Brona Croft, later known as Lily Frankenstein, is a character on
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
's ''
Penny Dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...
'', portrayed by
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...
. Created by writer
John Logan, Brona begins the series as an Irish immigrant living in London. An original take on the
Bride of Frankenstein
''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karlo ...
story, Piper's character and acting have been acclaimed by critics, calling her "alternately elegant, bewitching, coarse, and frightening."
Storyline
Before the series
Through conversations with Ethan Chandler (
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor and producer. He first came to attention in 1997 for his role as Michael Fitzgerald in the television crime drama series '' Cracker''. He made his feature film debut in 1998 in th ...
) and
Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italians, Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy ...
(
Harry Treadaway
Harry John Newman Treadaway''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 September 1984) is an English actor known for his performances as Victor Frankenstein in the horror-drama series ''Penny Dr ...
), Brona recounts tales from her past. Born and raised in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, she went to
London, England
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...
to get away from her abusive fiancé, whom her mother was trying to force her to marry for his money. Penniless and alone, she was forced to become a prostitute in order to survive, and suffered frequent beatings and
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
s at the hands of her customers.
At some point after coming to London, Brona gave birth to a daughter, Sarah. One night, she left Sarah at home by the fire while she went out. She encountered a customer who refused to pay her, and knocked her unconscious. When Brona came to, she hurried home, only to find that her daughter had frozen to death.
Season One
Brona Croft lives at the Mariner's Inn in London, and works as a prostitute while trying to find another job. She is slowly dying of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, but is unable to pay for medicine. She meets Ethan Chandler, and the two quickly bond. Brona goes to the home of
Dorian Gray
''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...
(
Reeve Carney
Reeve Jefferson Carney (born April 18, 1983) is an American actor and singer-songwriter. He is best known for originating the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in '' Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'' on Broadway and playing Orpheus in the original B ...
), and models for photographs for him. Gray is attracted to her illness, and the two have sex.
Despite her sickness, Brona and Ethan fall in love and pursue a relationship. She briefly grows resentful of his wealthy friends, and rejects him. However, she quickly gets over it, and the two resume their relationship.
She eventually becomes bedridden, and coughs up blood constantly. She gives Ethan her pendant of
St. Jude, which he will later use during his
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
of
Vanessa Ives
Vanessa Ives is a fictional character on Showtime's ''Penny Dreadful'', created by John Logan and portrayed by Eva Green. Ives is the main protagonist of the story and is introduced as a mysterious and powerful medium. She is later revealed to ...
(
Eva Green
Eva Gaëlle Green (, ; born ) is a French actress and model. The daughter of actress Marlène Jobert, she began her career in theatre before making her film debut in Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Dreamers'' (2003). She achieved international reco ...
). Her sickness gets to the point that she can barely talk, and Ethan begs Dr.
Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein is a fictional character and the main protagonist and title character in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''.. He is an Italians, Italian-Swiss scientist (born in Naples, Italy ...
to help her.
Victor inspects Brona, and claims there is nothing to do but wait for her to succumb to her illness. However, when Ethan steps out, Victor holds a pillow over her face and smothers Brona to death. Ethan is distraught, but Victor assures him that he will take care of her body. Secretly, he intends to resurrect Brona as his
Creature's (
Rory Kinnear
Rory Michael Kinnear (born 17 February 1978) is an English actor and playwright who has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. In 2014, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of William S ...
)
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...
mate.
Season Two
Victor resurrects Brona, under the name of Lily Frankenstein. Though the Creature is eager to have Lily to himself, Victor insists on having time with Lily to re-acclimate her to life. Lily claims to have no memory of her life before the "accident," and is informed that she is Victor's cousin, and was engaged to marry the Creature, calling himself
John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...
.
Though the creature grows impatient, Victor spends more and more time with Lily, and the two appear to fall in love. Victor takes Lily to a ball, where she is re-introduced to Dorian Gray. The two are fascinated with each other, much to both the Creature and Victor's chagrin. One evening, during a thunderstorm, Lily climbs into Victor's bed and takes his virginity.
Despite claiming to be in love with Victor, Lily begins a friendship with Dorian Gray. After an evening out with Dorian, Lily strays from her neighborhood and goes to a pub. A man attempts to seduce her, and she goes back to his house with him. During sex, she strangles him to death and lays with his corpse until morning, claiming to a livid Victor that she fell asleep on a park bench.
Eventually, the Creature grows impatient with Victor's possessiveness of Lily, and confronts her while Victor is away. After Lily rejects him, he attempts to attack her, but she shoves him to the ground and berates him, mocking his ugliness and naivety. She reveals that she knows exactly what she is, and that she knows her resurrection made her immortal. Lily promises that she will never serve another man again, and instead swears that they will kneel to her. She offers the Creature the chance to overthrow mankind with her, but he is terrified and refuses.
Instead, she seeks out Gray, and the two plot "mastery" over the human race. Victor learns of her recent actions, and comes to confront her. With a gun pointed at her, Lily reveals that she knew what was going on all along and who she was before, and claims that she was only pretending to be in love with Victor, waiting for the right time to strike. After she belittles his sexual prowess, Victor shoots her, but she is unfazed. Victor shoots Dorian, too, to no avail, and the two debate killing him. Lily decides to spare her creator, claiming he may be useful to her in the future.
Season Three
Lily, traumatized by her abuse by men in her past life, organizes a violent crusade against men with the aide of Dorian. The two rescue a young prostitute named Justine (
Jessica Barden
Jessica Amy Barden (born 21 July 1992) is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress. She is best known for her role as Alyssa in the Channel 4 comedy-drama ''The End of the F***ing World'' (2017–2019). She received a British ...
) from her murderous owners, slaughtering the men who had gathered to watch her death. They take her in, and she quickly becomes devoted to Lily's revolution.
Meanwhile, Victor has become obsessed with getting Lily back, genuinely believing that the two of them could be happy together, despite Lily's insistence that she was never happy with him. With the help of his friend
Dr. Henry Jekyll
Dr. Henry Jekyll, nicknamed in some copies of the story as Harry Jekyll, and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. In the story, ...
(
Shazad Latif
Shazad Latif (born Iqbal Amin; 8 July 1988) is a British actor, who starred as Tariq Masood in the BBC TV series '' Spooks'', Clem Fandango on ''Toast of London'', and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in ''Penny Dreadful''. In 2017, he was cast as Chief ...
), Victor devises a serum that will cure Lily of her anger and pain, and turn her demure and passive. With this, he believes, he can make her love him again.
Lily assembles an army of downtrodden women and prostitutes, indoctrinating them into her misandrist crusade and teaching them how to kill. Victor attempts to kidnap her, but he is stopped by her women. At Dorian's urging, Lily decides to free Victor. Dorian, who has been growing disillusioned with Lily's revolution, claims Victor owes him his life, and intends to collect his debt eventually.
Lily and Gray grow apart, as she is more committed to her crusade than to him. She orders her women to out and take revenge against their abusers, and are later seen dining with a platter of severed hands on the table. She goes out with Dorian, who has secretly coordinated her kidnapping with Victor and Dr. Jekyll. During their walk around London, she is chloroformed and taken to Bedlam Hospital, the site of Dr. Jekyll's laboratory.
Victor intends to inject her with the serum, but she pleads with him not to. Her violence turns to despair as she recounts the death of her daughter years before, and she begs Victor not to take away her memories and her grief, claiming that they are only things that make her human. Victor reluctantly unchains her, and she kisses him before fleeing.
Lily returns to her and Gray's house, to find her army disbanded and Justine dead. Gray laments his boredom with her cause, and explains to her the curse of
immortality
Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality.
Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...
. He claims her passion will expire eventually, but Lily refuses to live a life without it. She leaves him, with Gray claiming she will be back eventually.
Production
The concept of a female creation by Victor Frankenstein as a mate for his first was originally presented in
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...
's ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...
''. In that story, however, this second creature is destroyed before she is ever brought to life. The story is then explored in
Universal Picture's 1935 film ''
Bride of Frankenstein
''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring Boris Karlo ...
''. In that film, Victor goes through with the reanimation of his Creature's mate, but she rejects her intended, and the two die in an explosion minutes after her rebirth.
Actress Billie Piper plays a dual role in the series, first as Brona Croft, then the resurrected Lily Frankenstein. Creator John Logan has said that the character's third season arc was influenced by
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's 1871 erotic vampire novella ''
Carmilla
''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...
''. "But Carmilla is wildly erotic and romantic, and that's part of the vampire story, too. This season I go deeper into that idea in Lily's story because Lily has an acolyte named Justine. It's a very dark, romantic relationship between them."
Brona is
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
for "sadness".
Reception
Piper's performance has been acclaimed by fans and critics.
TV Line
''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs.
History
In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving ''EW'' after nearly two years in their employ to est ...
named her "Performer of the Week," saying "In last Sunday's episode, the actress delivered the former Brona Croft's mad speech to her army of fallen women with such intensity and conviction that we didn't just nod along as she decreed "We must be bloody or nothing else!" No, Piper had us so drunk on her character's power that, had she given the order, we, too, might have marched into the streets to retrieve Lily the right hand of a bad man."
References
{{Reflist
Drama television characters
Fictional prostitutes
Fictional undead
Fictional serial killers
Television characters introduced in 2014
Fictional Irish people
Fictional characters with immortality
Fictional revolutionaries
Fictional victims of domestic abuse
Fictional victims of sexual assault
Female characters in television
Horror television characters