Boardwalk Emperor

Absolutely loathed Matt Reeves's The Batman (2022); an unnecessary and bloated reboot with a dreadfully miscast Robert Patterson as the titular caped crusader; pitted against Paul Dano's gimp looking Riddler and his army of incels. The only redeemable element about it was Colin Farrell's small part as the waddling master of foul play. A TV spin-off series on the Penguin, conjured preconceptions of typical Disney +/CW style slop and dissuaded my interest in the show. Glad to admit HBO's The Penguin (2024) has defied these notions, as the show is outstanding.

The decision to adapt one of Batman's arch villains into a Machiavellian mob drama, laden with shocking twists and revelations, rather than curse it with the stale millennial writing cringe of other comic book related serials, is ingeniously refreshing and one the show's greatest assets. The writing lands somewhere in between the rise-to-power bent of Scarface (1983) and the multi-layered character stylings of The Sopranos (1999-2007). The end result is a uniquely compelling offering which rises well above the rest of its ilk. Witnessing Oswald Cobb (shortened from Cobblepot) scheme his way through an ensemble of predicaments, is incredibly entertaining. It's also fascinating to learn about his strange relationship with his mother which leads to a deeply disturbing finale. My favourite side to Oswald is his mentoring of Victor Aguilar (Renzy Feliz), an orphaned street urchin taken under his wing, displaying an unseen side to the villain.

The Penguin's success can also be attributed to Colin Farrell's glorious performance as the duplicitous and grotesque villain. Not only is Farrell completely unrecognisable under all the make up and prosthetics, but he also sounds completely different; not one trace of his original accent and vocal range gives him away. Farrell isn't the only star of the show, however. Cristin Milioti is equally as great as Sofia Falcone, the unhinged black sheep of her crime family. Make no mistake: these are villains. None of that current day trend of humanising them and turning them into misunderstood anti-heroes. These are dangerous villains and remain that way.

Perhaps the most enjoyable bingewatch of a contemporary show I've had since Cobra Kai: Season One (2018) and Squid Game (2021). Completely hooked from the very first episode. Hopefully future seasons maintain the same level of high quality. Also praying its creators wisely steer away from including overexposed characters like Batman and the Joker etc, as the success of The Penguin is easily attributed to it organically working as a crime drama first and foremost, and its comic book source material is of lesser importance.