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Fredrick Caesar

Series Review: The Penguin

Updated: Oct 21

BY: FREDRICK CAESAR / STAFF WRITER


(Photo Credit: Business Insider)

The Batman was a grounded reintroduction to the world of Gotham City. Dubbed the Epic Crime Saga, stories in this universe will center around the organized crime families that control Gotham’s seedy underbelly. 


Oz Cobb, the titular "Penguin" made his first appearance in the film alongside the freshly minted caped crusader. When we see him next he is on his way towards cementing himself as Gotham’s frontier crime boss. 


The landscape is checkered with competitors; alliances break and reform overnight. Tonaly's portrayal of Penguin carries the suspense of a neo-noir gangster flick. Colin Farell’s transformation for this role was total, the realistic prosthetics make every moment he spends on screen an immersive sensory experience. 


The supporting cast is full of complex characters that flesh out the narrative, most notably Sofia Falcone. 


Far from a traditional antagonist or femme fatale, Sofia is the daughter and rightful heir to the  Falcone Crime Family. She serves as a partner or rival figure to Oz depending on who has more leverage.


 Victor, a young Afro-Hispanic man, becomes Oz’s driver after an unfortunate run-in, reminiscent of Batman and Robin’s first encounter. 


The stakes of the entire operation rest on a knife’s edge, and the series plays with this tension masterfully.  The backdrop is bleak, a city ravaged by flood damage, political corruption, and societal trauma.  Disaster response initiatives are being coopted to serve the interests of the drug trafficking elite. Police are effectively an arm of the mafia and the poor are left to fend for themselves on half-submerged streets. 


There is no Batman to keep the criminal elements in check.  A brutal gang war looms on the horizon and the only ones who could stop it are more concerned with who will come out on top. 


The Penguin takes us deeper into the dark, the law is porous and limited, only applying to the weak and vulnerable.  The rich and powerful are insulated from consequences. Violence is the language of authority.  Drug lords operate from prison, and syndicates rule over factions of the city with absolute impunity. 


The absence of justice leaves space for cruelty, greed, and hedonism. Good and bad have no meaning in a world comprised only of shades of gray. There is no room for black-and-white thinking when the name of the game is survival. 


Oz Cobb is an overlooked and underestimated member of an organization that refuses to

value his efforts. He served under the previous underboss and believes it's time he gets what’s his. The only hitch in this plan is Sofia, the only person whose ambitions can match his own. 


The delicate and tentative trust that builds between them is what sets the series apart from what we’d typically expect from a superhero spinoff. Victor’s presence as a young protege shows us another side to Oz,  a peek into why he chose this life and what he had to do to get there.

 

The densely populated heavily stylized environment coupled with show-stopping performances from the world-class cast make The Penguin a must-watch for fans of the franchise and lovers of the prestige television that HBO is known for.

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