“The Penguin,” the new HBO show starring the minor antagonist from 2022’s “The Batman,” is not a story that was highly anticipated. Nevertheless, it’s one of the best television series in years.
If you know anything about the Batman universe, you’ll be aware that everything happens in Gotham — a New York City analog — and that the Falcones and Maronis are large crime families. “The Penguin” does a good enough job of standing on its own that you don’t really need to know anything beyond that. In an environment where so much entertainment media uses old IPs as crutches to prop up the latest installment of an indistinguishable line of corporate dreck (looking at you, Star Wars), that is no small virtue.
“The Penguin” has its own story to tell with three main characters at the center: Oz, Sofia, and Victor. Colin Farrell’s Oz, full name Oswald Cobb, is a masterclass in acting and is the show’s closest thing in sight to a protagonist. Hobbled by a club foot that gives him a distinctive, penguin-like gait, Oz is a low-level gangster and drug trafficker with aspirations for greatness. Throughout the series, he worms his way through the city, slithering from alliance to alliance with the big dogs of Gotham’s underworld. As he burns bridges and crosses moral Rubicons, Oz finds himself enmeshed in a web of lies so thick that even he seems to struggle to know what to believe about himself.
The first episode really throws you for a loop with Oz. After watching it, I thought I had gotten a decent handle on the man. He has some glaring character flaws that cause him to make an impulsive decision, kickstarting the plot and forcing him into a bad position. But his quick wits, intelligent gab, and the fruits of his own twisted morality work together to extricate him from his self-made crisis. His flaws create problems that his virtues solve. At his core, he seemed to want to return to an older, more traditional form of gangsterism, where the mob looked out for the community and gave the lowest in society a shot at success. Oz, more than anything it seemed, just wanted to be liked and respected.
That analysis, though, only scratches the surface. Every time you think you know Oz, you’re thrown more material that makes you question your assumptions. Narrative protagonist he may be, but as the series drags on, you’ll find your first impressions morph into something far darker. The signs were there from the beginning, but you’ll likely miss it without the benefit of hindsight. Rather than be loved, Oz’s chief motivation is to have others affirm his own self-conception. In the end, Oswald Cobb sacrifices everything and everyone for the only thing he truly cares about: himself. Was it worth the cost? Oswald Cobb certainly thinks so. He’s an awful man, yet such a wonderful character.
Speaking of wonderful characters, there’s also Victor, or Vic, played by Rhenzy Feliz. Victor gets looped into Oz’s orbit early on and becomes a deputy of sorts. One gets the impression that Oz sees parts of himself in the younger man — though whether he appreciates the reflection is another matter. While he starts the series as just a reluctant, petty criminal who goes along with Oz out of fear, Victor really grows into his shoes. Just as Oz seems to see himself in Victor, Victor eventually aspires to be like Oz. Whether Victor is ultimately corrupted because of his own character flaws, by his proximity to Oz, or by some combination thereof is a matter of dispute. But just like the audience, Victor eventually finds out he doesn’t know Oz quite as well as he thought he did. The tragedy of it is that after everything the two of them go through, Victor and Oz’s relationship ends exactly where it began.
Sofia Falcone is also great. In modern media, there have been many attempts at creating a Strong Female CharacterTM who vies for power in a largely male setting. Usually, it falls flat because writers are afraid to give these women flaws and agency. Thus, they come across as boring, annoying, and/or dull. Sofia is many things, but dull isn’t one of them. Especially after the fourth episode, she becomes an arguably more compelling character than Oz despite being the antagonist.
Sofia’s journey from a naive but well-meaning woman to a sociopathic mob boss who nevertheless shows flashes of humanity and shock at what she has become is really effective. She becomes the monster people thought she was, coming across as legitimately competent and scary. She also uses a Glock, which shows good taste in firearms. And, unlike our vice president, I totally buy that she knows how to use it. Cristin Milioti deserves a great deal of credit for her portrayal of Sofia in the series.
The plot of “The Penguin” is relatively easy to follow and makes sense, though, towards the end, it does seem like some characters manage to get out of situations they probably shouldn’t. Then, there’s the ending — to call it bittersweet would even be a stretch. “Soul-crushing” would be a bit more apt. It takes a truly talented show to elicit that kind of despair.
The characters are what makes this series great. Whether you’re a Batman fan or not, if you enjoy good television — and/or losing your faith in humanity — you should definitely check out “The Penguin.”
Stephan Kapustka is Development Associate at The American Spectator. A native of Glastonbury, Connecticut, he graduated from Quinnipiac University with a degree in political science. He enjoys writing about elections and culture. Follow him on X at @SteveKapustka.
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