I think you’re rationalizing here. Logan said he wasn’t adhering too much to Bram Stoker, but from Renfield, we see how the transformation works. It starts with a bite which leads to you being in Dracula’s thrall and craving blood. Once you drink his blood, you become a vampire more quickly. Stoker never elaborated on this. In the novel, Lucy only had to be bitten, as far as we know.

Unless she says that she accepts him – then a bite is a bite. She hasn’t given herself to him. The stories hold truer to their literary canon. This is part of his canon. Catriona told her the only way to kill Dracula was as a spy – from the inside. The only way inside, was to allow him to bite her. Much of Penny Dreadful’s story is beneath the surface.

She accepted Dracula by letting him bite her neck instead of shooting him. Actions speak louder than words. Catriona emboldened Vanessa to confront Dracula, but in the end she succumbed to him.

Look beyond the surface. As a writer, I would use characters such as Catriona to sprinkle knowledge to the reader. She told Vanessa how to defeat Dracula – what if she allowed him to think he won? Remember the lines – ‘You accept me?’ Vanessa replied with ‘I accept… myself’. She never once accepted Dracula. Wording is vital here.

If you consider the conversation between Vanessa and Catriona – she told Vanessa that to defeat Dracula, it would take a spy, not a soldier. Since she defeated Lucifer, I have to believe she can defeat Dracula. Perhaps from the inside. Vanessa also knows that Ethan and Sir Malcolm are on their way. Again, keep in mind, a frontal assault won’t kill him – the only way to destroy the seducer, is betrayal from the inside. It’s the foundation of the Dracula story.