Early in the first episode of The Penguin, Oswald Cobb (Colin Farrell, unrecognizable) sits down with his bosses in the Falcone crime family. They want to shutdown his drug-running operation for reasons that make no sense to a rube like me. Oz pushes back, acknowledging that maybe they just don’t like him. “I’m an acquired taste.”
That may be true, but as entertainment, he’s easy to love.
Few things are more exciting than watching Oz squirm and deflect and outright lie. It’s a game of life-or-death, for real, and against all odds, he’s still playing. And even though he’s a gangster and a killer, we’re fully on his side. Our affection for Oz is really a byproduct of our empathy for him. You simply cannot help but like this guy. Which will make his journey to the dark side so much harder to witness.
For various life reasons, I’ve only seen the first 2 episodes out of the 4 that have been released. The upside is I could only get so spoilery in this pod. So if you’re also behind on the show, have no fear. And if you haven’t started it yet, I mostly skim on details and avoid anything super important.
I somehow still talked about this show for almost 45 minutes.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
Giving gravitas and pathos to one of the silliest villains ever created.
Comparisons to Gotham, the Fox TV show that covered the same ground.
The many ways this show gets us to root for Oswald Cobb.
Oswald’s superpower.
The brilliance of Colin Farrell’s performance.
Victor and Oswald’s relationship, and how it may be what turns Oswald into the Penguin.
Sofia Falcone is far more than just a crazy serial killer.
The role of family in the development of both Oswald and Sofia.
Is 'The Penguin' the Best Show on TV?