WiC Watches—Penny Dreadful: City of Angels season 1

Episode 10: “Day of the Dead”

The first season of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels ends with an operatic flourish, as storylines come to dramatic ends even as bigger ones are set up for the future. For a while, I haven’t been what this show intended to be. Was it a self-contained parable about the dangers of nationalism, a history with supernatural elements, a creature feature? “Day of the Dead” clarifies some of my questions: Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is in for the long haul; this story is just getting started.

That puts certain storylines in context. For example, I was wondering all season how Peter Craft’s dalliance with Elsa was going to play into the story, and now I see that he’s being set up to join LA’s lineup of hatemongers in season 2, assuming a second season happens at all with Hollywood still trying to find his way out of the coronavirus. After young Tom is injured during a Mexican-American riot, Peter is finally convinced to embrace his inner Nazi, for the safety of the children. Seeing him Sieg Heil was definitely uncomfortable, both because you hate to see him succumb to his worst instincts and because it’s a terrifying symbol of hate that no TV show should use lightly.

I thought “Day of the Dead” pulled it off. Elsa’s story about feeling humiliated and finding pride in German nationalism mirrors a story often told about why Germany was easy pickings for fearmongors like Hitler in the aftermath of World War I, but we don’t need to go too deep down the historical rabbit hole. City of Angels isn’t so much interested in history for its own sake as in how it compares to our current moment.

That brings us to the riot, which is sparked after news spreads of the police lynching Diego at the end of the last episode. Now, this show was filmed long before people took to the streets around the world to protest the police killing of George Floyd, but there’s no way to watch it without thinking of those demonstrations. And I’m not sure City of Angels was quite prepared for this moment. In our world, people have demonstrated their power in a way that many lawmakers can’t afford to ignore, and we’re currently seeing some cities rethink the way they do policing. The protests got positive results. In City of Angels, the riot is sparked by Magda, and it’s what gives Townsend the political capitol he needs to demolish the Mexican neighborhoods and build the Arroyo Seco Parkway, which is just the beginning of his attempts at “population control,” as Tiago puts it.

“Day of the Dead” lays on the political parallels pretty thick. “They’re not building roads, they’re building walls,” Tiago says at the end. “This is not the United States of America.” And in one scene, Townsend rants against the media, advocates for gerrymandering, praises fascist nations, and looks forward to using his power to avenge personal grudges. Sound like anyone you know? The criticism of Donald Trump is not subtle.

And that’s perfectly fine — I like that the show is bold enough to mix in politics with tragedy with period drama with the supernatural. There’s a ton going on in this show; it is not a boring watch.

But not everything always mixes well. In one corner, you have John Logan making his case against Trump so loudly you sort of get taken out of the moment, and in another you have the intensely personal conflict between Molly and her mother, who reveals that it was she who had the Hazlett family killed for fear that James Hazlett would expose his affair with Sister Molly and sully her reputation. In a very creepy scene, Adelaide implies that should Molly run away with Tiago as she plans, she’s probably have her killed, too. Or him, or both of them.

It’s definitely the most impressive acting I’ve seen from Amy Madigan’s acting this season. “Wherever you go, whatever you do, you are mine.” Brr.

All this leads to a Godfather-esque montage where Molly commits suicide in the baptismal pool, with Santa Muerte there to ease her passing. Elsewhere, Tiago, Lewis and Benny Berman and taking Brian Koenig to Mexico so the Nazis can’t use his brain. But he just can’t help talking about how many weapons of mass destruction he intends to build, so Lewis takes him to the beach, tells him to look at the stars, and shoots him like Carol shoots Lizzie on The Walking Dead.

It’s all very sweeping and grand and operatic. They clearly put a lot of effort into the photography and music for this scene, and it pays off; it was some chills-inducing stuff. And it underlines the first rule of film noir: no one is innocent, not the bad guys, not the good guys, and not the people caught in between.

City of Bullet Points

• I raised an eyebrow at the beginning when Fly Rico was trying to talk the Mexicans at the club out of rioting following Diego’s death. Did he always believe in peaceful protest? Anyway, Magda shanks him to take way for Mateo to become the new leader of the Pachucos.
• I liked the bit where Elsa, in the car with the Crafts, nodded to Rio: Magda talking with herself. That said, if the show gets a second season, someone else should play Rio. I know they gave her a backstory about being raised in Spain and Mexico, but at the end of the day this is still a white woman playing a chicano gang leader and it’s weird and awkward. Magda is a demon who can take multiple forms. Give her another one.
• Another uncomfortable thing about the riot was how quickly Diego’s in it was forgotten. He was just a prop for the show to get where to wanted to go. If you’re going to film something as inflammatory as a lynching, I think you need to take it more seriously than that.
• The noir dialog was out in force for the season finale. “This town won’t leave us alone,” Tiago tells Molly. (Aw, poor Tiago.) I also liked this exchange between Dottie Minter and Maria. “They break your heart, don’t they, these kids?” “Every day.”

Episode Grade: B+

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