Welcome back to the blog readers. This right here is a first for me and this blog: I get to talk about a DC series! There have not been too many of them to talk about, as Peacemaker's (2022-) first season (2022) happened before I began this blog in January 2023. With that being said, if you saw my top films list of 2022, you would know I thought The Batman (2022) was the second-best superhero film of that year, and the eighth-best overall. Colin Farrell's Penguin was a big reason why, and now he has his own series. Would this show be able to live up to the hype? Stick around to find out, as we get into my review for the premiere episode, titled "After Hours," written by Lauren LeFranc, and directed by Craig Zobel.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
To be brunt with you guys, I personally did not know how this series would pan out in the grand scope of things. I did really love The Batman, and a spinoff series based on Colin Farrell's shockingly stellar performance of the Penguin as a crime drama in the same vein as The Sopranos (1999-2007) sounded like a good idea. But would it pan out? I think after one episode, it is too early to say, but this episode was amazing. Colin Farrell is still phenomenal as this character and Cristin Milioti is terrifying as Sofia Falcone. Plus, getting to explore the psyche of Oz Cobb is an interesting journey to go on.
I first need to start by talking about the man himself, the reason why we are all tuning in (well, I'm sure there are other reasons you are watching this show but he is one of the main reasons). Colin Farrell blew everybody away with his performance as the Penguin in The Batman. Unrecognizable under all of the prosthetic, he found a voice that could make himself stand out, and he truthfully could have gotten an Oscar nomination for that film instead of the one he did get nominated for, my favorite film of 2022: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). And this episode is no different as we get to open examine the character of Penguin (more on that later though). Farrell absolutely delivers the goods this go-around, giving us the same grungy, gritty crime boss-to-be with the reverence this character deserves. That accent is amazing though. Give him an Emmy nomination for crying out loud (this is a limited series so his chances are really high).
Next, I would like to praise the performance of Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone. Milioti has been in the game for a bit; even though I have not personally seen anything she has been in, she has been around for the better part of two decades. Turns out, she was in The Sopranos so this gig is probably nothing new to her. But this episode sets this character up to be a terrifying force of nature and the antithesis to Oz and his doings. Milioti opens up with a whirlwind of emotions to play this character, and it is truthfully intimidating to watch. She comes off immediately as unstable and easy to anger, and these are things brilliantly brought to the table by a manic Milioti.
Also, I would like to talk about the story of the episode as well, because there is a whole lot of juicy content in here. We start off with how we left Oz after the events of The Batman as he looks over the flooded city. One week after the Riddler's attack on Gotham, Oz is looking to break into the Iceberg Lounge to steal some of Carmine Falcone's old belongings and is caught by his son Alberto. After Alberto laughs in Oz's face about his ambitions, Oz shoots him dead and immediately decides to hide the body. He winds up seeing a group of kids trying to steal parts off his car, so he scares all but one, Victor Aguilar (who he takes a liking to) away. They successfully discard of Alberto's body and Oz steals the Maroni family ring on his finger. He later learns that his drug operation will be taken out of the city and is introduced to Sofia Falcone, Alberto's sister who is a serial killer, and she is immediately suspicious of Oz and his alibi over her brother's disappearance.
After a lunch date, her suspicions are quelled for now, and the two leave on good terms. He takes a pit stop to see his mother who tells him not to run away and face the fact that he has a chance to take over the city. He then goes to Blackgate to meet with Sal Maroni (whose drug operation was busted by Carmine before the events of The Batman) and offer a truce. Once Sal refuses, Oz presents him with his ring. Sofia's bodyguards eventually catch on to Oz and he is captured by her. Turns out, one of the kids told Sofia the truth and Oz successfully convinces her that the kid was lying, at the cost of his life. Eventually, the car that Alberto's body was in crashes into a statue at Sofia's house with his finger cut off and "Payback" written on the inside of the trunk. Turns out, Oz and Victor decided to frame the Maronis for Alberto's death and turn the families against each other so Oz can come in and take control of them both. This story is so juicy and features so much interesting stuff that I want to break some of it down separately.
The first thing I want to talk about is the relationship building between Oz and Victor. When Oz first meets Victor, he is part of a little crew that steals rims and hubcaps from cars. When Oz threatens him, he changes his demeanor when he learns the kid is a stutterer. Oz sees something in this kid that he sees in himself: a helpless kid who was brought into a circumstance he did not ask to be brought into with a disability that will see the world against him anyway, and I think that this is going to blossom into a Victor-becomes-Oz's-right-hand-man or something. I mean, he talked his way out of being executed and put in the same trunk as the heir of the Falcone crime family. Plus, they are bonding over slushies, so I think that will definitely help Victor's case.
The final thing I want to talk about is the relationship between Oz and his mother that I think will further get explored in the series. It appears from what we first see that he obviously loves and cares for his mother and wants to make her proud despite his disability. As the conversation progresses, however, we see (and this is something that I believe will be made true in the coming weeks) that his mother is enabling him in his impulse-filled behaviors. Just look at when she tells him he killed Alberto not due to impulse, but due to instinct. This seems like an extremely troubling situation, especially when she encourages him to not run away and continue his takeover of the crime empire of Gotham. There is a possibility of her being a part of this game, however, this will be the opposite of Sharon Davis in Agatha's coven and she will be a willing participant in the madness.
The Penguin rocks off to a solid start with incredible performances from Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti, and a killer story filled with intrigue, mystery, and bittersweet revenge. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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