Colin Farrell proves that this unexpected spin-off is worth watching
Let’s take a moment to appreciate the buck wild timeline in which we’ve found ourselves. Despite the multitude of ways that late-stage capitalism has failed both the entertainment industry and society at large, it has also, bizarrely, gifted us a gritty, Sopranos-inspired television show dedicated to Batman’s umbrella-toting enemy, The Penguin.
And it’s good.
In the comics (and in Batman Returns, where the character is played by Danny DeVito), The Penguin, a.k.a. Oswald Cobblepot, is one of Batman’s campiest villains. This is a portly four-foot tall-man who commits crimes wearing a monocle and top hat and modifies his various umbrellas so that they double as weapons.
He is also a man so on-theme that he runs a nightclub called ‘The Iceberg Lounge’ that, depending on the story, is often populated with literal penguins. While Oz is indeed commonly portrayed as a mob boss of some kind, his cartoonish affectations often undermine any real sense of threat from him.
Banshees of Inner Gotham
While modern comics have worked this aspect of Oz’s character to his advantage—it’s easy to underestimate someone called The Penguin—it’s still hard to imagine that he could prove to be the basis for a grounded, character-driven drama.
Colin Farrell’s take on the character has felt different from the start, though. His brief appearance in The Batman (2022) toned down many of the character’s more outlandish traits, and Farrell’s performance imbued Oz with an oddly relatable sense of humour.
And still The Penguin feels like a bizarre creation, although Colin Farrell’s recently renewed stardom following his Oscar nomination and the long wait for a sequel to The Batman make the decision to create a show like this a little more understandable.
Bird of Prey
Gotham is still recovering from the events of The Batman, in which The Ridder killed the head of the Falcone crime family and flooded the city. Oswald Cobb (Farrell), one of Falcone’s lieutenants and operator of the Iceberg Lounge, seeks to fill the power vacuum left by his boss’ death, but faces unforeseen challenges in the form of the unhinged Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti).
The Penguin tells you everything you need to know about Oz in its opening scene. It’s a tactical yet fun bit of writing that bestows a heretofore unseen element of humanity to the character while also not shying away from his more unscrupulous behavioural traits.
Oz is, thankfully, a fun character. He’s by no means a good person, but he feels real, despite the prosthetics and body suit that Farrell had to act under. The writing and the performance both give Oz chances to be funny without sacrificing the real aura of danger present in this version of the character.
I mentioned The Sopranos earlier because there’s a real Tony Soprano vibe to Oz, both in his extreme personality, his humour, and his love for his mother. Also, the way Farrell waddles because of Oz’s clubbed foot is a nice touch.
Woke Up This Morning, Got Myself a Gun-Umbrella
Then, of course, there’s the whole mafia thing. That’s about where The Sopranos comparisons end, though. This is a much more plot-driven show than The Sopranos. It’s a fun plot, though. Oz recruits a kid from the streets called Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) as his right-hand man. Victor is a character that threatened to become annoying, but ultimately sold the awkward terror at being forced into Oz’s employ.
Sofia Falcone as played by Christin Milioti was a breakout hit for me, though. Her character is a literal serial killer who was recently released from Arkham Asylum. Milioti undermines her slight and unthreatening outward appearance with an impressive ferocity and boy, does she put her globe-sized eyeballs to tremendous use. Staring into them is like staring directly at the sun, and Oz’s discomfort around her is palpable.
The episode also plays out in a delightfully self-contained way, telling a cohesive story from beginning to end. This might seem like a very low bar to cross, but given how bloated many limited series can be these days, it was delightful to watch something that was so efficient with its structure. It relies on telling a good story with the promise of more to come without resorting to ending in the middle of a scene to force the viewer to watch the next episode for any kind of closure.
Honestly, if you’re on the fence about The Penguin at all, you could just watch the first episode to see what it’s all about; you won't feel like you’ve been left hanging if you don’t like it.
It is great though. Don’t dismiss The Penguin with a ‘nobody asked for this’ attitude. Both The Penguin and Agatha All Along have proven that some of the most fun stories can come from unexpected places.
***
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