Let’s get right to it: The Penguin is a monster. Although we see things from Colin Farrell’s protagonist’s point-of-view, he is unmistakably the villain. Alternatively, from the first minute Sofia Falcone slithers on our screens, she was always in the right. Even still, stories are only written by the victors. Or in this case, not quite the victor you would expect. Let’s discuss the final episode further. SPOILERS BELOW!
When the finale begins, the war is all but over. “Sofia Gigante” and her allies bomb the Bliss lab, capture Francis Cobb, and eventually Oswald himself. Not to mention, the alliance of gang leaders refuse to help Oswald without the motivation of drug profit. This is where the show effectively boxes in the main character, but fails to believably write him out. First of all, Sofia’s character deflates. The entire season she’s been out to avenge her brother and those who wrong her. Oddly, instead of outright killing Oswald, she chooses to subject him to a psychological charade to break his will. In contrast, Gigante immediately kills Berto Colon’s Castillo when he was initially framed for the very same act. Furthermore, she clumsily lets him escape to then set her up the exact same way he tried in a previous episode. Sadly, Sofia’s effectiveness is inorganically sacrificed for Oswald’s story to continue. Weirdly enough, that is the overall trend for the episode.
On a positive note, we get a neat look at the back half of Oswald’s backstory, this time from his mother’s perspective. Interestingly, the show forgoes its young version of Francis played by Emily Meade to allow its principal cast member Deidre O’Connell to play the juiciest parts of her origin. The framing device is simple enough: While manipulating Miss Cobb’s dementia, Dr. Rush uses light therapy to unearth the truth about Oswald. Creatively, the illusion plays out like a half remembered dream, subtly disturbing her train of thought with sensitive memories, allowing the director to tell two stories at once. In said memories, we see how the death of her children affects her, while seeding Rex’s idea of controlling Oswald by nurturing his darker impulses. This leads to some fantastic if not slightly cringeworthy acting by accent heavy child actor, Ryder Allen. Of course, Sofia is all too eager to torture both of them, if only to see the truth wring at Oswald’s heart. Ultimately, in spite of instigating conflict between Oswald and his mother, Julian’s haphazard contribution to the cause feels like a waste of screen time. Although, the torture scene exposes the most important aspect of Oswald Cobb. He believes his own lies.
In the movie Nightmare Alley, a mentalist heeds the warning not to forget that his tricks are only tricks, referring to those who do as suffering from “shut eye.” Likewise, Oswald has become the kind of liar that will never confess the truth, even at the risk of his mother, his friends, his allies, or his own life. To The Penguin, the lie is more important than living. Whereas it originally seems as if there is some kind of light within his darkness, the closer audiences get to the last episode, the more we see him for what he truly is. A significant part of this, is the philosophy of the “lie of loyalty” seen throughout the episode. Particularly, Victor’s genius idea of teaming up with the hungry capos instead of the figureheads of the mobs they represent. Like Oz, each one thanklessly toils behind waiting fruitlessly for a shot that never comes. Trouble is, Oz knows that those people are not to be trusted, because he was that person. In fact, the more Victor rises to meet Oswald’s expectations, the more Oswald sees the flaws in how he has done business with Falcone or Calabrese. Key among the examples, is how Oswald once regarded them as family, only to see the weakness in his need for it. Victor is just an unfortunate example of how self-aware Oz is of his true nature. Alas, the moments of camaraderie and brotherhood and Victors tireless pure love for his new family was brilliantly done, but tragically short. Funnily enough, Oz lies to himself about this too, seeing each of his abhorrent actions as a form of mercy.
That’s just it. HBO The Penguin is a tragedy through and through. I mean, whenever “O Mio Babbino Caro” comes on, nothing good will follow. In terms of The Penguin and its overall ideas, I feel as if it had less to do with crime and more to do with toxic relationships and family. If I was a viewer looking for a competent crime drama, I wouldn’t find it here. Besides nicely foreshadowing Oswald’s pivot into corrupt politics and “clean business,” the gangster stuff wasn’t that well thought out. Hell, half of the people who actively want power in the series die quick meaningless deaths, and the other half lacked the ambition. Sofia’s only desire was to kill Oz and ended up destroying her family and her innocence in the process. The same goes for Victor, Francis, Sal, and everyone else Oz ropes into his schemes. Frankly, Penguin is like a curse. For instance, his own mother begs him to let her go but he chooses to let her live in agony for his ego. On top of that, we see Eve’s tragic fate as Oz’s lover, bound by her need for survival to play in a sick Oedipus Complex driven roleplay. Lastly, Sofia’s cyclical fate was the icing on the cake. I can’t stop thinking of the gross parallels of him driving her, setting her up, and sending her back to Arkham. Of course, Julian’s useless ass just goes back to work just because. Overall, it is a mixed bag of emotions. No disrespect to Theo Rossi, but this happens to characters he plays far too often.
As a follow-up to The Batman (2022), The Penguin doesn’t live up to the mystique or noir of that film. On the contrary, Penguin divorces itself from the movie with its down to earth story about a pathetic thug who hustles his way to the top by the skin of his teeth. Truthfully, while the character feels like they’ve grown up since the film, his positioning in the conclusion is unsatisfying. The good news is, the show can stand on its own as an interesting exploration of hustling and the complex cycle of lies. The bad news is, it weakens the ideology of Batman. While Batman usually looms large, the hero feels smaller in the world that was already making him feel smaller than usual. As I said before, this is partially out of shame and fear of the comic book source material. I didn’t mind watching this series week to week, but it didn’t fill me with excitement for the upcoming The Batman Part II. If anything, at the time of writing, I’m more worried about where Matt Reeves is going. Understandably, this series is sure to be a crowd pleaser, prominently acted and directed by the best Warner Bros. has to give, but unlike Oswald, I won’t lie to myself about how clumsily the end was written. It is my hope that when we see the Penguin next, he will lose the plot armor and be written according to his true potential.
HBO THE PENGUIN is available on HBO and MAX. Pictures and video from YouTube.