HBO’s 8-Part Crime Drama Quietly Became the Best Adaptation Ever Made

Marvel has been significantly more successful in making films based off of its characters, but DC has historically been the superior label when it comes to television. There are great DC television shows for different generations and audiences. Batman: The Animated Series became one of the most groundbreaking cartoons ever, the Arrowverse showed how a shared universe could work on the small screen, and Watchmen was a grounded, political work of art that perfectly revamped Alan Moore’s graphic novel for the current era. Matt Reeves managed to have a fresh take on the Dark Knight with The Batman, a reboot of the franchise that explored Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) in his second year of being a caped crusader. Colin Farrell was clearly the scene-stealer with his role as Oz Cobb, and The Penguin went deeper into the iconic Batman villain than anyone could have expected.

The Penguin is set shortly after the events of The Batman, in which a power vacuum has opened up in Gotham City’s criminal underworld following the death of Carmine Falcone; while Falcone was played in The Batman by John Turturro, he is portrayed by Mark Strong for flashbacks in The Penguin. Oz senses an opportunity to become the city’s most powerful criminal, and forges an alliance with an opportunistic teenager named Vic Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) to start monopolizing the drug trade. However, Oz is also haunted by the past, as he cannot escape the guilt for the crimes he committed; he was responsible for gaslighting Carmine’s daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti), and holds secrets that are only known by his mother Francis (Deirdre O’Connell). The Penguin is the rare comic book show that depicts true villainy, as Oz burns enough bridges that he cannot be considered to be an anti-hero, which is also why the show is so good.

‘The Penguin’ Is a Brilliant Villain Origin Story

One of the most brilliant aspects of The Batman was that it showed how Bruce had already adopted his persona, but hadn’t quite developed the edict of justice that would make him more than just the blunt instrument of vengeance. The Penguin has a similar character arc for Oz, as he is not quite the supervillain of the comics at the start of the series, even if he already goes by the name “The Penguin.” Oz is simply a low-level criminal who has managed to survive because of his ruthlessness, but The Penguin shows how his manipulative conduct makes him truly terrifying. The most important step in Oz’s ascension is to rid himself of all vulnerabilities; this gives the show an opportunity to show the emotionally devastating ways in which he falls out with Vic, Sofia, and Francis, all of whom he had once been sympathetic towards.

While it is not a traditional origin story, the flashbacks in The Penguin are critical in understanding why the villains develop such insular personas, as they feel as if they were betrayed and abandoned. In the case of Oz, the episode “Top Hat” reveals that he was jealous of the love that his mother (played in flashbacks by Emily Meade) gave to his brothers, and lured them into the sewers where they subsequently drowned. These disturbing flashbacks show that Oz is still child-like in how attached he is to his mother, which makes it all the more devastating when he eliminates her from his life. Another heartbreaking flashback is in the episode “Cent’Anni,” in which Sofia briefly tries to defy her family after becoming aware of his hand in her mother’s mysterious death. The scene shows that Sofia’s intentions were initially pure, but after being falsely imprisoned and subjected to electroshock therapy in Arkham Asylum, she became a much darker person.

‘The Penguin’ Enriches the DC Universe

The Penguin commits to the same grounded portrayal of Gotham City that was seen in The Batman, but shows aspects of the universe that were initially more obscure. If The Batman examined the conspiracies within high society and the city’s upper class, The Penguin examines the slums of Gotham and its underworld, which feel closer in tone to the original vision that Bob Kane had for the comics. It paints a compelling portrayal of Gotham as a city that is impoverished, forcing good people to sacrifice their morals for the sake of their own survival. However, the show never lets Oz off the hook for his decisions. While he has been met with misfortune and deserving of some sympathy, he chooses a path of evil that is entirely his own making.

Though it is a great expansion of what Reeves set up, The Penguin works as a standalone crime drama, even for those who haven’t seen The Batman or have any knowledge of the DC universe. The Penguin has far more similarities to The Sopranos — another show about a narcissistic, yet tragic gangster who has a complex relationship with his mother — than any superhero show. Not only did Farrell become unrecognizable in a performance that never felt like a caricature, but Milioti created one of the greatest female anti-heroes in contemporary television, rightfully winning a Primetime Emmy Award for her work. The Penguin may be inspired by some of the darker storylines in DC comics, but it is first and foremost a great crime drama.