Showtime has dropped the official trailer for Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, and by the looks of it, it seems like the cable network has another hit on its hand.
At the onset of the two-minute video set in 1938 Los Angeles, LAPD detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane) arrive at a murder scene where a white female victim appears to have been butchered in some kind of a voodoo ritual.
Since the murder appears to be racially charged, police captain Ned Vanderhoff (Brent Spider) plans to keep it from the public to prevent a “race war” from happening. Unfortunately, the case gets out, and Mexican Americans are ordered to leave the city. And when the Mexican Americans resist, riots ensue as the police start to use force to move them out.
Being LAPD’s first Mexican-American detective, Tiago finds himself in a difficult situation, seemingly confused on which side to support. “Are you a cop pretending to be a Mexican? Or a Mexican pretending to be a cop?” fellow Mexican Diego Lopez (Adan Rocha) asks Tiago in the trailer.
Elsewhere in the trailer, Sister Molly (Kerry Bishé), a charismatic radio evangelist, declares at what seems to be a congregation that Satan has arrived. And based on how the trailer is edited, it seems that the Satan Sister Molly is referring to is the shape-shifting demon Magda (Natalie Dormer).
Throughout the duration of the trailer, Magda assumes three different identities, including one that punches a cop during what appears to be a gathering of Mexican Americans. Though Magda seems to be on the side of the Mexican Americans during that moment, it’s really not clear what her intentions and objectives are.
At the end of the trailer, Magda can be heard telling Tiago’s mother (Adriana Barraza): “Open your arms, sister. I’ll give you many souls today.” Does this mean Magda is some sort of a Grim Reaper, who causes the victim’s death to collect the person’s soul? Only time will tell.
A spin-off to Penny Dreadful, Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is “a refreshing take on the detective genre with supernatural elements,” said Lane at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour last January. “It’s Raymond Chandler meets [The Twilight Zone’s] Rod Serling,” added Lane.
Created by John Logan, the anthological series also stars Jessica Garza, Johnathan Nieves, Rory Kinnear, Michael Gladis, Amy Madigan, Lin Shaye, Lorenza Izzo, Adam Rodriguez, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Sherwood, Ethan Peck, and Piper Perabo.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels premieres on Sunday, April 26th, at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.