Recalling and discussing what we saw in the third episode of the show 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels'.

If you haven't yet abandoned watching the series 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels', which the creators are clearly pushing you to do, then welcome to the discussion of the new episode. We continue to have characters' personalities revealed without much plot progression, though the overall tension is slowly starting to build. But let's take it one step at a time.

Previous recaps:

Episode 1

Episode 2

Warning: spoilers for Episode 3 of 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels' ahead

Pain and Overcoming

The episode, titled 'Wicked Old World', opens with a scene in the morgue where Detective Lewis examines the remains of his comrades who unsuccessfully pursued the Nazis. Despite the bodies being burned, the coroner finds bullets. Lewis asks an old friend to hold off on his reports and takes the bullets himself. Then, with his tears, he reminds viewers that he is not just a seasoned cop but also a simple man who lost a close friend through his own fault.

Raul, the brother of the main character Tiago, with the help of Santa Muerte, regains consciousness without remembering who shot him. Their other brother Mateo doesn't mince words and immediately rats out Tiago. Raul's reaction, however, turned out to be quite unexpected and ambiguous. He is simultaneously angry at his brother but also respects his decision, understanding the full context of what happened. Though maybe he's just pretending... not to remember who shot him.

Evil Is Always Somewhere Nearby

As Councilman Townsend's assistant, Magda continues to convince her 'boss' that his decision to build the ill-fated highway is right, and also reminds him that he will now be in the public eye and cannot afford to make mistakes in his behavior. Then, the first potential enemy of Townsend appears in the frame. He is told in no uncertain terms about a 'war' and the impossibility of completing the 'bloody' highway.

Mateo, who met the Mexican gangster Rico in the previous episode, finally goes to the club his new acquaintance invited him to. Who do you think engages them in a heated dialogue about values and the desire to prove the need to return Los Angeles lands to Mexicans? Of course, Magda in yet another guise. Now under the name Rio.

Remember how in the original series the presence of evil was felt on the level of premonition and anticipation? In the show 'Penny Dreadful: City of Angels', evil constantly takes on a physical form and sows chaos directly, getting under the heroes' skin with psychological tricks.

At the same time, it's rather amusing that Magda doesn't have to try too hard to push people toward corruption, deceit, and even murder. All of this seems to be ingrained in human genes, and she just knows how to pick the right keys.

Losers and Dreamers

The main character of the series, Tiago, spends almost the entire latest episode (as well as the previous one) in the company of the evangelist Sister Molly, who escapes her mother's supervision under a fabricated pretext.

Together, the 'runaways' relax at an amusement park on the Santa Monica Pier, talk about life, and, of course, a romantic kiss at sunset is inevitable. Through the characters, the authors discuss that there is a category of people who can be called 'losers.' They don't belong to any community by choice and can't be considered 'one of their own' anywhere: Tiago is torn between Mexicans, who see him as a traitor, and police officers, who consider him an upstart and just another pathetic Mexican; Molly, in turn, didn't choose the fate of a patroness for people seeking salvation in religion but is forced to exist in this world because of her mother.

In the tradition of 'Penny Dreadful', the heroes are unlikely to have it easy and will probably suffer from their feelings and aspirations, but they won't give up the fight easily either.

What We Have

As you may have noticed, this time we decided to step back a bit from the usual retelling of events with minimal observational commentary, in order to reflect on what the authors are aiming for and to make sense of what we've seen.

At the same time, let's try to summarize what we have so far:

• Tiago is at a crossroads between family, duty, and his own emotions;
• Mateo has embarked on a criminal path, which is unlikely to lead to anything good;
• Townsend has a dirty secret (he is gay) that Magda could use for her own purposes at a certain moment;
• Molly's life is psychologically difficult; her angelic image for Tiago will surely fall, which could lead to a more intense development of the story (perhaps she is to some extent responsible for the murders that occurred earlier);
• The Nazis are considering nuclear weapons.

Just three episodes give us plenty to think about regarding where the plot will go next. The story is turning out to be quite voluminous and winding, and the characters are moderately complex and realistic.

The problem with the series lies elsewhere. The new 'Penny Dreadful' lacks its own identity. The original show also had many plot threads and a bunch of characters who didn't always intersect, but they were all united by the Gothic atmosphere and a shared anticipation (in quotes) of inevitable doom.

Here, the American Nazis and Mexican gangsters existing within a single episode seem like people from different worlds with polar opposite problems. The series at one moment pretends to be a noir detective story, and at another, it acts like a social drama. This uncertainty inevitably affects the overall impression of what we see. And let's be honest, a closeted official with an inflated ego is a far less interesting character than, say, Victor Frankenstein trying to uncover the secret of life, not to mention that the titular characters of the new story don't hold a candle to their predecessor.

There is a fear that the series will never find its 'voice,' remaining a hodgepodge of poorly compatible ingredients. Perhaps it will become more interesting and dynamic. Perhaps the mysticism will add new colors to the project later on. But it's unlikely that this project will stand alongside the original 'Penny Dreadful'. We'll see what happens.

Teaser for the fourth episode: