page_title: List of Witches of East End characters
section_title: Penelope Gardiner/Athena Browning
hierarchical_section_title: List of Witches of East End characters / Recurring characters / Penelope Gardiner/Athena Browning
caption_attribution_description: Actress Virginia Madsen at the 2009 Academy Awards
context_page_description: The following is a list of characters from the Lifetime supernatural drama Witches of East End, based on the book of the same name by Melissa de la Cruz. The series centers on a family of immortal witches known as the Beauchamps: Joanna by Julia Ormond and her daughters Freya by Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Ingrid by Rachel Boston, as well as her sister Wendy by Mädchen Amick.
context_section_description: Penelope Gardiner (born Athena Browning) appears in eight episodes of season one; she is portrayed by Virginia Madsen. Penelope is a powerful witch and the mother of Dash (Eric Winter) and Killian (Daniel Di Tomasso). As a child, she witnessed Joanna Beauchamp (Julia Ormond) kill her father Archibald Browning in 1906, and had been awaiting the chance for revenge ever since. At the beginning of season one, Penelope disguises herself as Joanna and kills local elderly man Bill Thatcher when he sees her performing a spell in the park. She also frees a man from a painting in Joanna's house, and sends him to exact revenge on Joanna's daughter Freya (Jenna Dewan-Tatum). In the episode "Unburied", Penelope reanimates the corpse of Joanna's other daughter Ingrid (Rachel Boston) from 1906, and sends her after Joanna's sister Wendy (Mädchen Amick). In the episode "Snake Eyes", Penelope disguises herself as a courier and gives Freya a box of roses which she cast a spell on. When Freya falls asleep, as a result of touching the roses, Penelope casts a spell on her and steals her powers. In the season finale, Penelope reveals her true identity to Joanna and that she stole Dash and Killian's powers when they were babies to make herself stronger. After Joanna kills her, Dash, Killian and Freya all regain their powers.
caption: Penelope Gardiner is portrayed by Virginia Madsen.
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