The Penguin Series

After 8 incredible episodes of The Penguin, it is finally over and boy do we have a lot to talk about! DC has been subject to a lot of hate in recent years when it comes to creating a broader universe and while it has mostly been justified, it was a sigh of relief that The Penguin proved that in the right hands, this can be successfully achieved. The last time DC had such a powerful impact on our televisions was with the Gotham series – the Arrowverse for me was far too cheesy to take seriously, it really was great to see such a strong story coupled with fierce characters.

Though the show still leaves us with a few questions, like where is Batman, everything has been set up, so perfectly, for the next instalment in the Matt Reeves universe. It is worth noting, if you are interested in watching this series, it gets really dark really quickly and is certainly not for the fainthearted. With that being said let’s get into The Penguin series review and take a much needed look at the season in full.

Slight spoilers ahead for The Batman, however in Nerdy Nook fashion, there will be no major plot point spoilers for the show itself.

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The Review

Image by Warner Bros. Television

The Penguin shows Oswald Cobb’s climb to becoming the iconic mobster and Batman villain, The Penguin. The series takes place directly after the events of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, meaning half the city has been flooded and abandoned, crime is through the roof, and the Falcone family without a leader leaves the opportunity for ‘nobodies’ to rise up and seize their opportunity to rule Gotham. In summary, this is the entire season. Such a simple concept and yet such a complex narrative so perfectly executed, and without a single irrelevant filler episode.

There are only a few things I can fault about this series, the fact that Alberto Falcone is in it far less than he deserved was upsetting but even that added so much more to the show’s narrative. One thing I was quite disappointed with however, was Arkham Asylum.

In The Penguin episode 4, we get a deep dive into Sofia Falcone’s time in Arkham Asylum, they did so well with bringing the insanity and chaos that is Arkham into the show but something felt off. For me this was purely down to the location, I get Matt Reeves has tried to create a more realistic universe here however Arkham is supposed to be this Majestic iconic building but instead it looked like your local GP with a few padded cells and a Saw style torture device! What made this worse for me is that we saw Arkham at the end of The Batman and it seemed promising only to disappoint when we left the visitation room.

Image by Warner Bros. Television

At times, The Penguin felt very slow, but those slow moments were never dull and always in good taste. In fact, it often was appreciated since the action in this at times were so extreme or even sometimes difficult to stomach. On that note, the gore in The Penguin I did find a little too much sometimes, specifically some of the scenes in Arkham which would have been just as well received a little bit toned down – though they were awesome shots.

Not only does The Penguin have a great story, but also showcases incredible character developments from start to finish, particularly focussing on Oswald and his mother’s relationship which is so beautiful and real yet completely psychotic, possessive and manipulative – you can really tell Oswald’s whole world is his mother, it just makes you feel so uncomfortable at times. Throughout the series there are some moments you will find yourself rooting for Penguin, before you are quickly reminded of what a terrible person he is even to his core.

In the penultimate episode of the series, we see a young Oswald with his 2 brothers, who unfortunately died in a tragic ‘accident’, and his mother raising them. This gave us a glimpse of how Oswald is raised and ultimately why he is who he is today, the casting in these scenes were so perfect too, especially young Oswald who was played by Ryder Allen – what an exceptionally talented young actor, I hated his character for all the right reasons.

Oswald Cobb manipulates everyone in his path during the show to get exactly what he wanted, including his right-hand man Vic. Vic was probably my favourite part of this show, he grows as a person more than anyone else though it might not have been for the right reasons, though his character definitely had traits that paid homage to Jason Todd (Red Hood) – perhaps this is why I loved Vic so much since Red Hood is my favourite character in DC comics.

Image by Warner Bros. Television

The finale of The Penguin has left myself, and I am sure many other fans, eager for the next instalment in the Matt Reeves universe. The show has not only perfectly demonstrated Matt Reeves’ broader vision for the universe he is creating but has also demonstrated that DC are in fact able to create a universe across different media’s without the stories becoming messy and uninteresting – sorry to fans of the Snyderverse, it was just poorly executed!

In short, I loved the show and everything it had to offer. The Penguin really held up to the high standards set by The Batman.

Since the success of The Penguin, it has now been highly speculated that the Joker will get his own show set between the events of The Batman 2 and 3. It would be a great opportunity for DC to do this especially given the mess that Joker Folie à Deux has caused – the Joker deserves justice.

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

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Where to Watch The Penguin

Image by Warner Bros. Television

The complete series of The Penguin can be streamed now on Max, Sky and Now TV. Though there is no update on weather a second season is in the works just yet, we will do our best to keep you updated.

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