Following the events of “The Batman” directed by Matt Reaves, Colin Farrell returns as Oz Cobb, also known as The Penguin, for his own TV series. The show is jam-packed with the dark nature of Gotham: frequent violence, drug deals and lies.
Spoiler Alert: this article will mention scenes and plot points found in “The Penguin.”
After the bombings and flooding of Gotham from “The Batman,” the city is full of anarchy and the crime families are out for blood. Oz, the Falcones and the Maronis all are in brutal competition for Gotham.
The show is atop the ranks for greatest comic TV show of all time, rated 8.8 stars on imdB. Four directors headline the production: Craig Zobel, responsible for the first three episodes, Helen Shaver and Kevin Bray directed two episodes each, with Jennifer Getzinger orchestrating the finale.
Farrell puts on a masterful performance as Oz, often seeming like Tony Soprano. Cristin Miloti plays Sofia Falcone. To open the show, Oz murders Alberto Falcone to start his way to the top of the Gotham food chain, and afterward finds his Maserati being stripped by a group of teens. Oz fires off shots at the group, and all but one run away. This is the introduction of Victor Aguilar, Oz’s future partner-in-crime who helps distribute the revolutionary drug Bliss.
Sofia was framed by her father Carmine for the murder of several women, which sent her to Arkham Asylum. Prison changes her mental state to the worst extent: she ends up responsible for the killing of a prison mate, and spends around 10 years locked up. In Arkham, Sofia befriends psychiatrist Julian Rush, who is one of the few oddly written characters in the show. The entirety of this is found in Episode 4.
“What I liked about the show is how they went deep into the exploration of the three main characters,” said mass and sports communications professor Joe Dennis. “Because they have an episode pretty much dedicated to Sofia.”
Along his way to the top of Gotham, Oz burns Salvatore Maroni’s wife Nadia and their son Taj to death, beats Salvatore to the death, and is responsible for other small killings as well.
Oz made a promise to his mother Fran when he was young: to make sure she lived in a penthouse atop the city. The dynamic between him and his mother is strange, as she knows he was responsible for the deaths of his brothers. Eventually, Sofia and Julian Rush pit them against each other, shattering their relationship.
Sofia’s family dynamic is also not great. Most of her family believed Carmine’s framing and held her accountable for Carmine’s murders. In an effort to change her family life, she gasses the Falcone mansion, leaving just Gia and Johnny Viti alive, two characters who don’t exactly play a huge role in the rest of the show.
The final episode, titled “A Great or Little Thing” received the highest imdB rating of any episode, boasting a 9.6 out of 10, and for good reason. The episode begins with the confrontation that ruined Oz and Fran’s relationship, and her being left in a vegetative state. Oz escapes with her however, and Sofia tries to track him down with the help of the Triads, a powerful group of people involved in Gotham’s crime atmosphere.
Link Tsai, one of the Triad members, saw potential in Vic, and set up the shutdown of Sofia’s operation by turning the Triads against each other. Due to the turnaround, Sofia is taken away by Oz and left for the Gotham police to send her back to Arkham.
Concluding the show, Vic and Oz sit down together on a bench. Vic explains to Oz that he thinks of him as family, and Oz ends up choking him to death. This scene keeps viewers honest: the setup to the scene portrays Oz as a respectable man, but eventually shows he is still a villain.
In the final scene, Fran is found in a hospital bed in, as Oz promised, a penthouse. Oz, dancing in the apartment, looks out to Gotham, where a Bat-Signal is shown before a cut to black.
The show’s connections to “The Batman II” set to release in 2026 are few, but important. Robert Pattinson’s Batman never shows up, but while Sofia is in Arkham in the final episode, she receives a note from Selina Kyle, her supposed half-sister. Kyle is Catwoman, perhaps providing another dynamic to look for in Matt Reaves’ long-awaited sequel. Oz basically owns Gotham, and became involved in the political scene as well, leaving viewers wondering what his role is in Reaves’ next film.
“The Penguin” has a legitimate case to be the best show of 2024, filled with amazing episodes, characters, and connections.
