Recap/Review: Penny Dreadful's 2x10: And They Were Enemies

And then there was this finale. One that while not quite a game changer was definitely a changing of the status quo (including two character deaths) for next season.

Written by John Logan
Directed by Brian Kirk

Know Your Master: And finally Vanessa and her husband to be faced off with each other - and it was something else. Seeing the devil himself speak through that fetish doll that Evelyn made certainly added a level of creepiness to the whole proceeding along with the temptation of happily ever after life for Vanessa and Ethan with children. Of course, Vanessa was able to resist temptation, managed to defeat (for now) her 'Master' while Ethan took care of Evelyn and revealed his true self to Vanessa. Sadly for those hoping for the start of a beautiful relationship between the pair - well, that didn't pan out with Ethan confessing to murder to Detective Rusk and Vanessa being left on her lonesome but there's always next season though.

Evil Dances In White: Especially if the evil in question happens to be Lily and Dorian. The duo might have had only one scene in this episode but it was enough to set up a plotline for next season where the immortal pair took great delight in taunting Victor about their future as he realised to his horror that he couldn't kill either of them. After being so peripheral for so long, it's nice to know that both Dorian and Lily are going to be more prominent character next season, even if it is the two of them going down the villainous path.

The Quick Escape: If Evelyn's death was somewhat speedier than expected, then so was Caliban's escape from his underground prison. I'm not complaining mind - the idea of him being in captivity for most of next season would've gotten fairly boring in a short space of time, so I had no problem watching him kill his former employers to escape (even though he spared Lavinia). I also liked the brief conversation between him and Vanessa as well and like Ethan and Malcolm, Caliban also got out of London, though like those two I also expect him to return as well next year.

Going Home: Both Malcolm and Victor came close to ending their lives thanks to Evelyn using their failings as fathers but while both of them actually survived the episode, only Malcolm strived for better. Taking Sembene's body back to Africa (sad he died) was the right thing for him to do and now that he has been forced to face up to his failings, perhaps Malcolm can move forward as a character next season. Still a shame we lost Sembene though.

Fabulous Hair: This season has had a lot of highlights and one of them has been Lyle himself. Throughout the season, he's been a joy to watch - whether it's been either helping the gang or forced to spy on them courtesy of Evelyn and for a moment, I did think he was a goner in this episode. Luckily, he lived for another, took a few witches out and even offered some comforting words for Victor as well. Needless to say, I do hope that he comes back next season.

Season 3 will air late spring/early summer 2016 on both Showtime and SkyAtlantic.