The Penguin Season 1 Episodes 1 and 2

Oz looks out at Gotham.

Source: HBO

Overall: 7.9/10

Story 7.8/10

The story picks up after the events of The Batman. Carmine Falcone is dead. His brother is a sucker. Carmine's son is weak and foolish. His daughter is crazy. The Penguin seeks to fill the power vacuum. 

The characters for this one have layers, none more so than the main character.  Penguin has set Gotham ablaze with his actions.  This viewer predicts that the flames will threaten to burn everything in Gotham to the ground. How will those around him respond?

Oz fights with a Falcone henchman.

Source: HBO

Character 8.1/10

Oz Cobb/Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) is ambitious and proud. His pride gets the best of him. He makes a grievous mistake. It sets off a chain of events that will either push him to greatness or put him six feet deep. 

Francis Cobb (Deirdre O'Connell) is Oswald’s mother. She is the driving force behind his ambition. She is determined to push him to higher heights in the underworld. She does it because she wants to see her star shine. She missed that chance with her other two boys. Something tells this viewer they tried to meet her expectations with fatal consequences. 

Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegan) is a spoiled rich kid playing gangster. Everything he has is given to him. He never had to work for anything a day in his life. He will find that his family name isn’t enough to protect him. 

Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) is a kid born on the wrong side of the tracks. He never had a chance until Oz gave him one. Whether he likes it or not, he has been enrolled in a crash course of gangsterdom to learn under the Penguin. He’ll have to study hard and think on his feet to graduate. 

Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) is just trying to hold it together. She’s done her stint in Arkham. She wants to reunite with her brother, so they can run the family business together. But her anchor is gone all of a sudden. And she has questions. People are afraid of her. They should be. She’ll stop at nothing to find her answers. 

Detective Marcus Wise shows Sofia Falcone the answer to all of her questions.

Source: HBO

Final Thoughts 

The Penguin is a gangster epic. Although Oz isn’t a good guy, the writers make him likable enough that audiences will want to see if the Penguin will ascend Gotham's throne.