‘Penny Dreadful’ season 3, episode 6 review: Did Vanessa submit herself to Dracula?

Is Ethan’s father going to kill him? On the last episode of “Penny Dreadful” we finally saw Ethan not only confront his father, but also face the consequences of his actions when he betrayed his father and helped to allow his enemy to slaughter his mother, brother and sister. Jared tried to force Ethan to repent, but he refused and we saw Jared point a gun in his face. What’s going to happen next? Let’s see what tonight’s episode has in store for us.

Ethan: So did Ethan repent or did Jared kill him? Ethan did not repent and the moment was interrupted by a visit from the Marshall who showed up to arrest Ethan and everyone that aided him, but before carting everyone off to jail – dinner first! The Marshall outs Ethan and Hecate as monsters and Hecate reveals her true form to the group. She is shot in the battle and dies telling Ethan that she will wait for him in hell. With the Marshall out of the way Jared still plans to kill his son, so Ethan and Malcolm face Jared and his men in a wild west shoot out until everyone is dead except Ethan, Malcolm and Kaetenay.

Vanessa: Dracula learns that she has been abandoned by everyone and that she knows Dracula’s name, so he feels that she will be coming to him soon. When Ferdinand leaves on an adventure, he introduces Vanessa to Catriona and she pushes her for information on Dracula – and she is very knowledgeable. She tells Vanessa that Dracula was said to be a vampire, and a seducer (which this Dracula has not really been), and Vanessa tells her that he’s in London now and she needs to find him. Catriona says that she will look into it further, but in the meantime she needs to surround herself with people who would protect her (she should not be isolated), but with everyone gone the only person she can think to talk to is Dr. Seward. She suggests that Vanessa reach out to Alexander Sweet and start trusting people again and she decides to seek him out. She tells him everything about Dracula hunting her and asks for him to believe her. He tells her he believes her, will offer any defenses he has to her and will never leave her side. He tells her he loves her and she submits herself to him in what was an incredibly awkward sex scene where the chemistry was a lot like a cold fish between these two.

Victor: Now that he and Jekyll have perfected his treatment, he heads off with a potion to knock Lily out and bring her to the lab. Lily and Dorian are continuing to build their army of women that want to channel their anger and sadness into power, and we see Justine is starting to push back at Dorian as Lily continues to push the agenda of all men are scum. Lily is starting to revel in her army and is pushing Dorian away and he asks her why they are no longer partners? She tells him that she remembers every man that hurt her and that she is committed to these women now, but he reminds her of their love. Victor heads to her house, and he is met with Lily’s army. He tells Lily that he’s found a way to take away all of her anger and sadness, but she doesn’t want to give up her suffering. Dorian tells Lily that murdering Victor for being in love is foolish, but Justine wants to murder him because he’s a man. Lily keeps him alive realizing that he may be useful at another time and Dorian reminds Victor as he is escorted out that he is now in his debt.

John: He is still spying on his family and sees his son getting sicker and sicker. He finally can’t stand it anymore and goes into the apartment to tend to his son’s sickness and he recognizes his father’s voice right away. John tells him that he’s going to find a way to bring him medicine and help him be well again, but when his son opens his eyes and sees the monster he has become he is scared and John flees the apartment with his heart broken once more.

This was a very powerful episode with a heavy focus on strong women (which we like), but we are having some issues with the Lily storyline in this episode specifically. We love the strength of Lily and her quest to bond other women who have been wronged by certain men in their lives by taking their power back, but hating men just because they are men is a storyline that, as a woman, made us uncomfortable. Episode grade: C+

What did you think of tonight’s episode of “Penny Dreadful”? Leave us a comment below and share your thoughts on the season so far.