The Penguin 1×02 Review – Smooth Bird

Penguins have feathers, but in the same way that stereotypical movie gangsters slick their hair back, penguins have oily feathers that give their bodies a smooth appearance and streamline them for swimming. Oz Cobb has no feathers, but he is just as smooth as his namesake, as shown in the second episode of The penguin. Spoilers follow for The penguin Season 1, Episode 2, “Inside Man.”

“Within Man”

As I watch this show I wonder if Sofia Falcone is actually crazy. She’s dangerous for sure, but everyone else in her family has killed just as many people as she has, if not more. Not that that absolves her of her crimes, of course, but I wonder if Sofia’s stay in Arkham was because she’s annoying to more powerful members of her family.

As the episode opens, Sofia remembers/hallucinates the time she spent in Arkham. The line blurs and the scene cuts to reality, where Sofia struggles in the office of her psychiatrist, Julian Rush. Rush holds her to help her come back to reality, but as she does so, he is closer to her than he should be – there is romantic body language – and it seems like it is only coming from his side. She sees it immediately and pushes back.

Likewise, every time she comes into contact with Oz, he tries to force his way to her. She doesn’t reject him as forcefully, but it’s clear she doesn’t buy one bit of his bull, no matter how plausible. Her intelligence makes her immediately attractive and more dangerous than any of the other hoods Penguin worries about. And that’s a point in his favor: he sees the person as one person in the room he would make the worst of. Even if he does it in the slimiest way possible.

Just now How slimy Oz is, that seems to be the main theme of this episode. The last episode ended with him running away when he was caught in the murder of Alberto Falcone. Then there’s a drug bust in the opening minutes, where one of the bosses forces him to drive the car he knows will be hit. There too he manages to avoid a demonstrably guilty impression. And that won’t be the last time just this episode. Bullets keep whizzing past him metaphorically and literally, so close he can feel them, but they never actually hit him.

It’s fun to see both characters at work. Sofia is smart, dangerous and underrated. Oz is smart, but often not as smart as he thinks, and he is too ambitious to ever be safe.

Meanwhile, we discover how bad Oz’s mother’s illness really is. She suffers from dementia, and Oz’s ambition, coupled with his fear of losing her, makes it difficult for him to verbally acknowledge this. Deirdre O’Connell’s performance makes this all-new character seem like a potentially indispensable part of Penguin’s future backstory, someone writers will return to again and again, just as Batman: The Animated Series gave us Nora Fries and helped Mr. Turning Freeze from a Silver Age cartoon character into a tragic figure.

There are also some great side achievements. I especially enjoyed the pairing of Clancy Brown and Shohreh Agdashaloo as Salvatore and Nadia Maroni. Agdashaloo was great as Chrisjen Arasavala The vastness. This character works on a much smaller scale, but also has quiet power and is not one to be trifled with. Both character actors are a joy to watch every time they appear on screen The penguin is no exception.

Two episodes later, my criticism remains unchanged: I wish this show was more of a comic book show. The Batman has become possibly my favorite Batman movie, despite wishing Reeves would let the character get weird again, instead of forcing him to live in the real world. I wish there were more crazies in it The penguinincreased concern about the increasingly menacing vigilante patrolling the city, and heightened reality.

But then again, these performances themselves are so much fun to watch that I’m willing to let that go.

Disclaimer: HBO has provided Batman-News with early access to episodes of The Penguin for review purposes.

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