Warning: Spoilers from thePenny Dreadful: City of Angelsseason 1 finale are discussed in this article.
Logan’s new inspiration was clear.
But this show was always meant to be about 2020, whether it’s set in 1938 or not.
Warrick Page/SHOWTIME
Do you think now you have a different relationship to the story you wrote?
What were your conversations like in the writer’s room to confirm you were doing those scenes justice?
There’s no way to dance around them, if you will.
Warrick Page/SHOWTIME
We took it seriously and very methodically.
Was there anything you intended to be an exaggeration of current events that ended up mirroring reality too closely?
It was always based on fact, on what was always going on in 1938.
Warrick Page/SHOWTIME
It was as real as we could possibly make it.
It’s not easy to create entertainment, but it’s important to create entertainment with purpose.
I give Showtime a lot of credit.
Warrick Page/SHOWTIME
They didn’t blink and they embraced that.
If we’re not aware of them, these cycles will just keep continuing.
It happened in 1938 and it happened in 2020.
I think the gloves have to come off.
For the whole season, Magda has been this Devil on your shoulder, egging you on.
Then she actually kills Rico.
Why was that riot, in particular, the moment to inevitably make her a much more active participant?
Because I think it was so incendiary.
I think the emotions and violence reached such a degree that she felt direct action was required.
So it seemed like the right escalation for the character and to promise more frightening things to come.
Magda has been entrenched in human affairs for so long and is becoming more horrifically human.
Do you think that contributed to her action in that moment?
Yeah, well said.
They all, just like her, are not who they appear to be on the surface.
She’s not a puppet master, she’s a chess player.
Natalie pointed out that Magda doesn’t manipulate female characters in the show.
Is there a reason for that?
Is that something you’re thinking about for season 2?
I’m definitely planning on moving more into that for a potential season 2.
That’s all I can tell you.
That’s classic dramatic structure of keeping characters apart until you want to bring them together.
I think that’s the case with Magda and Tiago.
She knows that Tiago is special.
Finally, in the penultimate scene of the final episode, she makes contact.
It feels like he’s talking directly to the audience.
Can you talk about how you came to the decision to end the season on that note?
You could’ve ended the season on Magda talking to Tiago in terms of, “Aha!
There’s conflict to come.”
But that’s not all the show is about.
So, to have your protagonist speak about what this all actually means I felt was really important.
This is not the United States he can embrace and will accept.
Molly takes her own life in the finale and Tiago does not take that well.
I think he’s older and wiser.
Have you had any formal conversations about season 2 with Showtime at this point?
No, it’s a little early for that.
I would love to keep telling this story.
I hope I get the chance.
