Lots of new things are happening on the television front for me this week. Starting with the oh-so-eagerly anticipated Orange is the New Black. The second season was recently made available by Netflix – all 13 episodes at a go, may I remind you.
So far I have resisted the temptation to have a marathon session and just see the whole lot in one day, or something mad like that. To tell the truth, I have been somewhat disappointed with what I’ve seen so far.
Maybe it’s because the first season was so perfect that the follow-up was never going to match my expectations. Or maybe it is the Alex Vause (played by the super-hot Laura Prepon) shocker that is revealed with the very first episode.
Whatever the reason, I’m finding the start of the season lacking. I was dismayed to see that Prepon is not listed on the main credits, but appears only as guest star – though this development is hardly surprising, given the turn that the plotline has taken.
Prepon is probably my favourite character from the whole Season One cast. I do not find the main character of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) attractive at all, so the prospect of not having her annoying traits balanced out with some cheek from Alex is not an attractive one.
I was sufficiently bummed out about it to look up the online gossip – the good news is that Prepon is back for Season 3. One thing I’m enjoying is Piper’s not-so-subtle character evolution throughout this second season. In the first one, she was very much the prissy virgin queen, goody-two-shoes misunderstood – hence me not being particularly enamoured of her character.
The fake innocence now seems to have been chucked away in favour of a more realistic and tougher persona. The new Piper is tougher and definitely less annoying, so my hopes for the rest of the season remain high. Although I’m trying hard to ration out the episodes, don’t be surprised if by this time next week I confess to having seen the whole lot and loved them.
On to the next good thing – Penny Dreadful. My fondness for the supernatural extends to the cheesy sort and, with a name like that, the series was bound to be intriguing.
For those who need their memory jogged, the phrase ‘penny dreadful’ refers to the genre of British fiction popular during the Victorian era.
‘Penny’ because of the obvious reason of its selling price. And ‘dreadful’ because the subject matter tended to be pretty cheap and sensational.
One glorious hodgepodge of myths and creatures, a kind of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for horror fans
The name of the series contains an implicit promise of monsters, weird happenings and damsels in distress, all in a Victorian setting. In short, just the sort of guilty pleasure for me.
Although I’m still towards the beginning, so far I am enjoying this series tremendously. Even more than the storyline, I’m in love with the setting, the visuals and the period costumes. I want all of Eva Green’s (Green plays Vanessa Ives, one of the protagonists of the story) gowns, for instance.
As monsters go, so far, the series introduced me to Dracula, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray. I have a feeling it’s all going to be one glorious hodgepodge of myths and creatures, a kind of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for horror fans, if you like. And yeah, and Rory Kinnearan as one of Frankenstein’s creatures is rather amazing.
ramona.depares@timesofmalta.com