By Cody Englander, Copy Editor

[Warner Brothers; 2024]

Rating: 7/10

The Penguin was burdened with a difficult task. The DC series was greenlit after the successful release of Matt Reeves’ 2022 Batman movie. This show takes the side character Penguin and spins him off, throwing him into the underbelly of Gotham. 

The show follows Oz Cobblepot after the flooding of Gotham in The Batman. With the world wide open for his taking, he ventures to become a Tony Soprano-esque crime boss. He’s followed by his mentee, Victor. Cobblepot first catches Victor attempting to steal his car, but takes him under his wing as the show goes on. 

It’s a successor to The Batman, scaling down the scope but never loses the importance that many spinoff shows fall victim to. This is helped by the absolute magnetic performance from Colin Farrell who plays the Penguin. Farrell is coated in hours of make-up which turns him to an unrecognizable and greedy crime lord. He gives a career defining performance, topped with hobbled movements and small noises which make his character all the more special. 

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However, the performance cannot be discussed without the mention of Cristin Milioti, who plays Sofia Falcone. A good actress, she’s never seemed to break out as much as she has here. The screen is hers at all times. The best episode of this eight episode series is “Cent’Anni.” This part is almost entirely Sofia Falcone’s backstory. The audience learns to fear this character, and be aware of what she is capable of, ramping up the danger of the story while the smaller scale never loses its power over the story. 

An obvious comparison is to The Sopranos, another show where each episode plagues itself into forcing the audience into the dark crime world; but at times this can be more unforgiving than The Sopranos. New Jersey is lighter, there is a life to be had outside of the mob. The Penguin is forced to live in a world of crime because there doesn’t seem to be any other part of Gotham City. He doesn’t just chase becoming a major crime lord – he chases survival. As much as Cobblepot kills and is unforgiving, it’s the city that forces this upon its citizens. This leads to a question, more than a criticism. We see Victor become corrupted by Cobblepot. How is it possible to live in Gotham City as a “good” person? Everyone is either rich, evil, in the process of corruption or dead. Perhaps seeing Victor grapple with two worlds rather than being a criminal so soon would make for the character to be more compelling, and the last episode to be more impactful.

In total, The Penguin is a drop off from The Batman. With that being said, there are more than enough special moments that heighten it against their Marvel competition. The performances and the atmosphere carry over seamlessly from the movie. It’s one of the more effective spinoffs in recent memory. It does its job feeding fans of the movie before the sequel releases in 2026.