THE PENGUIN: SEASON 1 (2024)
Label: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 480 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen
Directors: Craig Zobel, Helen Shaver, Kevin Bray, Jennifer Getzinger
Cast: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Clancy Brown
The Penguin eight-episode mini-series is a spin-off from the Matt Reeves directed The Batman film, starring Colin Farrell (Daredevil) reprising the role of the club-footed title character, aka Oswald "Oz" Cobb. I will admit when I first heard it was coming our way I was only lukewarm on the idea, but having watched it, and now re-watched the eight episode run, I will likewise admit this was easily my favorite TV show on 2024. The series is set about a month after the events of The Batman, with the destruction of Gotham City's seawall laying waste to poorer neighborhoods, and we have a power vacuum, left by the assassination of crime boss Carmine Falcone. At the start of the series Cobb is caught pilfering from the late Falcone's nightclub office at the Iceberg Lounge by the would-be hir to the Falcone crime family, his son Alberto Falcone (Michael Zege, The Girl Next Door). Oz talks his way out of being caught red-handed and the heir apparent shares that he has a new drug in the works that will take the family to the next level. However, when he insults Oz the impulsive Mr. Cobb shoots him dead. As he sets about disposing of the body Oz encounters a group of young men trying to steal his hubcaps and shoots at them, catching Victor "Vic" Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz, Marvel's Runaways), and forcing him to become his henchman. As the series continues we have Oz making trying to cover his tracks while maneuvering the Falcone and Maroni crime families against each other to his benefit, which gets complicated when Carmine's daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti, TV's Fargo), Oz having once being her chauffer, is released from Arkham Asylum. Having served time for being the "The Hangman", a serial killer of women, including her own mother.
Other pivotal characters include Oz's overbearing mother Francis (Deirdre O'Connell, Outer Range) who is afflicted with degenerative illness, Mark Strong (Sunshine) as Carmine Falcone in flashback, who was played by John Turturro from The Batman film, and Clancy Brown (Pet Sematary 2) as Maroni crime-boss Salvatore "Sal" Maroni, and Shohreh Aghdashloo (Renfield) as his Persian Nadia Maroni, who is the acting boss of the family as Sal is, at least at he start of the series, imprisoned.
This is a pretty fantastic crime family series, chock full of power struggles and power plays, loads of betrayals and deceit, and violence aplenty. I love how Oz is at once both moving the chess pieces but also impulsive and a bit brash, but also a really good liar. The way that Ferrell disappears beneath the prosthetics is quite amazing, aided by the terrifically seamless work that gives his face a storied well-worn look with a horrific scar and acne scarring, plus the performance that he gives through the appliance, using the make-up effects, is nothing short of fantastic. Oz is a truly despicable character, but the performance and script are so compelling that cannot take your eyes of of him, and you want to see him succeed. I was not at all surprised when he took home the Golden Globe for his turn here. Equally stunning is the truly committed turn from Cristin Milioti as the once princess of the Falcone crime family turned black sheep of the family, having been wrongfully sent to Arkham for 10 years, betrayed by her own father. Her arc and backstory are so gripping, and her performance is magnetic.
The episodes that delve into both her and Oz's backstory are television at it's best, especially the tragically dark tale from Oz's childhood, showing how his siblings died down in the sewer, this episode in particular is key to understanding him, it explains everything you need to know about Oz's fraught relationship with his mother, and his characters drive for respect, love and power.
If you're a fan of rise-to-the-top crime film like Scarface or totally engrossing character study/family-mob dramas like The Sopranos, I think this DC-centric take on a dark crime tale is gonna just tickle you pink. This is not only my favorite DC series of all-time, but I like it better than The Batman, and I friggin' loved The Batman!
Audio/Video: All eight episodes arrives on a 3-disc 4K Ultra HD set from WBDHE, we get three episodes each on the first two discs and two on the third, with the extras spread across all three disc. The Doby Vision HDR10 color-grading offers wonderful colors and deep black levels, contrast is on point, and depth, detail and clarity are superior to their streaming counterparts. Audio comes by way of English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1 with Optional English subtitles. The track is nicely immersive, dialogue sounds flawless, eruptions of gun fire and action-packed moments are impactful, and the score by Mick Giacchino (Skeleton Crew) has some nice depth to it.
The set is well endowed with over 90-minutes of handsomely produced extras; we get eight Inside Gotham featurettes that run 4-8 minutes each, plus 9 more featurettes that explore the characters, production design, the look of Gotham, and the make-up effects used to bring Cobb to life. The 3-disc set arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork. There is no Slipcover or Digital Code for this one,
Special Features:
- Inside Gotham: Ep. 1 (6:00), Ep. 2 (4:24), Ep. 3 (4:55), Ep. 4 (5:40), Ep. 5 (6:26), Ep. 6 (7:41), Ep. 7 (8:17), Ep. 8 (8:05)
- Introducing The Penguin (5:07)
- The Origin of Oz (4:04)
- Welcome to Gotham (4:21)
- Gotham Re-Envisioned (4:43)
- Becoming the Penguin (3:07)
- Who Is The Hangman: Portrait of Sofia Falcone (4:01)
- Hearts of the Penguin (3:52)
- A Take of Two Gotham (3:51)
- Victor Aguilar: The Making of a Henchman (7:21)
