After years of attempting to impersonate Marvel, DC seems to have found a groove. Instead of solely relying on one massive shared universe, they’ve allowed for some flexibility, which has paid off so far. Todd Phillips’s Joker held the spot of highest-grossing R-rated film until Deadpool & Wolverine came along, as well as becoming the first DC film to win an Academy Award (two in fact: Best Actor and Best Original Score). Matt Reeves’s The Batman didn’t do too shabbily either, being nominated for multiple awards, including a few Oscars. While we await the sequels to both films, the first streaming series in this new DC world has waddled in to fill the Gotham City void.
Led by Lauren LeFranc, The Penguin begins where The Batman left off, post-flood and post-assassination of crime boss Carmine Falcone. The effects of the former are mentioned briefly in early episodes, while the latter makes up the main focus of the eight-episode series as Gotham’s underworld goes through a power struggle, with Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) jockeying for position. Oz’s main competition is Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), daughter of Carmine and a recently released patient of Arkham Asylum after a decade-long stay.
While the show’s title hints at an Oz/Penguin-focused series, it’d be more accurate to describe Farrell and Milioti as co-leads. The back stories of both characters are equally explored, and their pursuit for the vacated seat Carmine left behind journey concurrently, intertwining often. Given the series’ split focus, it’s impressive that there was never a moment spent with one character when I wished to return to the other. The writing for both Sofia and Oz lays down a rich and compelling narrative individually (Episode 4, “Cent’anni,” being a standout for Sofia and the series), eventually coming together for an engaging showdown.
Rather unfairly to Farrell, as we already saw his tremendous interpretation of Oz in The Batman, Milioti explodes out of this show like a cannonball. Known mostly for being the titular mother in How I Met Your Mother and having supporting roles in Palm Springs and The Wolf of Wall Street, Milioti dominates the screen, painting Sofia with a beguiling compassion and vivacity. Elevating her performance, costume designer Helen Huang and makeup artists Martha Melendez and Amy Sue Nahhas create stunning looks for Sofia; in a series where the prosthetic work used for Oz takes most of the attention (and deservedly so), putting that same energy into Sofia is almost necessary to have her stand up against and next to such a demonstrative character.
The series uses its runtime (eight episodes, each approximately an hour long) effectively by pacing itself, working through characters and their dynamics, all while keeping the general arc at top of mind. The Penguin compares favourably with The Sopranos, with jaw-dropping plot turns and complexity being applied to twisted characters, who happen to be literal comic book villains.
Gotham City is ever-present in The Penguin, but the campy cartoonishness of its characters’ source material is, for the vast majority of the series, nonexistent. Instead, The Penguin is a serious crime drama, and it works incredibly well.
Admittedly, I’m an easy get when it comes to Batman-related movies and shows, but what LeFranc has put together is truly formidable, and one of the better entries of television this year. The Penguin doesn’t seek to fill in any plot holes made by The Batman, course correct aspects of that film fans didn’t take to, or cosplay as an advertisement for The Batman Part II. It’s a series that could have existed on its own as a stand-alone Gotham City-set story, and that free-standing strength drives the series forward.
