Before I write a review I like to read others, to see what I might have missed in a series/movie. I read several for this blog, and, as is usually the case with me, saw in the series something other reviewers did not. One reviewer, from the New York Times, panned the HBO series, The Penguin...although he had only seen one episode. Another reviewer from Forbes, found the show delightful, but saw in the character, Oswald Cobb ('The Penguin'), "His idealism, his penchant for mercy, his cunning and ruthlessness. His musical tastes." This reviewer also saw only one episode.
What did I see? A brilliant series, with brilliant acting and writing. Oswald Cobb, the eponymous Penguin, is drawn with the complexity and nuance worthy of Shakespeare. There is nothing cuddly about him. He is an evil man. A modern-day, comic book version of Shakespeare's Richard III.
Credit:Tlauf8 on Wikimedia Commons. Used under CC 4.0 Attribution Share-Alike International license. On this poster of a Richard III performance, the congenital deformity of the king is evident. Richard III is considered to be one of the prototypical villains of drama. He killed ruthlessly, including children, and it is suggested that resentment over his deformity drove his evil impulses.
A brief recap of The Penguin's plot: This series is an offshoot of The Batman movie. The first episode opens with Gotham City in disorder after a massive flood has covered much of the poorer neighborhoods. There is a power vacuum at the head of the Falcone crime family because the boss, Carmine Falcone, has been murdered. The rest of the show is basically about villains jockeying to fill Carmine's shoes, and vying to control the drug trade. The two villains who face off in the series, and provide the essential tension, are Oswald Cobb (the Penguin), a minor member of the crime family, and Sofia Falcone, Carmine Falcone's daughter.
As the two main characters face off, the series becomes a study in motivation. What is it that drives the Penguin? How did Oswald Cobb become a mythic crime figure, the Penguin?
I think the series could have answered that question with less episodes. It didn't have to be as long as it was. The need to stretch out the drama into eight episodes required the introduction of extraneous elements. For example, the introduction of Dr. Julian Rush, from Arkham Asylum, added little to the arc of the drama. Julian Rush is a time vampire--he uses up minutes to make the series longer.
In The Penguin, the conflict between the arch rivals, Oswald and Sofia, is the engine that impels the movie forward. Everything else is secondary to finding out why these characters do what they do. All around them there is chaos and destruction, because these rivals are driven, ambitious sociopaths. Though they are both driven, it is not for the same reason. What is it that drives them?
In the video shown below (violence and torture depicted...do not watch if these scenes will upset you) we can see the dynamic between Oswald Cobb and Sofia Falcone/Gigante.
In the case of Cobb, much of the series is spent on delineating his relationship with his mother, Francis. As Francis explains, Oswald was always needy. She could never give him enough. Was this partly because he had a clubfoot and could not measure up to his older brother, Jack? Considerable attention is paid to the foot in the show, to Oswald's congenital deformity. This is a conspicuous deformity, which leads to the nickname, 'Penguin'.
Oswald is resentful and jealous of Jack. There is a younger brother, Benny, but Jack seems to be the focus of Oswald's resentment. It is because of this jealousy that the critical event in the movie occurs.
Here is a foundational scene, where the film shows Oswald's resentment toward Jack, especially with regard to his mother's affection.
It is immediately after this scene that Oswald kills his brothers. He locks them in a storm drain and they drown. There is a coldhearted calculation in this murder. It is not planned, but it is deliberate and we watch as Oswald slowly and with satisfaction allows his brothers to drown while he enjoys 'alone time' with his mother.
Here is the scene.
We have another cultural archetype we can refer to in considering the significance of this murder: the biblical figures, Cain and Abel. Cain resents Abel, his brother, because God has favored Abel's gifts. Driven by jealousy, Cain murders Abel. This one act becomes central to Cain's relationship with God, as Oswald's murder of his brothers becomes central to his relationship with his mother.
The significance of the murder is described in a scene that takes place in Francis' kitchen. Rex Calabrese, a gangster, explains to Francis how she can manipulate Oswald's antisocial personality to her benefit. Instead of doing that, Francis, Oswald's mother, arranges to have Rex kill her son.
In the scene, Francis is suffering from Lewy Body Dementia. She remembers, to the point of hallucination, the incidents that occurred years before. She imagines her young self reliving the events as though they are contemporaneous.
Here is the scene, near the end of the movie, where Oswald learns his mother knew that he'd killed Benny and Jack. He also learns that she had arranged for someone to kill him.
Oswald's resentment, his sensitivity to humiliation, is a trigger for violent action throughout the movie. Oswald must prove himself, must show others that he is their better. For example, he murders Alberto Falcone on an impulse, when Alberto laughs at him in derision.
Here is the scene. Notice, after the murder Oswald realizes the potential consequences of his impulsive act.
Another instance where resentment and retaliation for derisive treatment results in revenge: After Sofia insults Oswald and tells him he is nothing, Oswald reports Sofia's interview with a journalist to her father. The results of his action are disastrous for Sofia and set the stage for their rivalry. Her father frames her for murder and has her sent to Arkham Asylum. She stays there for ten years and comes home only when her father is dead.
Because of her father's actions, we understand Sofia's motivation. Ten years, as an innocent, in the asylum have conditioned her to be the sociopath she was charged with being. She is filled with resentment when she is released, and the desire for revenge. Oswald is in her crosshairs, and becomes her chief antagonist after she learns he had killed Alberto, her beloved brother. Here is the scene where she discovers Oswald has killed Alberto.
While Sofia is a sociopath, and kills without remorse, still there is more humanity in her than there is in Oswald. For example, she loves her brother Alberto without reservation. Also, she kills her whole family, but spares a blameless child. And when Sofia tracks down Oswald's girlfriend, Eve, and sees worth in her, she spares Eve's life.
Oswald, on the other hand, is loyal to no one. He puts his interests above the interests of everyone else. He even betrays his mother. When Sofia threatens to cut off his mother's finger, unless he tells the truth about murdering his brothers, Oswald is willing to let that happen.
Here is the scene:
Throughout the film Oswald betrays every ally he ever had. In the end he betrays even Victor, who has stood by him through everything, and who has saved Oswald's life. There is no reason for Victor to die, except that Oswald thinks he is baggage.
To return to my first paragraph in this blog: I didn't see in the series what those two reviewers saw. Some reviews I've referenced since then (as I wrote this blog) did address Oswald's pathological resentment.
While I refer to Shakespeare's Richard III, and the biblical Cain and Abel, these are not necessarily conscious inspirations for HBO's The Penguin series. They are, however, cultural touchstones for all of us. They offer insight into character models, and they help us to understand that as evil as he is, Oswald Cobb is human. Richard III and Cain are the dark side of humanity, and so is Oswald.
If you haven't seen The Batman (is there anyone who hasn't seen some iteration of this popular fiction?) it doesn't matter. The Penguin can be appreciated in isolation. I think it is a gem of a show. It is full of darkness and brutality, but that is an aspect of life.
Credits From IMDB
Main Characters
Oswald Cobb..............Colin Farrell (Brilliant)
Sofia Falcone............Cristin Milioti (spellbinding)
Francis Cobb.............Dierdre O'Connell (Outstanding)
Victor...................Rhenzy Feliz
Writers
Bill Finger
Bob Kane
Lauren LeFranc
Vladimir Cvetko
Breannah Gibson
Erika L. Johnson
John McCutcheon
Shaye Ogbonna
Nick Towne
Noelle Valdivia
Directors
Craig Zobel
Kevin Bray
Helen Shaver
Jennifer Getzinger
Thank you for reading my blog. I wish everyone everywhere a peaceful (good luck with that) and rewarding 2025.
Drama mask accents from Pixabay