TV and film are different mediums. This isn’t a radical thing to say, it’s a simple fact. And yet, at some point, producers and showrunners got it into their heads to structure TV shows like very long movies. I personally don’t have a problem with long movies — I will rewatch David Fincher’s “Zodiac” any day of the week, gang! — but when I sit down to watch a TV series, I want a TV series. I don’t want a seemingly endless film. “The Penguin,” a new HBO series spun-off from Matt Reeves’ excellent “The Batman,” is the latest example of a show trying to be an 8-hour movie, and it suffers because of it. The pacing is detrimental to the series as a whole, so much so that I found myself losing interest as the story plodded along without a single standout episode.
Think back to the best shows of the so-called “peak TV era.” “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” and of course, “The Sopranos,” a series that clearly heavily influenced “The Penguin.” You know what those titles have in common? They’re structured like TV shows! Sure, each season tells an overarching story, but the episodes themselves stand on their own, with storylines that feature clear beginnings, middles, and ends. This is part of what makes those shows so memorable: individual episodes stick in our minds, forming a greater picture in the end. But you’ll be hard-pressed to remember a single episode of “The Penguin,” which is a shame, since the show has potential. Ultimately, though, one gets the sense that this should’ve just been a movie. Hell, if the Joker can get his own standalone movie (and win an Oscar and get a sequel in the process), why not the Penguin?
The Penguin is a Batman series without Batman
Can you have a Batman series without Batman? “The Penguin” sure hopes so. Robert Pattinson’s emo Dark Knight never appears here, which might strike some as odd since the main events of the series happen in the immediate aftermath of “The Batman.” In that film, the Penguin, as played by Colin Farrell rendered unrecognizable by impressive, believable make-up, was a low-level gangster — a background player who worked for mob boss Carmine Falcone in crime-ridden Gotham City. By the end of the movie, though, Falcone was dead, Gotham was flooded by a terrorist attack set-up by the Riddler, and the Penguin was dreaming of bigger and better things.
As “The Penguin” begins, the Penguin, whose real name here is Oswald “Oz” Cobb, is ready to make a name for himself. While the character was mostly used for comic relief in “The Batman,” “The Penguin” series delves into the Oz’s pathetic, sociopathic nature. As played by Farrell, Oz is a loser and a schemer; a guy who will lie, cheat, and kill at the drop of a hat if he thinks it will help him in some way. Whatever the flaws of “The Penguin,” the series is elevated by Farrell’s layered performance — the show and the actor aren’t afraid to make Oz one of the most unlikable main characters on TV. Sure, Tony Soprano was a monster, but he had charisma! Not Oz, who is a bundle of neurotic neediness coupled with a violent temper and a hatred of the world at large. Oz knows he’s a loser, and he’s sick of it. He’s sick of seeing everyone around him come out on top while he scrounges for scraps. When will it be his time?
In the wake of Carmine Falcone’s death, Oz sees an opening to seize power. But it won’t be easy, especially since Carmine’s notorious daughter Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) has just been released from Arkham after being locked away for a decade. Oz and Sofia have a history — he used to be her driver — and it’s clear that Sofia does not trust this man, nor should she. While the show may be named “The Penguin,” the series is just as focused as Sofia, a damaged character with a tragic backstory. Milioti is quite good here — she deliberately avoids going over-the-top, even when the scene in question requires her to seem unstable. We end up liking her a lot more than Oz, even as she performs some truly heinous actions.
Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti make The Penguin worth watching
“The Penguin” is a dark show, both thematically and visually (sadly, the series’ look never comes close to replicating Greig Fraser’s stunning cinematography from “The Batman”). While there are occasionally scenes set during the day — and they all look rather flat and bland — the majority of the series is set in the shadows, as characters navigate Gotham’s underbelly. Since the show is focused almost entirely on villainous characters, the subject matter is frequently bleak. The one glimmer of light comes in the form of Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), a kid from the streets of Gotham who ends up becoming Oz’s errand boy. Victor is a good kid at heart, and much of the series focuses on how he’s not-so-slowly corrupted by Oz’s criminal world. Oz sees something in this kid — or does he? The Penguin character is so morally bankrupt that we can never believe a word he says. He has no real allegiances, except to his mentally disturbed mother, played by Deirdre O’Connell (the fact that this is a show about a gangster with mommy issues is yet another indication that the writers are drawing on “The Sopranos” for inspiration).
Farrell, once again unrecognizable under all that make-up, is consistently good throughout the series. While the majority of the cast around him leans a bit too heavily into their New Yawk-ish wise guy accents, Farrell seems to be flourishing playing such a despicable character. There is virtually nothing redeemable about Oz, and yet Farrell does manage to find a kind of wounded heart lurking inside this bulky monster. If “The Penguin” is worth watching at all, it’s to see the lead performances from Farrell and Milioti, whose Sofia is more or the less the co-lead character. Even when the story they’re stuck in lets them down, these two performers rise to the challenge and do exemplary work. The 8-hour movie approach ultimately fails the series, but you’ll likely find yourself drawn to these extremely flawed characters and all the damage they cause along the way.
/Film Rating: 6 out of 10
“The Penguin” premieres on September 19 on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.