'The Penguin' Finale Ripped And Has Solidified It As One Of The Best Miniseries Ever Made
SPOILER-FREE SECTION
WOW, what an ending! Before getting to the episode, lets just talk about the series on a whole.
There were a few things that were working against this series right from the jump. The first is the history of the Penguin. In most Batman media, he's a goofy guy! Either a fancy monopoly man or a gross creature like Danny DeVito or Lena Dunham. Reeves obviously set the ground rules up a little differently in 'The Batman' but that history was still there. Secondly, the lead actor is one of the more handsome men in Hollywood wearing a comically gross fat suit. Thirdly, it's just not about Batman. A series that does not focus on the #2 most recognizable superhero in history but rather focuses on a goon? It doesn't seem like it should work. And lastly and most importantly, the world of batman is one of the most well-tread IPs in the world.
However, Reeves found a way. In a SPOILER FREE FASHION, here is what I think made this series work:
1. The cast. Everyone does their jobs to perfection. Obviously Farrell is the big draw but god damn does Cristin Milioti put on the performance of the year. Just a perfect psychopath performance with great nuance. Rhenzy Feliz is also expertly cast as a doe-eyed, lovable kid that you want to root for. And in the back half of this series, Deirdre O'Connell delivers some powerhouse moments as Oz's mom.
2. The writing. The scripts are sharp. Some fantastic dialogue that lets this play out like a opera mixed with some familiar mob hits like the Sopranos. Actually, the Sopranos comp reminds me of something. I saw a lot of people try to compare Oz and Vic to Tony Soprano and Chris Moltisanti. I don't think that's right! If anything, Oz is Chrissy. He's insecure, feels disrespected and is desperate to move up in the world. He was basically the Chrissy to Carmine Falcone's Tony.
3. The production value. They wisely filmed this in and around NYC which you can feel throughout the series. It just has that layer of authenticity that you don't get shooting with some tax haven city like Atlanta, Toronto, Vancouver or New Orleans. Something that I wish more studios would realize is how important audience immersion is to the success of world-building. So bravo, WB.
Reeves has said that they plan on doing more spinoffs and they will also be character driven like the Penguin. My only question is which villains do they pick? To borrow a term from Peacemaker(which is another fantastic DC show everyone should watch) Batman's "coterie of supervillains" has a lot of goofy people. But, if they can ground the Riddler and The Penguin, why not Mr. Freeze next?
SPOILER SECTION! IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED YET, DO NOT READ
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Wow, what a gut punch, huh? An absolutely perfect ending that gave us resolution on Sofia while also doing one very important thing: Reminding us that The Penguin is an absolute piece of shit. The do a lot of work throughout this series to build up sympathy for him as an underdog that is basically the lesser of the 500 or so evils on screen, so when that scene hit on the edge of the water with Oz and Vic and you could just feel that sense of dread building up...MAN. That was such a great exclamation point to what has been an amazing series.
Here are the questions I have after watching:
1. What does Catwoman want with Sofia? Is she gonna free her again?
2. If Oz is terrified of connections, why wouldnt he kill Eve? He did this whole grand speech with Vic about how he can't have anyone close to him anymore and then we close with him slow dancing with a woman he loves? Time to get a little more misOZgynist if you ask me.
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3. They tease it a bit at the end but where the fuck is Batman? Still recovering from the end of the movie after all this time?
4. If Oz is now the kingpin of Gotham, is he going to be the focus of the Batman 2? Or will we be getting Barry Keoghan Joker?
Lots to think about in the seemingly infinite time we are going to have until The Batman 2. Oh, and let me leave you guys with a question: How much does it suck to be Marvel television right now?