The Penguin is a crime drama masterpiece that transcends its comic-book origins

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

It’s been said by at least one critic at The Guardian that Colin Farrell should win “all the awards” for his remarkable performance as Oswald (a.k.a. “Oz,” a.k.a. “The Penguin”) Cobb in the Max series The Penguin. This viewer tends to agree.

Those who remember the 2022 film The Batman — starring Robert Pattinson as the titular caped crusader, Zoë Kravitz as Selina “Catwoman” Kyle and Paul Dano as the Riddler — might also remember that Farrell’s turn as The Penguin stole every scene in which he appeared.

Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman was generally regarded as “pretty good,” though its unrelenting grimness and taxing runtime of three hours made it a bit of a slog for some audience members (including me). 

In that review, published in the April 28, 2022 edition of the Reader, I wrote that Farrell “submerges himself entirely in the role” and provided “the only glimmers of humor in this otherwise bleak environment of urban decay and rain-bloated skies.”

Collin Farrell as The Penguin. Courtesy image.

And while Dano’s unhinged Riddler drew much praise, it was really The Penguin who deserved his own spinoff — and we are all fortunate that this has come to pass.

All that said, those who come to The Penguin from The Batman expecting to reenter the familiar D.C. Comics world of Gotham City will be surprised by a number of things. First of all, there’s no Batman (at least not as of the fourth episode, which aired on Oct. 13). There are references to the events of The Batman — specifically the Riddler’s demolition of Gotham’s sea wall and subsequent apocalypse-level flooding that ensued — while crime bosses Carmine Falcone and Salvatore Maroni loom large.

However, The Penguin is more Godfather-meets-Succession than anything heretofore entered into the Batman cinematic canon and is, quite frankly, a masterpiece of the crime drama/comic book genres. Given that, those who treat themselves to this series will be awestruck by the sensitive writing — giving Oz an affecting and complex backstory that leavens his brutality with a streetwise humanity that will lead you to root for him even though you know you shouldn’t.

Meanwhile, the cast of characters is deepened with Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone — the daughter of the late-mobster framed her for murder and had her locked up in the Arkham Asylum for 10 years. Her sense of betrayal and ferocious ambition make her one of the primary engines of the plotline, as she whipsaws between trusting and suspecting the motives of Oz, whom she’s known for her entire adult life.

The showrunners have brilliantly woven a vein of paternal affection into Oz’s character, which shines through his complicated relationship with Sofia, as well as with young Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), who was orphaned by the Riddler’s aquatic terrorist act and has fallen under The Penguin’s criminal sway.

The Victor-Oz dynamic is another achievement of The Penguin’s writing room — while on one hand it’s a story of a traumatized kid trying to make his way in an uncaring world with the only “friend” he can find, it’s also a sinister power dynamic by which Victor is ensnared in a life of crime.

Finally, there’s the sheer mastery with which Farrell inhabits the titular villain. The utter transformation achieved by the makeup artists is award-worthy in itself, but there’s also Farrell’s deft physicality — creating an indelible portrait of The Penguin through his painful, limping gait and rolling shoulders atop a body that is equal parts grotesque and graceful. Much has been made of the fact that Farrell’s performance is so absorbing that his own castmates didn’t even recognize him. Audiences are likewise entranced with the essential reality of the character — for which, yes, Farrell does deserve “all the awards.”

Episodes stream Sundays on Max.