“Penny Dreadful” seemed to come and go without much fanfare. And for those of us without Showtime, it was reduced to nothing more than sexy trailers and portrait-style character posters. Simply put: it was a brilliant concept bulked up with extreme talent facing the harsh storm of premium cable and lackluster summertime audiences. But now that it’s been picked up for a second season, Bloody Disgusting wants our readers to know whether or not they should give a shit. Luckily for all of us, season one became available on iTunes this week, so for the next 8 days I’ll be binge reviewing season one of “Penny Dreadful” and I hope that you’ll watch along with me and weigh in with your thoughts on this fearlessly stitched, literarily-steeped psychosexual horror.

Shockingly, for a show touted as a ‘literary mash-up,’ the first three main characters we’re acquainted with have yet to appear in literature: Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), and Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton), whose daughter, Mina Murray appears in loads of literature, most famously: Dracula.

We first lay eyes on Ives in the middle of some insane possessed prayer (spiders included!). She’s a stunning clairvoyant medium and a powerful force—all trussed up in the most proper of appearances. Miss Ives seems to create fear, chaos, sensuality, and tension wherever she goes (or on whomever she sets her glare). As the episode progresses, the darkness of her soul is constantly called into question.

Chandler, an American sharp shooter touring with a carnival, initially feels like cheap plastic compared to Ives’ fine china, but as Ives later describes, he is much deeper than he cares to show. When Ives approaches Chandler with a proposition of some “night work,” we are treated to one of the most intensely sizzling, non-overtly sexual back-and-forths I’ve seen on television in quite some time. As expected, wherever Green goes, raw sexuality is sure to follow.

“Penny Dreadful” runs on juxtaposition, both in tone and character. The dichotomy of scenes from Ives’ spider-invested medium moment to Chandler’s phony American carnival show should be jarring but instead create a sense of discord that perfectly represents the rest of the episode. Not all of the stark juxtapositions work, but the ones that do serve up an apropos unsettling tenor.

There’s a reason “Penny Dreadful” is billed as “psychosexual horror,” it moves seamlessly from haute sexual tension to horrific visuals. The themes of Stoker’s Dracula run deep. Mina has been taken by a “creature” (read: vampire) and her father, Sir Malcolm, is on a violent, determined quest to retrieve her. When the “night work” commissioned by Ives and Murray turns extremely supernatural, Chandler’s sharp shooting is worth shit and only the combined skills of Ives and Murray can stop the chaos.

During the mission, they kill and harvest one of the vampires (something very akin to Nosferatu). And it’s a good thing they need a doctor to help dissect the creature because this brings us to the filthy little lair of Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway). He’s a hostile, self-righteous prick, but he’s the first real literary character we come across. It’s this precise moment where two of literature’s most iconic horror characters meet: Frankenstein and Vampire. The gravity of this moment is neither overlooked nor overdone. The stylized cinematography, Treadaway’s intense portrayal, and the deep, rumbling score scream to the viewer: “Hey, this is a big moment for television, so watch up.”

I’ll admit, upon first watch, what’s revealed during the autopsy of the vampire feels completely out of left field, as if the show jumped the shark twenty minutes into its first episode. But upon further personal research, the findings are deeply rooted in ancient mythology and give this first episode a depth I wasn’t prepared for. What’s even more impressive is the immediate comic relief that follows the harrowing scene, which again, should feel deeply out of place but instead works only to the show’s advantage. Because while yes, we’re watching an intensely dark portrayal of grisly Victorian London, we’re also dealing with a ‘closed world,’ a world in which the average inhabitant is unaware of the supernatural goings-on.

The ultimate plot revelation comes with Green’s perfect delivery of a succulent monologue about the ‘demimonde.’ The world between what we know and what we fear. This is the world we’ll be living in for the majority of “Penny Dreadful.” A world full of supernatural horrors unimaginable, where science and superstition meet.

The episode isn’t perfect. There are a lot of slow scenes that serve no greater purpose than to arouse us and heighten our senses. The episode starts to drag about two thirds of the way through and the overall set up is tedious. It’s clear that “Penny Dreadful” wants us to be immersed in the blended world of television fiction, classic fiction, and straight reality, but the immersion is painstakingly slow and uses dialogue more than any horror show should.

Though tedious it is, the development of Frankenstein’s character is viciously daring. The liberties taken with his personality traits feel surprisingly accurate. I applaud the writers for adding on to an existing character—such a well known one, at that—and doing it so boldly without losing the essence that Mary Shelley created almost 200 years ago. The fresh look into Frankenstein fits the essence of the show and its audacious creative vision.

What did you think of “Penny Dreadful”: ‘Night Work’?