Helen McCrory

Vanessa Ives is cursed. That’s well established by now in Penny Dreadful, but this latest episode digs into the moldy, damp crypt of Vanessa’s past to show us just how cursed she is. Eva Green’s performance has and apparently always will be the best aspect of Penny Dreadful and the latest episode, “The Nightcomers”, knows this and exploits it to its fullest.

Clumsiness is the name of the game with Angel of Death, extending to director Tom Harper’s egregious overuse of cheap jump scares (I started counting, and the number went into double digits), all loud boos and sudden shrieking ghost faces appearing out of nowhere for a split second, only to vanish back into the shadows. You’ll start to wish the woman in black would hurry up and just off them already, she wastes her time so much.