'Penny Dreadful' is the Most Daring & Radical Show You're Not Watching

[Editor's note: This story may contain some spoilers for the third season of Penny Dreadful. Read with caution]

TV has proven to be more diverse when compared with its arch nemesis, the film industry. More than 400 scripted shows will air this year, giving all kinds of different voices the opportunity to tell thrilling types of stories. Over the last few years, we've seen a rise in the way female issues resonate on television. Lena Dunham's "Girls" marked something of a sea change, not only giving HBO a sitcom about millennial life, but one that is extremely focused on women and women's issues.

The hilariously bawdy "Broad City" and "Inside Amy Schumer," the sketch comedy show that launched the comedian into stardom, followed. When it comes to dramas, Lifetime's "UnREAL" is a fantastic series with complex female leads, showcasing dynamic relationships with a faux reality TV backdrop.

For a show set at the end of the 1800s, Showtime's "Penny Dreadful" is remarkably radical and daringly progressive - especially when it takes on women's rights - than anything else on TV. The horror-drama series tackles serious issues that still reverberate in 2016, like abuse against women and rape culture. Feminist power has never been more apparent and visceral than in the current third season, which has its two-hour finale Sunday, June 19.

That many may point to "American Horror Story" as a companion to "Penny Dreadful" are not wrong. The two shows have a lot in common, but they also differ in some major ways. Both programs are notably horror-centric though "AHS" shifts its time period season-to-season as it's a campy anthology series; "Penny Dreadful" is darkly gothic, planted firm in the waning days of Queen Victoria's reign. Both center their story around a leading lady; for "AHS" it was Jessica Lange until she left and Lady Gaga took over. For three seasons, the ravenous and commanding Eva Green's Vanessa Ives has captivated the "Penny Dreadful" audience.

Since the beginning, Vanessa has defied all odds of what it means to be a Woman (especially in Victorian times): She's not afraid to shoot a gun or use her demonic powers to destroy evil. She's determined and assertive, all while having an internal struggle between good and evil - literally facing off with the devil on a number of occasions. She's not afraid to ask for help when she needs it, even if it's from a man, and we see her have wild and free-spirited sex with no regrets or shame. She has a strong constitution but is nevertheless a compassionate woman. Green is an unbelievable actress and the only person who could play such a complex character, breathing life and nuance into every exquisite line she delivers.

Shows like "Preacher," "Game of Thrones" (a series with which "Penny Dreadful" directly competes), "The Walking Dead" and "Gotham," have more than their pulpy/horror/fantasy genres in common: These series' protagonists are all The Brooding Sad Male, who is often times an anti-hero. It's a TV trope that has been done to death -- from "The Sopranos" to "Mad Men" to "Breaking Bad" to "The Leftovers," this archetype has been explored, with varying results, tenfold. On "Penny Dreadful," it's the women who get to be angsty and troubled.

In it's third season, "Penny Dreadful" has more than just Vanessa Ives representing female power. Lily Frankenstein (Billie Piper), or Dr. Victor Frankenstein's (Harry Treadaway) ex-girlfriend, who was a prostitute before she died and brought back to life, has become the most radical feminist TV has ever seen. In her quest to avenge her horrible past-life, where she suffered at the hands of disgusting men who treated her like a sex object, Lily, now partnered with Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), is on a mission to recruit women like her and start an army of prostitutes. She and Dorian are training them to be coldblooded killers, unleashing them into the streets of Britain to start a revolution/takeover where women rule.

The dynamic between Lily, Dorian and Justine (Jessica Barden), the first troubled girl the pair rescue at the start of Season 3, shows John Logan, the creator of "Penny Dreadful" who has also written almost every single episode of the series, not only fully understands Victorian literature and culture but also human nature. Lily is stuck between Dorian and Justine and the army of reformed prostitutes. Through her lectures, Lily taught the young women to distrust men, painting men as vile and horrible creatures. She is such a misandrist, that in one episode this season, Lily scoffs at a suffragette protest, telling Justine their "enemies are the same, but they seek equality."

"And we?" Justine asks.

"Mastery," Lily responds.

For Justine, who seems to be the most taken by Lily's movement, that line of thinking also applies to Dorian, though special, still a man, causing a rift between the three. Without getting into spoilers, Dorian takes problematic measures to deal with Lily, who he says isn't behaving like a "proper lady."

In Season 3, we also have Dr. Seward, played by the magnificent Patti LuPone. Though she's yet to have a show-stopping moment like the she did in the Season 2 bottle episode (LuPone played a witch named Joan Clayton, who is related to Seward), hints of Seward's interesting past have popped up, but her story is likely being saved for next year. The most jaw-dropping tidbit : Seward, a psychotherapist who is treating Vanessa's depression, revealed she's been kicked out of the U.S. after apparently murdering her husband.

In addition to the staunch and blunt Seward is Catriona Hartdegan (Perdita Weeks), a thanatologist (one who studies death) scholar who is working with Vanessa to find Dracula - the devil's mortal brother who is stocking Vanessa. When Logan first introduces us to Cat, she's fencing a man and destroys him in the match. She's just as beautiful as Vanessa and the women seem to have a spiritual connection. Like Seward, her part in this season hasn't been expounded on, but it's likely we'll see more of her next year.

Despite the incredible acting, impeccable writing, breathtaking direction, strong sense of vision, Logan's "Penny Dreadful" is constantly brushed under the rug. Not only is Logan, who is openly gay, never in the TV auteur conversation, the series has never won an Emmy award. It's receiving three nods in 2015 but none in the major categories: Outstanding Makeup, Outstanding Music Composition, Outstanding Main Title Theme. It did, though, recently win a Peabody Award.

"Penny Dreadful" is smart but most importantly, deliciously entertaining. It's hardly written about online, though when it does get covered, "Penny Dreadful" is usually praised. When Season 3 started earlier this year, IndieWire published two pieces lauding the series, with writer Ben Travers pleading for the show, and specifically Green, to get the Emmy awards they deserve.

It's unclear if Emmy voters have an intuitional bias, but it's interesting to point out that "AHS," Lange and costar Sarah Paulson have been nominated plenty of times (Lange has won; Paulson has not for her "AHS" work). It should be noted, however, the FX anthology series competes in the lesser-stakes miniseries category; "Penny Dreadful" battles it out with the traditional dramas, like "Games of Thrones, "House of Cards," and "Better Call Saul."

Maybe voters should pay attention to this season and give "Penny Dreadful" its overdo cred, showering Green with the gold she deserves. Otherwise, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Just ask Vanessa Ives.