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There have been many Penguins over the years—the quacking, clownish rogue played by Burgess Meredith in the 1960s TV series I watched as a kid, Danny DeVito’s mutant schemer from Batman Returns, Robin Lord Taylor’s twisted mobster from Fox’s Gotham—but never has this iconic villain been portrayed with the icy, blustery ferocity of Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb in HBO’s The Penguin.
First seen in Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman, Oz is the Rodney Dangerfield of gangsters: swollen and deformed, belittled by his supposed betters, labeled “Penguin” by those who refuse to take him seriously or show him respect. Their mistake. (Oz would hardly be surprised to learn that while the Joker commands the big screen and even earned his portrayer an Oscar—the second time that character has been so honored—his own waddling act has been consigned to a much smaller screen.)
Over eight lurid episodes, we bear witness to Oz’s unlikely rise to power in a Gothic Gotham still reeling from the Riddler flooding the city, with Oz scheming to fill the power vacuum left by the murder of his former crime-family boss, Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong seen in flashbacks, replacing John Turturro). Farrell, unrecognizable under pounds of grotesque prosthetics and a fat suit, tackles this role with a steely absorption reminiscent of De Niro, fleshing out a character whose disturbing mommy issues and unflagging ambition recall Tony Soprano.
HBO
It’s all very bleak, underscored with tragedy and operatic melodrama. The Penguin is also exciting, visceral entertainment, especially whenever Oz is facing off against the fierce Cristin Milioti as Falcone’s grievously wronged daughter Sofia, whose thirst for power and revenge may even dwarf that of Oz, her former chauffeur. Milioti’s saucer eyes convey the pain and hysteria of someone who spent the last decade trapped in the Arkham asylum, flashing with sly defiance as she makes bold moves to secure her place in this violent world.
Amid the garish mayhem and head-spinning plot twists reflecting the franchise’s comic-book origins, Oz lets down his guard when mentoring his earnest protégé Victor Aguilar (a very good Rhenzy Feliz), a stammering kid who lost his home and family to the devastating flood that swamped the underprivileged borough of Crown Point. (Lethal flooding plays a significant part of Oz’s backstory, and it’s this crime-plagued neighborhood where Oz eventually establishes his underground lair.) Oz also has an Achilles heel in his toxic handful of a demented mother, Francis, played with extreme swings of bitterness and pathos by Tony winner Deirdre O’Connell. Part Livia Soprano, part Lady Macbeth, never satisfied, Francis can turn her hulking son into quivering mush with a glare and a harangue: “This city is meant to be yours, sweetheart. What are you gonna do to get it?”
His response is to trigger a mob war, a gang war, a class war, anything it takes to rule Gotham, including sacrificing just about any shred of humanity. As Jimmy Cagney learned 75 years ago in White Heat, reaching the top of the world often comes at a devastating price.
The Penguin, Series Premiere, Thursday, 9/8c, HBO (regular time period, Sundays at 9/8c), Streaming on Max
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