BatTV Watch: The Penguin

Well, the final episode of The Penguin dropped.  

Don't read this if you haven't finished the show.

All in all, I really don't have any major complaints about the series.  And y'all know me.  I love a good bout of complaining.  

I guess if I was to complain, I'd say that the back-and-forth sometimes felt a bit unnecessary, regarding who was on top.  I get it was a reversed Red Harvest situation, but...  sometimes it felt a little loosey-goosey.  I also wish the Maroni plotline felt a bit more built out - but that's me wanting more Shohreh Aghdashloo.  Also - I don't know how the Falcone/ Gigante mob was supposed to work, how big it was supposed to be, etc...  it sometimes seemed huge and other times like it was maybe 8 guys.  

But these are nits which I have picked.

On the whole, it's kind of astounding.  And for all the good Marvel shows, it really did feel like new territory and showing audiences what was possible.

It's not a secret I like a good crime story or gangster story (and, no, I probably haven't seen that one thing you want to talk about immediately. Stop asking.).  But from the first episode, it was clear The Penguin was going to be better than it needed to be.  By the 4th episode, you kind of knew that this show is going to be held up as one of those highlights of a genre that makes folks ask "why don't they make more stuff like X?"  

As a show- The Penguin delivered amazing characters, some astonishing scenes and white-knuckle full episodes.  It also went as dark as anything I've really seen from the superhero medium that didn't feel buried in how a 13 year old thinks the world works, like so many comic book power fantasies.  It used the toybox of the Bat-universe for spare parts and pieces, then re-assembled some of what I thought was "well, this is about as good as it gets" into something I liked better (see: Cristin Milioti as Sofia Gigante).  

So, credit to the folks behind the scenes.  This doesn't just happen.  A lot of thought, heart and brains went into this.  Credit to the writers, directors, show-runner, etc...  And Colin Farrell for putting on that make-up and suit every day.

Young Rhenzy Feliz, who plays Oswald's accidental protege, Victor, is a hell of a find.  He manages to hang with these actors giving you hyperbolic performances - playing the sympathetic kid learning the ropes against his will, initially - and is a good entry point for viewers understanding how one would slip into this world.  I dug his performance, even if the kid had "will die by end of show" all but tattooed on his forehead.

I also want to call out Carmen Ejogo, who nails every scene she's in as Eve Karlo, the call-girl and Oswald's confidante, supporter and who sees him as a way out.  Hell of an ending there, Eve. 

I believe that Francis Cobb is a creation of the show, and... it's astounding when you see a person who has mostly been supporting player in Tv and film like Deirdre O'Connell thrust into the forefront of a show and then just kill it.  She's amazing as Oswald's mother, and the arc we're on as an audience with her is *fascinating*.  Totally dug the inversion of expectations and ultimate sympathy with Francis.  BTW - She *did* win a Tony in 2022 for Dana H, so one understands how she was selected.

Cristin Milioti was already pretty well liked by certain TV and movie folk, but I suspect her turn here is going to make her a darling of the genre-media circuit for a couple of decades.  She's always seemed like someone with some iron in her, but holy cripes.  If this show had just been Sofia's, it would have been a singularly great thing - with Milioti carrying the show on her shoulders like Atlas.  She manages to make Sofia an all-timer for a Batman character, and I can't wait to see her pop up again.

But that's not to short change Colin Farrell who really did create maybe one of the most singularly reprehensible characters I can think of - and I credit the writers for their work to find new and creative ways to make him the absolute fucking worst.  The genius is that Oswald cons the audience as much as the other characters.  The show exploits what we wanted - to sympathize with a lead character/ protagonist - until he betrays us as well, just as he betrays everyone by offering what they want.  

There is no secret charm to Oswald - he isn't the villain you think is secretly cool (that's Sofia).  When he shows up again, we won't be knowing he actually has this secret heroism in him - we know his actual depravity and the bottomless pit where a soul should be.

I am sure some will feel that to follow a character like Oswald Cobb in a comic book world which is supposed to be fun and funny a bit unseemly, or have issues with taking what was fundamentally a children's character for generations and portray him as a cold blooded murderer instead of a wacky dude who does Bird Crimes.  And I get that.  But those horses are out of the barn and in the next county over.  We've moved the Bat-characters into fairy tale characters we can use as we like, as long as we stick to some truths.

What's odd about the show is that - because it does take place in the same world where people react to personal tragedy by dressing up as paramilitary bats, there really weren't limits for how far they could push things.  If your gang war escalates to knocking over a city block, you can do that - but the show also was canny enough to know (unlike some we will not name) those things have consequences.  And that's the note the show ends on for some of our players.

Does this work free of a DCU context?  Can you tell this exact same story outside of knowing Batman is out there?  

Parts of it, maybe.  Some of it - like dealing with a parent with declining faculties - seems very grounded.  Other parts echo historical items - putting Sofia in an institution to hide some truths was more or less SOP for people for a long, long time when women became inconvenient.

What is more or less a long origin bringing us from a Penguin who is a vicious street thug to one of sociopaths running the halls of power, is also a study in power and will to power.  And it's not hard to be cynical enough to see someone do what Oswald has done and say "yeah, I get it" when you see him with that top hat at the end.  Does he reflect certain people who say whatever works in the moment to get cheers and advance their own cause?  Maybe. 

And it's a pretty bold call to insert a storyline about a villain with a straight up Oedipus complex and doesn't let the audience make excuses or write off that as the reality.  I know I've seen it before, Norman Bates (who also leaves mother looking out a window), 

The parallels and differences between Sofia's path and that of Oswald are fascinating, and while I don't like to revisit television once I've seen it, I do think it would be well worth my time to go back and watch how all of this unfolds, and Sofia's attempts to grapple with her life, her dreams, he unjust punishment are an inverse reflection of Oswald's arcs.  If he was supported by a mother who knew he killed, what was Sofia's inverse experience?  

Anyway - I was okay with the Matt Reeves directed The Batman.  I like that it keeps the world of capes and all that far in the background, not just because it keeps Batman from butting in and taking over the proceedings, but it's a reminder that when they do show up, it's something unique and should have meaning.  

I am not averse to further exploration of the rogues gallery this way, but I can't imagine many other Bat-villains will lend themselves to this kind of treatment.  Do we need a Mad Hatter show?  Well, I would have said a Penguin show was a bad call.  But here we are.