Hoo boy! We have been feasting good on television this year! I had high hopes for The Penguin after we saw the first trailer, and even I couldn’t imagine this show being so purely awesome. This is a Best Show of the Year contender, to be sure!

TV Show Rating: 10/10 – Fantastic

I very much enjoyed The Batman when it came out in 2022 and very much looked forward to expanding that universe. We knew about the Penguin show even back then, but surely none of us could have predicted how great it would be. Now that it’s over, we can bask in just what a good job everyone is doing in this universe and with these Batman characters. This is likely a very different beast than the Batman we’re going to get in the DCU, and that’s fine by me. I can handle a world with multiple different Batman at once.

Join me after the jump for my thoughts and review of the first season of The Penguin. Expect FULL SPOILERS for the entire season. And feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments below.

6. Such a great show

Man, what a damn cool show. The Penguin is a gritty crime drama about the rise of a truly despicable person, who just happens to be based on the classic comic book character. It’s an enjoyable tale of a slimy, smooth talking mook talking, scheming and sometimes just winging it to get the best of the old school crime families. And as the show goes on, we get a deeper look into his psyche and the evils that he’s done to get where he’s at, while at the same time, he remains a mostly likable protagonist. He probably goes too far in the finale — which is the point — but I think Oz Cobb remained a likable guy for most of the show. The viewer rooted for him to succeed…until he went too far, but more on that later.

Every episode stood on its own and featured exciting content, and the show never rested or waited. Have Oz and his chief rival, Sofia Falcone, making a great team as they sell drugs? Nah, that only lasts one episode. Are there people standing in Sofia’s way? Well now they’re dead. The action was exciting, the character development was on point, and the acting was superb. The show expertly used all of its episodes to tell a complete story, while keeping each episode fun and exciting on its own. There were seat-gripping cliffhangers, unexpected twists and more than enough dark humor jobs throughout.

One of my favorite things about the show were the little bits of real world foibles that added humor. Like when Oz tries to cross the street to get to the funeral, and struggled with oncoming traffic. Or when the councilman is pulling out of the parking space and Oz helps direct him. Or the talk about pickles on his sandwich or blending the Slushies. Those little touches were so much fun and so funny.

5. Insane performances

Holy guacamole, people! Did you know that Was Colin Farrell as Oz the whole time?! I kid, I kid, but still. We were all impressed with his acting and the prosthetics work on The Batman, but The Penguin took all of that to a new level. Farrell disappeared into this role. He wasn’t a Hollywood Heartthrob. He was Oz freakin’ Cobb, this ruthless, slimy, murderous psychopath. He owned the screen in every scene, a force of sleazy nature that could talk his way out of anything, while also getting physical when necessary. He knew how to work a room, he knew how to work an individual person; he knew how to do the job and Farrell killed it.

Then we’ve got Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone/Gigante. Jeez louise! I was aware of her as an actor and I’m sure I’ve seen her in some things, but she delivered in Penguin. Did she ever! This has to be a career-making performance for Milioti. She will now forever be known for this role, surely. She’s soft, she’s beautiful, she’s hard, she’s violent, she’s insane, she’s cruel, she’s hurt; she’s everything. She easily matches and meets and sometimes exceeds Farrell’s Oz, and that’s no small feat. Her journey is just as interesting as Oz’s, while being almost completely different. She’s not as ruthless and not nearly as sleazy or slimy. And her story can be really tragic. They worked so well together as opposing forces.

If these performances don’t win Emmy awards then those awards no longer matter.

4. All my Penguin ideas were wrong

Man, I misjudged where they were taking Oz. I thought his character hinged on that first monologue he gave about Rex Calabrese, about wanting that parade. I thought Oz saw the gangster gig as aspiring, and that he had better angels or at least a code. Oh what a fool I was. Whatever code Oz lives by, it’s only in his head and can be broken for whatever needs he might have. Yeah, he wants that parade and he wants that respect, but it’s all warped and broken in his warped and broken mind.

Speaking of which…

3. I wish, I wish he hadn’t killed that fish

I didn’t want him to kill Vic. Everybody said it was going to happen, that Vic wouldn’t survive the season. But I clung to my idea that Oz wanted the parade more than he’d be an evil bastard. But evil bastard won out in the end, and Vic’s murder was quite horrible in the finale. Not sure how Oz explains that one to Link and the other lieutenants he’s using to build his new empire, but I’m sure it’ll be fine, since there aren’t anymore episodes. Still, man, I wish Vic could have made it.

2. The Bat Signal was enough for me

When I first started drafting this List of Six, this entry was about how I missed Batman. I changed my mind after seeing the Bat Signal stinger at the end of the finale. That was all I needed. I understood that the show wasn’t about Batman and that he wasn’t going to appear. And I wasn’t as vocal as some people online about Batman failing to fight any of the crime we saw on screen. But I still would have liked to see him or have him mentioned. It would have been nice. But then they ended the whole show with Eve tell Oz that nothing stands in his way, only to zoom out to the Bat Signal. Heck yeah! Perfect way to end the show!

1. Bring on more shows, movies!

I can’t wait to see this corner of the universe expand. Producer Matt Reeves, who directed The Batman, has made hints towards more projects and whatnot. That’s great! Though Colin Farrell has said he doesn’t want to get back into that makeup. And who can blame him? But I want more seasons! I want Penguin to have a major role in The Batman 2, though not as the lead villain. I want a Batman 3! I want a Catwoman show, with Sofia guest starring.

The Penguin was so good that I’m actually eager to see the Joker in this universe, if only to see how Oz interacts with him.

Speaking of which, the outline for The Penguin season 2 should write itself. Oz has secured his place as the kingpin of old school crime in Gotham City, but the new school is coming. The Joker already exists, the Riddler already exists, so who else? Black Mask. Two-Face. Mad Hatter. Oz has achieved everything he wanted at the exact moment that it doesn’t matter anymore. But he’s not going to give up his seat at the table just because the Joker is sitting at the head. He’s gonna push back at first, but then most of season 2 can be about him pivoting and embracing the new madness and truly becoming…The Penguin.

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