'Petals on the Wind' Pedals Lifetime Into Double Feature

Lifetime

Lifetime gave viewers the treat of a double feature, first airing January’s “Flowers in the Attic” before following it up with the premiere of its sequel “Petals on the Wind,” and it did not disappoint. The latest installment in the camp-tastic series featured car wrecks, ballet mayhem, and tons of hook-ups.

The fireworks from the guilty pleasure fully committed to its disturbing voyage into the underworld of forbidden lust. Rose McIver gave a wonderful performance as the adult Cathy and was complimented by Heather Graham’s villainous turn as Corrine. Lifetime struck while the iron was hot, and lucky for them, the result was a sizzling drama.

Eclectic Pop’s Review of “Flowers in the Attic” is here

Eclectic Pop’s Review of “Petals on the Wind” is here

Franken-Don’t: As hypnotically fascinating as “Penny Dreadful” is with its Frankenstein and spawn storyline, it is personally becoming increasingly grating. After the previous episode’s wretchedly disgusting kill of Proteus, a newly revealed former “child” of Frankenstein announced himself. A lamentation of the Doctor’s crimes against him, The Creature came across as a tad indulgent in his self-pity, not seeming grateful for his second chance at life.

One glaring problem with the entire storyline is the still unexplained mechanism of how Frankenstein has even brought these people back to life in the first place. Worse, “Penny Dreadful” continues subtracting time from the Vanessa Ives/Sir Malcolm/Ethan Chandler storyline to give this particularly brutal chapter far from the series’ most captivating aspect.

Slippery Score: On “Fargo,” Lester cooly said he would send his brother up the river and rewarded himself by hooking up with his deceased nemesis’ wife. Meanwhile, Molly quickly rose out of unconsciousness, determined to put him behind bars. Understandably, Molly would want to bring Lester to justice, but there was only one problem.

The two crimes Molly thinks Lester is guilty of, he did not actually do. Contrary to the show’s assistance that Molly is a wiz detective, she usually bats 0 for 2. The direction during the episodes yielded a gun-blazing balance off-screen. It was a masterful use of “less is more.”

GH Says Goodbye: Tony Geary’s farewell performance before his “General Hospital” summer sabbatical was chillingly well-done. Geary alternated between the dual roles of a despondent Luke, strapped helplessly in a straightjacket, and the villainous imposter whose identity remained a mystery as he slipped into the ether. Elsewhere, Julian framed Ric as his mob boss, a twist that hopefully will not last long.