The Penguin: A Great or Little Thing
November 22, 2024 10:58 PM - Season 1, Episode 8 - Subscribe
Truths are laid bare as Oz Cobb nears the end of his journey and his power struggle with Sofia comes to a head.
I thought this show was ok. I had high hopes at the start it would be lighthearted, if dark. Maybe even a little bit funny. Ultimately it went more needlessly grimdark than I could have imagined. What was the point... to make sure we know what a psycho the penguin is? Great, who cares? This could have been gold if they just leaned a bit more tony soprano and less extreme violence for violences sake.
And frankly whatshername falcone was annoying as hell. another "complex" female lead trapped in the "im crazy!" ghetto. prestige tv? gimme a break. Ill be here watching batman forever in 4k.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 3:44 AM on November 23
And frankly whatshername falcone was annoying as hell. another "complex" female lead trapped in the "im crazy!" ghetto. prestige tv? gimme a break. Ill be here watching batman forever in 4k.
posted by AlbertCalavicci at 3:44 AM on November 23
I really liked this whole season. Just brilliant, overall.
One thing I appreciated about the show was how it approached violence. It wasn't the typical, PG13 superhero style of sanitized violence. We saw up close, brutal, disturbing moments of violence by Oz (stabbing the witness, burning Nadia and son, strangling Victor) and we saw how doing all of these things affected Oz (he either didn't care at all, or took perverse pleasure in it) and that kind of thing worked very well in gradually changing him from anti-hero to supervillain, in the eyes of the audience.
Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone was a phenomenon. I hope her and Catwoman get their own spinoff series.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 5:20 AM on November 23 [7 favorites]
One thing I appreciated about the show was how it approached violence. It wasn't the typical, PG13 superhero style of sanitized violence. We saw up close, brutal, disturbing moments of violence by Oz (stabbing the witness, burning Nadia and son, strangling Victor) and we saw how doing all of these things affected Oz (he either didn't care at all, or took perverse pleasure in it) and that kind of thing worked very well in gradually changing him from anti-hero to supervillain, in the eyes of the audience.
Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone was a phenomenon. I hope her and Catwoman get their own spinoff series.
posted by mrjohnmuller at 5:20 AM on November 23 [7 favorites]
This was a great season of TV. People are entitled to their opinions but frankly I can't fathom how you could call Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone annoying as hell.
And I'm so glad the Batman didn't show up.
posted by Pendragon at 10:23 AM on November 23 [2 favorites]
And I'm so glad the Batman didn't show up.
posted by Pendragon at 10:23 AM on November 23 [2 favorites]
I loved this too, and Milioti continues to be one of the most underestimated, underrated, and underappreciated actors of her generation. I dearly love all she does. And I head Colin Ferrell is in this, but I never saw him. If he's really in it it must be a bit part, but that guy who played Oz, fuck he was good, like really good. This was like the first season of The Sopranos where you immediately identified that you were watching something very different, unique, and filled with really great actors. I absolutely loved Penguin probably because it never felt like a franchise. When I noticed the plum Maserati, for example, it was fun to be subtly reminded this was a Batman character, instead of that being the whole point.
posted by Stanczyk at 3:50 PM on November 23 [3 favorites]
posted by Stanczyk at 3:50 PM on November 23 [3 favorites]
Ill be here watching batman forever in 4k.
Very clearly from the introduction of Farrell's Penguin in The Batman, a film which very consciously chose to go the route of "no camp, Gotham is real and realistic, absolutely no musical numbers" I don't know know how you could have hoped this show would be anything like Bats4Eva.
I listened to a video essay fairly recently talking about how those 80s/90s Batman directors (Schumacher and Burton) were not very interested in Batman (meaning, the character and his history in the source material) except as a means to their own ends, which struck me as true. I rewatched Reeves' RBattz film recently, and while it's not perfect, I think it does a great job of capturing that early-days, Year One-ish feeling (while also making the character a Detective way more extensively than any previous film). This series picks up where that film left off, of course it's going to share a lot of the same tone.
posted by axiom at 3:54 PM on November 23
Very clearly from the introduction of Farrell's Penguin in The Batman, a film which very consciously chose to go the route of "no camp, Gotham is real and realistic, absolutely no musical numbers" I don't know know how you could have hoped this show would be anything like Bats4Eva.
I listened to a video essay fairly recently talking about how those 80s/90s Batman directors (Schumacher and Burton) were not very interested in Batman (meaning, the character and his history in the source material) except as a means to their own ends, which struck me as true. I rewatched Reeves' RBattz film recently, and while it's not perfect, I think it does a great job of capturing that early-days, Year One-ish feeling (while also making the character a Detective way more extensively than any previous film). This series picks up where that film left off, of course it's going to share a lot of the same tone.
posted by axiom at 3:54 PM on November 23
Oz’s gradual turn to evil was purely a construct of the narrative, gradually revealing through flashbacks that he had always been a self-serving psychopath. Instead of building a classic comic book myth on the fall of the Penguin, it put a different spin on Oz’s populism and need to be respected by the community, showing it to have never been anything but camouflage to serve his own ambitions.
posted by cardboard at 5:08 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]
posted by cardboard at 5:08 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]
Oz’s gradual turn to evil was purely a construct of the narrative, gradually revealing through flashbacks that he had always been a self-serving psychopath.
Perhaps it was weighted by Colin Ferrell's performance*, but part of the reason I was consistently surprised by Oz was that I believed there was a potential that he could be good. He acts so impulsively that there were openings for glimmers of kindness, where he could indulge the idea of being the kind of person that people loved. There is an aching, deep yearning for connection that colors his every move. That ambiguity really made the show for me.
But that same impulsivity also had him lash out in the most selfish way possible, constantly sabotaging his own plans again and again. He didn't believe the world was going to give him any grace, and so he protected himself.
Having said that, I appreciate that the show takes the time to show that it wasn't all scrambling for self-preservation. There were definite choices that he made where he had an option to make a different choice, but he chose the selfish option, at the expense of everyone else.
*Strike that, it most definitely was Colin Ferrell's performance. Not sure another actor could have fleshed out that character like he did. Daniel Day Lewis or Denzel Washington in younger days maybe.
posted by ishmael at 5:44 PM on November 25
Perhaps it was weighted by Colin Ferrell's performance*, but part of the reason I was consistently surprised by Oz was that I believed there was a potential that he could be good. He acts so impulsively that there were openings for glimmers of kindness, where he could indulge the idea of being the kind of person that people loved. There is an aching, deep yearning for connection that colors his every move. That ambiguity really made the show for me.
But that same impulsivity also had him lash out in the most selfish way possible, constantly sabotaging his own plans again and again. He didn't believe the world was going to give him any grace, and so he protected himself.
Having said that, I appreciate that the show takes the time to show that it wasn't all scrambling for self-preservation. There were definite choices that he made where he had an option to make a different choice, but he chose the selfish option, at the expense of everyone else.
*Strike that, it most definitely was Colin Ferrell's performance. Not sure another actor could have fleshed out that character like he did. Daniel Day Lewis or Denzel Washington in younger days maybe.
posted by ishmael at 5:44 PM on November 25
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How the hell did Dr. McCreepy manage to get his job back at Arkham? They must have the worst screening process in the world.
Selena Kyle reaching out to her half-sister Sofia Gigante. Team-Up in a future movie or series?
I like the way the way The Penguin's classic tuxedo look finally came together. In an earlier episode (2, I think? When he's on the run from Sofia's people and hides in the trunk of his purple Maserati), the show teased us with the possibility of seeing him grab an umbrella and hide amongst a sea of umbrellas at a FEMA camp. The tux coming from a movie he used to watch with his mom was a great touch.
Word is that The Penguin has at least some role in Matt Reeves' next Batman film. Whether or not there will be a second season seems unclear, and perhaps unlikely, given Colin Farrell's very vocal complaints about how miserable it was wearing the extensive head and body prosthetics.
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:05 PM on November 22