020

How disappointing. The production values on this series are great. You really believe you are in old Los Angeles but the casting ruins this show. Nathan Lane as a detective? A mushy little guy wearing tan flannel (flannel!) in Los Angeles. HeHow disappointing. The production values on this series are great. You really believe you are in old Los Angeles but the casting ruins this show. Nathan Lane as a detective? A mushy little guy wearing tan flannel (flannel!) in Los Angeles. He is about as tough as a marshmallow in a granite quarry. And the new kid Daniel Zovatto is attractive but lacks charisma. The story is uninspired but I’ll give this one more episode.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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Marcos_El_MaloOct 4, 2020

I wasn’t a fan of the original. Never seen it. I did watch the first half hour of the pilot, before exiting in disgust. Honestly, I really wanted to love this show. It seemed like it would be right up my alley. The production design (MariaI wasn’t a fan of the original. Never seen it. I did watch the first half hour of the pilot, before exiting in disgust. Honestly, I really wanted to love this show. It seemed like it would be right up my alley. The production design (Maria Coso) is fantastic as is the cinematography and costume design. More latinx representation? Addressing gentrification? L.A. history? Noir? I am totally down.

Others have complained about the over abundance of plot threads. A well written script might have been able to weave those threads together, but this is not well written. The use of the Arroyo Seco Parkway instead of the more commonly used Chavez Ravine was encouraging, making me hope that there would be some depth here. But no. Within the first half hour, it became clear that the pilot’s writer had a very superficial understanding of Los Angles culture, especially Los Ángeles Mexican American culture. It’s as if he snagged some significant historical highlights from Wikipedia, sprinkled in some high school Spanish vocabulary, and called it a day.

It’s as if some white guy latched on to an injustice against minorities without bothering to learn much (beyond reading the Wikipedia article) about that minority. I realize that part of the job of the writer here is to take a spooky supernatural element and push it into a blood chillingly unfamiliar form, but the writer NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND the cultural elements with which he is working. Anything less is doing a disservice to the culture. Insulting it, or worse.

I can’t be more specific without spoiling the plot, but I’m basically unhappy with the characterization of an important Mexican holiday that is conveyed by Mexican American characters themselves. When your own characters are that ignorant of their own culture, you’re not doing your job as a writer.

There are a fair amount of Spanish surnames on the cast and crew list, so I suppose we can be happy about the jobs. I just really hate it when minorities get exploited like this. You want a better ghost story with more authentic minority cultural representation, go watch The Terror: Infamy.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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