Penguin’s Debut Delivers! A Chilling Start to the Series

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Penguin Episode 1.

We’ve officially returned to the crime-riddled streets of Gotham City, two and a half years after Matt Reeves’ The Batman — although this time, we aren’t following around Robert Pattinson beating up ne’er-do-wells while dressed as a muscular bat. No, instead we’ll be diving into the other side of the law, as Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb takes center stage in HBO’s all-new limited series, The Penguin.

In the third act of The Batman, the Riddler, aka Edward Nashton (Paul Dano), assassinates crime lord Carmine Falcone (John Turturro) as he is being arrested. Riddler’s plan to stir up chaos in Gotham succeeds; the lower streets of the city are flooded, but Batman aids Gotham’s first responders, trying to inspire hope among the city’s devastated citizens. The last we see of Colin Farrell’s Penguin, he’s overlooking the streets from the office of the Iceberg Lounge, and it’s clear that he is plotting his attempt to seize control of Gotham’s criminal underworld.

Oz Cobb Confronts Another Falcone in ‘The Penguin’ Episode 1

Episode 1 opens at the exact moment where we last saw Oz, overlooking the flooded streets. Gotham City One recaps the news, reporting that Batman is helping in recovery efforts, along with footage of the city’s mayor-elect, Bella Reál (Jayme Lawson), promising that she will rebuild Gotham. More news informs us that there has been a drastic increase in crime in the wake of the flooding, with drugs being peddled by gangs. We also learn that Carmine Falcone’s assassination has only made things worse, as the GCPD has now found it much more difficult to restore order in the city. However, the most important news — to Oz, at least — is word that Carmine’s son, Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen), will be taking his father’s place as the head of “Gotham’s most notorious family.”

Oz pulls up to the ruined remains of the Iceberg Lounge, fetching a sledgehammer from his truck before waddling inside. He uses the hammer to break open the office safe and collects photos of Johnny Vitti (Michael Kelly), the underboss of the Falcone crime family, sleeping with an unknown woman. Just as Oz is perusing some jewelry from the safe, Alberto walks in, pointing his gun. Oz plays coy, claiming that he was going to bring the jewels directly to him, per Carmine’s wishes. Oz continues to fib his way out of the situation, trying to congratulate Al on his new position, and while the mobster’s son doesn’t believe him, he finally settles down after Oz offers him a drink. Oz tries to pry into Al’s plans for drug-running, encouraging him to take advantage of the booming drops business in Gotham. Al reveals that he is going to meet with Salvatore Maroni. Oz tells Maroni that he’s done doing business with the Falcones and is willing to work with him, clueing him in on the plans to move drug operations to another part of Gotham — which would give the Maroni family the chance to take over, with his help. Maroni initially refuses Oz’s offer, reminding him of all the times he stabbed him in the back, but Oz delivers Maroni’s ring back to him with some parting words: “Maybe I’m more than what you think.”

As Oz drives back to his apartment, he sees Sofia and her bodyguards waiting at his front door and speeds off, trying to lose them at a street fair. One of Sofia’s men catches up to him, but Oz stabs him, causing him to stumble back in shock and get hit by a school bus. Distracted, Oz is knocked out by one of Sofia’s other enforcers. When Oz wakes up, he’s been stripped naked and tied to a chair in the Falcones’ greenhouse. While Sofia interrogates him, she reveals that she has kidnapped one of the teens who was with Victor trying to steal his plum-colored car — and he’s willing to talk about what he saw that night — but Oz tells Sofia that her so-called informant is lying, so she shoots the young man dead. As Sofia orders her enforcer to torture Oz, asking him whether he believes that her suspicions are crazy, the interrogation is interrupted by a car crashing into the fountain on the front lawn. Sofia discovers Alberto’s corpse in the trunk, with his pinky finger cut off and the word “payback” keyed on the inside lid. The episode ends with Oz meeting up with Victor, where it is revealed that they had both orchestrated the car crash. Oz congratulates Victor on going through with the plan, but laments that the young man didn’t go through with decapitating Victor’s corpse and leaving only his head and pinky finger in the trunk. Vic tries to apologize, but Oz brushes the whole thing off, as they’ve ultimately succeeded in framing the Maronis for Alberto’s death.

The story, at its core, is entirely character-driven. Just look at The Sopranos; it has all the hallmarks of many mob stories, but James Gandolfini’s Tony isn’t some unstoppable force. Once we get inside his head, we see just how vulnerable he is. The Penguin may not be as good, but it does borrow some of that series’ best attributes and use them to its benefit. Farrell and Milioti’s performances are just too irresistible to ignore, and it’ll be exciting to see how they’ll bounce off one another in future episodes. They’re both bad people, but is one really worse than the other? They’re both erratic, but Sofia now seems to be driven entirely by vengeance, while Oz is hungry for power.

The Penguin is available to stream on Max in the U.S.