The Penguin: The New Sopranos?

I don’t generally get into new shows. I spent my time watching the classics like The Sopranos or Deadwood, and I only really check out new shows after they have been out for a while and I know that they are good. I just don’t want to waste my time on a series that won’t have a good payoff, and you never know how good a show will be until it’s over.

However I decided to check out The Penguin, the new HBO miniseries set in the Matt Reeves’ Batman universe. If you’re a fan of this channel, then you know that I don’t usually like comic book stuff. However I decided to give it a chance because of the fact that the Penguin was clearly more influenced by The Sopranos and other classic gangster stories, rather than the usual DC or Marvel capeshit.

And I’m really glad I gave The Penguin a shot, because it’s one of the best new shows I’ve seen in a while. If you’re looking to scratch that crime thriller itch for shows like Boardwalk Empire or The Sopranos, then yeah I think you could do a lot worse than The Penguin. It’s still definitely a comic book show, but it leans much more into character writing and strong pacing than the usual schlock that the studios put out.

So in this video, let’s take a look at The Penguin, the newest member of the pure kino family.

Now I always put a warning at the beginning of my videos, but since this is a brand new show let me make it even more clear. There will be spoilers for not only the Penguin, but also The Sopranos. If you haven’t seen either of those shows and don’t want to be spoiled, I’d drop off here and come back when you are done.

Like I said before, The Penguin is a spinoff of the 2022 movie The Batman. It follows The Penguin, named Oswald Cobb in this version, as he climbs the ladder of Gotham’s underworld following Carmine Falcone’s death in the movie. Played by Colin Ferrell, Oz is one of the most interesting comic book villains that I’ve seen in a long time.

However standing in the way of his ascent is Carmine’s daughter Sophia. Recently released from Arkham Asylum, she sets out to take revenge on everyone who has ever betrayed her. Sophia is played by Cristin Milioti, who you might just recognize from her small role as Johnny Sack’s daughter in The Sopranos.

Speaking of The Sopranos, this show borrows so many elements from that series. Rather than his usual British aristocrat get up from the comics, Oz is portrayed more like a modern gangster with the leather jackets and cigars. His love of old movies is just like Tony. Even the way he talks with a Jersey accent seems to be inspired by the way that James Gandolfi performed the role of Tony Soprano.

And the parallels don’t just stop there. Oswald’s toxic relationship with his mother is very reminiscent of Tony’s relationship with Livia. Even the house she lives in looks like Livia’s. While Francis is a very different character than Livia ultimately, there is a lot of that negatively and neediness in her performance.

Ozwald’s relationship with Victor is also very reminiscent of Tony’s relationship with Christopher. He takes Victor under his wing and nurtures him in the world of crime, just like Tony did with his nephew. Victor has a chance to leave the life of crime behind with his love interest, but ultimately turns it down for power and wealth, just like Chrisopher does with Adriana. Oz eventually disposes of Victor, just like Tony kills Christopher, despite their supposed family connection.

Now obviously I bring all of this stuff up because I’m a Sopranos channel and I love noticing all the references and connections to my favorite series. But I don’t mean to imply that The Penguin is just copying the Sopranos. The show clearly has its own identity, it’s just that it uses more of the trappings of a modern television drama, rather than the usual comic book schlock.

And I think that’s a good thing. The Matt Reeves Batman universe, sometimes called the Batman Epic Crime Sage, is going for a stylized but realistic approach, with an emphasis on more grounded detective stories over larger setpieces. And I think looking to something like The Sopranos for inspiration was a smart decision for this series, which is meant to bridge the gap between the two movies.

That’s not to say that the show is perfect, or even on the level of something like The Sopranos. There were a lot of flaws with the storytelling. While Oz and Sophia had fleshed out character arcs, most of the other side characters really don’t get enough time to breathe. Like at the end of the series all the underbosses of the gangs rise up and take out their bosses, but I couldn’t even tell you any of their names. It makes it hard to be that invested into the larger crime world of Gotham when I really have no idea how any of these gangs work.

Even Victor, who is supposed to be one of the main characters of the show, really did not get enough development for me. His character arc is obviously meant to mirror those of characters like Christopher or Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad, but he’s not given enough motivation for why he’s doing what he does. Instead he feels like he’s forced into the story, which he is technically, but that makes his arc less satisfying. Christopher chose to join the life despite knowing what would happen to his soul, which makes the consequences all the more tragic. Victor has the one moment where he could have left, but I felt like we should have had him pushing to be involved more. That would have made his death at the hands of Oz all the more powerful, as he sold his soul to the devil who ultimately betrayed him.

Now certainly a lot of these problems are due to the time constraints of being a miniseries. The Sopranos had 6 seasons to flesh out its characters, while The Penguin has 8 episodes. They obviously have speed a lot of this along, while keeping in mind that this series ultimately had to lead into the next movie, which puts even more constraints on where the characters end up. So I’m very forgiving for a lot of these flaws, and they don’t ruin the show for me or anything.

However one issue that can't just be waved away is the way that the series treats Sophia Falcone. Now don’t get me wrong, she’s an interesting character with a lot of great development and motivation. I like having her as the antagonist, as she plays well off of Oz and having her as a mix of both a traditional mafia boss and an Arkham Asylum lunatic is a really cool dynamic.

However I felt like the show was afraid to really let her loose as a villain. Now Sophia does some bad things like bombing a poor neighborhood and having her own version of Joker’s funhouse from The Killing Joke. But most of her negative actions are impersonal and vague compared to how the show portrays Oz’s faults. I felt like they should have really had her go all out as a psychopath. She should have sent her niece to the mental asylum just like her father did to her. Would that have been hypocritical? Of course, but great villains are always hypocritical and self centered. The Sopranos, which again was a big inspiration for this show, was full of characters who acted like that.

While the show doesn’t fall into the most of the usual modern television bullshit, it still seems to have this idea that because you want a character to be sympathetic, you can’t have them do anything truly awful. Instead it seems like showrunner Lauren Lefranc wanted Sofia to be the character that the audience roots for. She’s actually said that Sofia is the closest thing to a hero in the show, and it’s clear she didn’t want Sofia to do anything truly reprehensible. Which is a shame as I think it holds her back from being a truly great villain.

However flaws aside, The Penguin is still a really good series, and one that I can recommend wholeheartedly. Even as someone who doesn’t usually like comic book media, I found the show grounded and character focused in a way that most other comic book stuff just isn’t. It’s a well paced, exciting thriller with some very interesting characters and mostly strong writing. So if you’re looking for something like The Sopranos set in the Batman universe, definitely check out this show.

Hope you all enjoyed this video. Again I know I don’t normally cover new series like this, but it was fun to talk about something that’s current for a change. Let me know your thoughts on The Penguin in the comments, and stay for more content coming soon.