The Penguin has been an alright show so far. I wouldn't say it's something that has really blown me out of the water though. This is a show that is made in a particular style but one that isn't really new to the world of hyper-budget television series made for streaming. I don't think is a show that will really surpass your expectations. It's nothing that you'd easily bring up to a group of friends over a meeting in a cafe. The Penguin so far is more just, well, a show. Something that exists and isn't terrible. And now we are six episodes into the first season which aims to portray the more brutal, realistic approach to the character of Penguin, living and breathing within the same space as Batman. Speaking of, I saw an excuse recently from one of the show runners that Batman just isn't around because he's doing other things. I found this to be a bit of a lame answer to the question given it doesn't provide that same feeling of fear within the criminal underworld of Gotham. Nobody speaks of him, everyone conducts their activities in the dead of the night or broad daylight without any real consideration of his existence. I think the show could be better with a few mentions of him, not even appearances directly. But that feeling that someone is out there watching and hunting down people of this nature. While this takes place just after the events of the recent The Batman film, where is the crime fighter? Does he simply not care for the actions of massive crime syndicates pushing massive amounts of drugs into the city? Does he merely focus on the few teenagers in clown masks robbing someone of their iPhone in the subway?
From the end of episode five we saw Penguin and Victor pulling off their heist to take the mushrooms and find a new location to conduct their new operation: underground. This was a place that Penguin mentioned from his past, a childhood of running around in the underground with his friends, conveniently abandoned and left ignored from the rest of society. The perfect place to hide out and set up shop where nobody would be looking, not even other criminals. Episode six starts off with a time skip that details the operation already up on its feet, I'm not sure what led to this decision instead of showing the growing pains and developments of the operation, but that's where we start. I didn't enjoy much of the previous episode, and it seems that The Penguin so far has been a series of hits and misses as it attempts to find its footing; some episodes incredibly strong whereas others just felt a bit lacking. Six episodes in and we're now seeing Penguin making his real moves, having managed to screw over pretty much every other crime syndicate and burning much of his bridges in pursuit of the heist. It's clear that this is setting the stage for more development to come as Penguin now has to deal with the difficulties of being wanted by pretty much everyone. Things feel as if they're picking up, which brings us to the events of The Penguin's sixth episode of the first season.
It feels as if it's about time that the show started to really do something, to really get into motion and have the main thing that needs to be said, well, start being said. This week's episode carries on with the pulling the audience along by not really saying a whole lot. But there's one aspect of the show that has yet to really been conveyed and it's that sense of loss that's capable within the characters. Family members have been killed, but there's rarely any aspect of grieving and much of this is down to the manipulation of the characters that has them misguided and going down the incorrect paths in pursuit of immediate revenge at the hands of Penguin. One character we have started to see a little more within Penguin's life is his deteriorating mother. Her health declining and her memory fading, though Penguin still sticks around to ensure she's doing alright and is safe. It's clear that her character is aware of Penguin's actions and lifestyle. But the show is starting to utilise her character as a weakness still present in the very secretive, very strong Penguin that often seems fearless and with nothing to lose. I'm curious as to how and when and even if the show will approach Penguin's father as a plot point capable of hitting the character hard. But it finally does hint at some weight coming his way. The realisation that Penguin does in fact have something to lose still, and revenge isn't necessarily trying to kill him but go after a similar style of violence that he has conducted against the Falcones. This episode summarises this feeling, without saying much else. Still setting the stage, as mentioned previously.
There's finally some more development on the side of Victor though. And this is a character that I have been stating has been mostly void of purpose for much of the show, mostly just used a convenient plot point to save Penguin whenever necessary, while having little growth himself. There was one episode somewhat dedicated to this past previously, and that was a more strong episode that I enjoyed given the character context. Though here we finally have Victor doing something more than being the tool for someone else, instead he now pursues his own interests, dealing with people in his own way, leading to Victor changing in a way that can't go undone: he kills. With this, it's clear that Victor has taken a new path entirely, not just a driver for the crime boss Penguin, but someone that can act out and make his own important decisions. It shows a more serious, adult version of Victor beyond his childish roots, finally being someone that could actually be considered incredibly dangerous now. It was nice to finally see something like this, and I'm curious as to where things are heading with Victor as his criminal side is uncovered more and develops, turning him from a beaten-down youth into a threatening killer. An actual villain. I don't think we'll see much more in this side of things for a while though, Victor's story is one that is incredibly slow. Here's again hoping to things pick up a bit more.
Oh, and the show is still far too dark for my liking.