The Penguin Pilot review

The wait is over, the next instalment of Matt Reeves’ Batman universe is finally here. The Penguin recently debuted, a new spin-off series concerning Colin Farrell’s character from The Batman, and already the series has started off with a strong pilot episode. There are of course some questions we have to discuss, the main one being where is Batman? Despite only one episode currently available, a lot has happened so far, so there is a lot to talk about.

In Nerdy Nook fashion we’ll be keeping any major plot details for The Penguin out of this review, however, if you have not seen The Batman (2022), this series is of course set within the same universe and is a direct continuation of that movie. That means there will be some spoilers below for that.

You have been warned, let’s get into The Penguin Episode 1 review.

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The Review

Image by Warner Bros. Television

Following the events of The Batman, Gotham’s crime rate is through the roof following the houses and family that were lost to the floods after the seawall ‘collapsed’. Not only this, but the death of crime boss, Carmine Falcone, has everyone in the underworld trying to fill in the gap he’s left. Which leads us to the question, where is Batman while this is taking place? I have some thoughts and theories about that, but I’ll save those till the end of this review. 

Carmine is quickly replaced by his son Alberto, aka The Holiday Killer from The Long Halloween, a series of comics we have talked about before here Nerdy Nook. The Holiday Killer is not the big bad of The Penguin – strangely enough neither is Penguin himself. It is however Alberto’s sister, Sofia Falcone, aka The Hangman, who poses the biggest threat to Penguin, another character from the iconic The Long Halloween comics.

It is plainly obvious by now that The Long Halloween is the inspiration to this show and this entire universe, in addition to of course Year One, which means we are going to see a lot of origin stories within the show, Oswald Cobb (yes they changed his name slightly to feel more real) is a prime example of that. The Penguin does act as a sort of origin story of Oswald Cobb becoming Penguin, though he has already found himself a high ranking member of the Falcone crime family – which does feel like we have skipped a beat but that maybe we would have needed a prequel series rather than a sequel series in order to explore that.

Image by Warner Bros. Television

The pilot sets up an excellent story to be explored this season, but the pacing felt strange. Not to say it didn’t work because it absolutely did, it just started off very heavy then was fairly slow right until the very last ten minutes. After The Batman I expected a lot more action, instead this series steers more towards a blossoming relationship between a boss and his first goon, which felt weird to me, and his rise to power, which had me hooked. 

Though slow in its pacing at times, there were a few scenes that still grabbed my attention, one being a very lovely yet disturbing scene between him and his mother. You can tell Oswald cares about his mother, and she cares about him, just in a very unhealthy way – we very quickly learn that his mother is an enabler for his terrible behaviour, a characteristic which honestly makes perfect sense.

One thing you should be aware of is the amount of gore in this show. While it is never unnecessary or in poor taste, it can sometimes be gut wrenching. One moment in particular was, rather than diving deeper into Penguin’s limp, we were shown him removing his leg brace, revealing his abnormal feet. Part of me felt bad, but I was very glad I was not eating at the time as it looked like a video one might watch in medical school. 

With that being said, we must give a massive shout out to the costume design team. Colin Farrell literally looks like a different person and is completely terrifying, with thanks of course to his incredible acting, but also to his stunning costume.

Image by Warner Bros. Television

So, it’s time to finally answer that question, where is Batman during The Penguin? My theory is very simple and quite possibly the only logical answer. In The Batman, Bruce Wayne learns of his fathers involvement with Carmine Falcone. It is likely that Batman has been investigating that and learning about the deeper levels of corruption in Gotham including The Court of Owls. While I hope that somehow the answer is revealed in The Penguin towards, or at least alluded to, I’m still excited to see where the journey from Oswald Cobb to Penguin takes us. 

Despite the very minor issues, the pilot episode of The Penguin was spectacular. It did feel like something was missing for me, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what it was – maybe it was just the lack of Batman. The series is clearly going to get better as the show pushes on and I am very excited to see how this all leads into The Batman sequel. Everything considered, I’m so ready to cheer when Oswald finally labels himself the Penguin, that moment is sure to bring tears. 

What did you think of the first episode of The Penguin? Any particular stand out moments for you in this episode? Let us know in the comments!

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Where to Watch The Penguin

Image by Warner Bros. Television

The Penguin can be streamed now on Max, Sky and Now TV. New episodes will be released weekly until the series concludes on November 10th.

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