Tanzim Pardiwalla
Over two years after the release of Matt Reeves’ excellent The Batman starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, The Penguin, an Oswald Cobblepot-centric spin-off series is out. While the brooding Battinson doesn’t appear in the mob drama from creator Lauren LeFranc, you won’t feel his absence. Especially not when Colin Farrell, covered in enough prosthetics to render him unrecognisable, takes to the streets of Gotham with an ambitious ploy of ruling the underworld. And you’ll miss him even less when Cristin Milioti’s crazy-eyed Sofia Falcone enters the frame. It plays out a standalone narrative that doesn’t need a superhero to save the day.
The Penguin is Gotham through the lens of Oz Cobb, a ruthless criminal looking to move up in the underworld’s hierarchy. The pilot opens with a shot of the city in ruins after the floods we see in the preceding film. Oz waddles his way through the rubble with his scarred face, receding hairline and crippling limp. He labourously breaks into a club he used to run, hammers a safe open, grabs some jewels and documents before someone sneaks up on him. Upon discovery, he tries to sweet-talk his way out. When that doesn’t work, he impulsively fires his gun without batting an eyelid. The title drops. For context, John Turturro’s Carmine Falcone is dead and with the crown up for grabs considering the heir of the criminal empire is a drug-addled brat, Oz is quick to make his move. For years he served as a henchman, the loyal yet dirty middle-man who took his cut from all the profits of the drug ring they ran. Now, he wants to go for the big win. He diligently goes to the family to deliver his pitch only to find that his biggest obstacle – Arkham Asylum returnee Sofia Falcone, Carmine’s daughter. While she’s civil enough when they catch up in the hallway, she’s definitely onto him. Between Farrell and Milioti, the show has some solid performances. If this show is a sizzle reel of the actors’ audition for a Martin Scorsese film (or for a Sopranos reboot for that matter), you best believe they’re getting their parts.
Despite being set in the same world as The Batman, The Penguin unexpectedly isn’t all dark and gritty. While Oz is far from the umbrella-wielding caricature seen in the comic books, the show has a fair share of colourful, comedic moments. As the titular character grunts and mopes about having to make himself smaller for the higher-ups to feel powerful, he embodies the quintessential corporate employee. Beneath the purple suit, bushy eyebrows and a perpetually disgusted look on his face, he’s a bonafide hustler. The show creates these wink-wink moments to make him relatable, unlikely as it seems. In a particularly hilarious sequence, his car’s music player goes off and Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 blasts through the speakers. It’s these elements that shine just as much as the show’s grounded, gritty bits.
For far too long, Gotham has been defined as the place where Bruce Wayne was orphaned, where he decided to turn into a vigilante and where the Bat-Signal lights up the sky. The Penguin’s real feat is turning a mobster we’ve only seen in supporting roles into the hero of the story. Not that he’s someone whose actions you can get behind but he certainly is someone with enough main character energy to get you invested. Oz is not just another villain as much as Batman is not just another superhero. In a time when Marvel is struggling to give us half-decent villains, DC might have just created the best TV villain in the superhero genre.