I had zero interest in watching the new series of The Penguin. The Batman didn’t really blow my skirt up, although Stark gave it a good look over the other day. I had no interest in a spin-off series about Oswald Cobblepot.
While browsing YouTube, the Critical Drinker had a new video up. He was surprised to say that The Penguin was pretty good. I usually agree with the Drinker, so I put it on last night and, I have to say, it was good.
So far, there has only been one episode. So far though, it was a great opener.
The series stars Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Zegan, Theo Rossi, David Fuchs, Clancy Brown and David Holmes.
The Story
The first episode picks up right after the events from The Batman. Gotham was flooded, Carmine Falcone is dead and the city is in a mess. Oz (Farrell) sees the opportunity to take over the control of the Falcone family empire.
*Mild spoilers* In the first 10 minutes, we see Oz stealing from the Falcone family, only to be stopped by Albert Falcone (Zegan), the new head of the crime family. Oz ends up killing him, realising it was a mistake, but also a great opportunity.
As he is getting rid of the body, a bunch of kids are stealing the hubs from his car. He chases them off, apart from one of them. Vic (Feliz) is caught by Oz and he takes pity on him and thinks he’s better use alive than dead.
No one knows that Oz killed Albert, and the family decide to shut down Oz’s drug factory. This is where we meet Sofia Falcone (Milioti), who’s just got out of Arkham. She is sure that Oz killed Albert, but cannot prove it.
The Batman Minus the Batman
The entire tone of The Penguin is exactly as I remember The Batman. Dark, industrial and dirty. The only thing missing is the bat signal and Robert Patterson with his emo haircut. The entire production looks very impressive.
As this is set in the world of gangs and families and drug, it’s very much like The Godfather. Oz knows he’s not the strongest of guys, but he can outsmart the others. He knows he can steal from the family, but not too much or his head will be on the chopping block.
Oz is calculating and clever. He can talk his way out of most things and he knows how to play people off against each other. Farrell is excellent as the Penguin! I mean, one of the best performances I’ve seen in a while.
The makeup is outstanding, as you cannot see anything of Farrell under it, but his acting shines through. His Penguin is very devious, cunning and ruthless, that is until he meets Sofia.
Cristin Milioti is very cute, but here, he’s also very scary. You learn that Sofia has spent time in Arkham and you can see why. She’s very clever and also psychotic. She knows her bother is missing and she knows Oz has something to do with it.
Overall
There is a lot more to the story, but I’ll let you find it. The rest of the cast is great, you gotta love Clancy Brown.
From someone who didn’t rate The Batman very much and had zero interest in this series, I was hooked. I’m totally invested in Oz and what’s going to happen to him. I’m going to look forward to next week’s episode.
Not sure if we will review every episode, each week, but I will be watching it. I just hope they keep it up and don’t go all ‘modern’. So far, the series is written by adults for adults.
