**This review may contain minor SPOILERS**
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Spinning off from “The Batman” with one of the film’s standout characters, “The Penguin” is a surprisingly strong crime drama that focuses on a villain. And while it works on its own merits, the lack of a Batman appearance (or any other major characters from the film) hurts the show by making it feel like a one-off and not part of a bigger franchise.
There isn’t really much of a plot to the show. It’s basically The Penguin’s attempt to rise to the top of the Gotham underworld. While the evens of the Batman film setup a bit of a power vacuum, not much of what happened in the movie is important to the show. (The Riddler’s terrorist attack gets more references, but even that has a limited impact.)
As for The Penguin, he’s a fascinating character to follow. While they do humanize him, he’s clearly a bad person willing to do anything in order to save his skin and grab more power. It’s an interesting dynamic as we alternate between hating him for the evil stuff that he does, but then admiring his tenacity and sympathizing with him. (He also has a bit of sense of humor to him, especially in his reactions to some of the darker stuff happening around him.)
While most of the supporting cast is fine, the two other major leads are a little hit and miss. Victor, a good person who becomes The Penguin’s protege, has a decent arc but it never really gets to develop to its fullest. However, Sofia Falcone is a fantastic addition to the show and often steals the spotlight from Oz. Initially she’s just an unpredictable wild card, but as we learn her back story, we see all the terrible things that turned her into the person she is now and can’t help but want to see her succeed. Unfortunately, she does become less compelling and focused in the final few episodes, so it’s harder to root for her. Despite that, some of the best parts of the season are watching her and Oz constantly trying to out-outmaneuver each other like some kind of mafia version of “Game of the Thrones.”
Overall, “The Penguin” is solid series about some bad people that are fleshed-out so well that you still find yourself rooting for them. And while the show does stand on its own, the lack of any major crossover elements to “The Batman” film hurts the series by making it feel like it’s a standalone project and not part of a bigger story.
***1/2 out of *****