The Penguin Episode 1: Let’s start off with showing y’all the trailers shall we?

Yes if some y’all can’t tell that’s Colin Ferrell as Oswald Cobblepot or as he’s called in this show Oz Cobb. Dumb name change if u ask me but hey take that as what u will. Btw here’s an image comparison of Colin Ferrell and the Penguin, u try telling me he looks recognizable.

Granted this is the same Batman timeline that changed Edward Nigma’s name to Edward Nash, which if u ask me was a better change because Nigma Is a stupid name, especially for a character named The Riddler….it’s too on the nose. I mean think about it, Ed Nigma? Like Enigma? The Riddler? Get the f**k out of here. It was a stupid name to begin with and it still is a stupid name.

But hey y’all decide for urself if the Matt Reeves Batman universe is for u, because in the Matt Reeves Batman universe.

Edward Nigma Is now Edward Nash.

Oswald Cobblepot Is now Oz Cobb.

The Joker in this universe is suffering from skin disease, hence why he has scars.

Yeah that’s according to Matt Reeves, that hint of thr Joker we got in the Batman 2022 and that delated scene we saw of him. The reason the Joker in this universe has white skin, red lips and green hair is because he has a skin disease.

Ehhh ok look I’m mixed because they already did the grounded-in-reality version of the Joker with Heath Ledger Joker in The Dark Knight. That was done perfectly there, he’s just a psychopath who’s wearing war makeup on his face…

So why are we changing the formula here? I get it this is a different Batman universe and why not try something else different….but this is why I list these changes so y’all know what Matt Reeves Batman universe is like and y’all can make ur mind up on if u like it or not.

Oh, also Carmine Falcone in this universe is officially dead.

Salvatore Maroni is played by Clancy Brown and is also locked up in Black Gate Prison.

Sofia is an insane patient from Arkham.

So yeah maybe this Matt Reeves Batman universe won’t be for everyone.

BTW I feel whoever did the prosthetics on Colin Ferrell deserves an Oscar Nomination…..they did such an amazing job, the prosthetics look so realistic.

Also, I wanna mention this first so we get this out of the way, this new DC show will be having 8 episodes total. 1 Episode per week every Sunday night starting at 9 pm (which means we have to wait 10 days from when this episode aired for episode 2).

So I’ll be reviewing each Episode separately and releasing them individually….this will be a first for me, so let’s see how this goes…..also this is a show I’ve been most excited for all year. Because I’m a huge fan of Batman and DC.

But from what I heard this show won’t have Batman in it or any mention of him, which has annoyed people so far….so what in my opinion?

Also, I quickly wanna give a warning ⚠️ this show is not gonna be for everyone, because depending on what u can handle. This show is violent, gory sometimes, and brutal. Yeah, this show leans into an R Rating if it was a film of course…

Where The Batman 2022 was PG-13 this show is a hard R…oh also right forgot to mention this show picks up right away from where The Batman 2022 ended. So y’all have some context as to where this show takes place in the timeline.

Also non spoiler rundown. This show is about how the Penguin becomes the crime lord….because, after the events of the end of The Batman 2022, it left open a gap for someone else to come in and rule Gotham City in the crime underworld.

The best way I could describe this show is like if The Sopranos show met Gotham City…..yeah that should give y’all an idea of what the tone of this show is like.

This show essentially focuses on the lower parts of Gotham where crime is happening….also If any y’all worried about Oz Cobb being turned into some anti-hero, don’t worry he’s not…he’s anything but an anti-hero, he does some heinous things in this show….but somehow even though he does things like that in this show I somehow understand where he’s coming from.

Also, he’s a Weasle, he’s scummy he just manipulates people for his own gain. Basically no one is a good guy in this show, except for Vic (this homeless teen he found trying to take apart his car). He’s homeless thanks to the flooding of Gotham.

BTW I should clarify something, in this show, they don’t have the Penguin or Oz Cobb talking with that Penguin grunting noises he usually makes, instead this show gives him a New Jersey accent. Which is a change I actually don’t mind. But Oz Cobb is a change I sure as hell don’t like.

Oz Cobb? Sounds like the name of a dish at a restaurant.

Anyway, let’s get the rating out of the way so we can get into spoilers.

Overall, I cannot lie I absolutely freaking love this show y’all…I know it’s only episode 1 but so far this show is amazing….if this show keeps the same tone, pace, and writing as episode 1 this might be another great show on our hands folks.

I like that even though this Penguin is different from the one fans all know and love from the comics, games, shows, and movies. He still keeps some of his iconic mannerisms in this great show. Such as a purple suit, and umbrella and he walks with a limp.

I cannot recommend this episode enough, it was the best 1 hour and 6 minutes I spent watching a show. In my life, plz go watch this show if u have Max…Anyway, I’m gonna give episode 1 a solid 10/10. Warning spoilers ahead y’all been warned.

So in this show, we pick up right where The Batman 2022 ended, during the wake of Carmine Falcone’s assassination. Now a vacuum pocket has opened where someone can step in and become the next mob boss of Gotham….and Penguin aka Oz Cobb (played by Colin Ferrell) wants that position because he’s only ever been raised from nothing…also everyone makes fun of him.

Small tangent, they show a news coverage of the events at the end of the film about Carmine Falcone’s death….and they put up an image of him, but this time he’s not played by John Turturro. No, he’s instead played by Mark Strong, I was like that’s not Carmine Falcone from the last film…..like I said minor nitpick. Here’s an image aide by side comparison.

BTW this news reveals the aftermath of the flooding of Gotham from The Batman 2022, crime has gotten worse. Poverty has gotten worse, heck people including homeless people have started using this eye drop drug that was introduced in Batman 2022.

Also, all the Riddlers attempt did was cause more damage to the poor, yet he wanted it to affect the rich….yeah his mission did fail.

BTW this is a weird piece of info but in The Batman 2022 both Matt Reeves and Colin Ferrell wanted Oswald Cobblepot to be smoking cigars in the film….ad a reference to his comic version, however, Warner Brothers says no no we can’t have smoking, kids might see this film.

Right right, so let me get this straight, so watching him smash someone’s head into a car is fine, watching Batman and Selina find her friend’s dead body shoved in the back trunk of the car? That’s fine, watching 2 cops getting brutally murdered up to par with Jigsaw trap kills….but smoking is where they cross the line? Yeah try making sense of that, but since this show is on Max they do have smoking in it….hell Oz Cobb pulls out a cigar in this episode at one point.

So now guess who’s next in line to take over for Carmine? His son named Alberto Falcone (played by Micheal Zegan), he’s a drug addict who uses these new drugs that u Squirt in ur eyes….

So after one night when Penguin is caught stealing files by Alberto….they both sit down and have a drink, and Cobblepot starts talking about how Alberto should rise to power…..also Alberto says he has plans to advance these new drugs, he’s gonna revolutionize them, also Alberto hands Cobb a necklace to give as a gift to a love one of his, if he has one…..also Alberto shoes him the ring he has on his finger.

It was his dad’s ring but the ring used to belong to Salvatore Maroni….who’s locked away in prison thanks to Carmine Falcone.

Anyways Alberto catches onto the fact that Cobblepot wants to become the crime boss…

He starts laughing at him and calls him a Bitch….so Cobb pulls out a gun and shoots him. Womp womp, so now he has to get rid of the body….so he takes the body in a body bag to his plum-colored car…where it’s being highjacked by some teens, he ends up threatening the life of a teen named Victor Aguilar (played by Rhenzy Feliz), he begs Cobb to not shoot him….through his Stuttering he has…

Cobb kinda gets a soft spot for this teen. He tells him to do as I say or I’ll kill u and everyone u loves….so first they go drive to Penguin’s girlfriend, then they head out to go hide the body in a car scrap yard…..Cobb almost decides to kill Vic but he Weasles his way out of it by telling him he can help him…..Cobb says at the very least u could be useful to keep around, he tells Cobb he has ambitions like Cobb…

So now Cobb has a sidekick. Or a prisoner if u will.

Anyway the plot officially kicks in when Cobb is called into a meeting, he leaves Vic in the car in case something bad happens.

Heck, he also tells Vic while ur at it maybe u can look for ur sense of humor in here…..because Oz joked at him but of course it’s a joke that isn’t really funny it’s just one of those dark jokes a mobster would say and expect someone to find it funny….instead Vic is just stressed which I don’t blame him at all.

Cobb goes inside the building where he finds out his men are gonna shut down the organization that Cobb had set up which made him money…he tries to offer them an alternative about how he has a plan to revolutionary drugs…

Uh oh, which gets their curiosity. Just then guess who shows up? It’s Sofia Falcone (played by Cristin Milioti) he says I thought u were in Arkham….which she says I got out and have been rehabbed, btw This woman just looks slightly nuts….it’s all in her eyes, she just does this 9-yard stare while she’s talking…with this fake smile on her face as if she’s gonna snap at any moment…

Yeah no wonder why she was in Arkham Asylum, anyways she asks if Cobb has seen her brother….which he says nope, and he leaves…..as he gets to his car she stops him and says u didn’t answer the question…which he says I didn’t see him, he will eventually show up..

Oh, Oz Cobb why do u lie to her? Also, I love the the small detail that Cobb is wearing a dark purple outfit and his car is dark purple, u know kinda like how he is in the comics.

Anyways, they then both go to lunch where they catch up…..she tries to ask him again where her brother is, but she says something just doesn’t sit right…last night he said he was going to the IceBurg Lounge. And he never came back home. Uh oh, anyway she asks again where’s her brother…because they used to do everything together and promised to rule together.

She also points out how it doesn’t sit with her that her brother was the one who had the idea to make a better drug….both of them were gonna do it together because that’s how close they are, but here Oz was st her building talking about having the ultimate plan to make an improved drug as if it’s his plan…..yeah good job Cobb, how u gonna get urself out of this one.

Also, we see the way she eats, she eats like an animal….she eats by just shoving food in her face…and eats with her hands instead of a fork and knife, yeah I think the Asylum turned her into something.

He tells her again he will show up eventually he always does, again with the lies man. This will come back and bite u in the butt…also he says ur right I slipped up, ur brother told me of this mission he had I thought it was a great idea I wasn’t supposed to say anything but I slipped up…my bad, uh huh.

Anyways as they both leave the restaurant she whispers in his ears u know Cobb I always knew u were capable of things……hey uh Cobb I think she’s on to u.

So Cobb and Vic head out on a train where slwe see Cobb refusing to sit in a handicap seat which speaks a lot to his character and to how people see him.

We then see a Riddler fanboy dressed as him come on by showing a piece of paper with a QR code on it, telling them to scan it to see the truth about Gotham. Turns out if u do scan it with ur phone it will lead u to a website…kinda like how the promotion for The Batman 2022 sent us to a website with riddles.

So he takes Vic to his apartment and says u can use the kitchen to clean yourself up….while that happens Cobb goes to his bedroom which btw his room is a safe, he literally locks himself away to protect himself…..what a paranoid guy he is.

Also, we get a bit of a hint about Penguin’s childhood, we see Vic pick up a picture that has Oz Cobb in it with his 2 brothers….hmmm I didn’t know he had brothers.

Anyways he proceeds to take his shoe off and we can see why he walks with a limp. I kid u not his entire foot is Fucked up. All 5 of his toes are aiming in different directions, there are blisters and sores in between the toes as well…Jesus why doesn’t he go to a doctor to get that all fixed?

So afterward he goes him and Vic go to Cobb’s mom’s home….his mother has dementia, and he worries about her…he has her take her medication…..he hands her a necklace…he also tells her we need to get into the car and leave.

She can tell he’s lying about the reason why he gave her a necklace. She has him tell her the truth….he tells her he killed Alberto Falcone because he called him a Bitch….and now Sofia Falcone is out of Arkham…she will find out eventually, she motivates him and says u don’t run….u wanted this, u deserve the power and respect (ok this mother is delusional). She also tells him u gotta tell yourself who u wanna be.

Also, his mom points out how pathetic he sounds, she says to him the guy insulted u and u lashed out and killed him. This really does show how little of an impulse Cobb has…..it’s like he’s compensating for something.

Anyways once Cobb and Vic leave….Cobb has the same motivation he tells Vic because he tells Cobb he can’t do this anymore….that he’s a good boy trying to do the right thing. He tells him I know ur house is destroyed…idk if u have a family or not, u don’t want to do small robberies for the rest of ur life to survive…

Just imagine living in a mansion, we could have that. People like u and me this world wasn’t built for…

So then Cobb goes and pays Salvatore Maroni in prison (who get this is played by nonother than Clancy Freaking Brown, that’s right folks Mr. Krabs plays Salvatore Maroni in this show. What the heck? Lololo)….anyways Cobb offers his allegiance to Salvatore, but he shows disdain to Cobb because he was always the Falcone’s bitch boy.

He offers him a proposal, Salvatore doesn’t want to see Cobb anymore….but before Cobb leaves he gives him back his ring…

This gets Salvatores attention because he now wondering how the hell did Cobb get this ring since the Falcone’s had this ring…..

So anyways Cobb leaves in the car and he tries calling up Vic but he doesn’t answer the phone…he then notices Sofia Falcone and her men at the front of his apartment complex.

So he drives away, and they chase him down….they eventually catch up to him after he gets out of his car and kills one of Sofia Falcone’s men right in front of a school bus filled with kids….uh yikes, so Sofia captures Penguin….he wakes up butt naked tied to a chair with a gun aimed in his mouth.

Yeah not aimed at him, or aimed towards his mouth….no it’s aimed inside his mouth, oh dear lord….Sofia mentions how something absolutely doesn’t sit well with her…..she then brings out a random guy who tried robbing his car, he says he doesn’t know him and she shoots him….

She then tells him u always know how to get ur way out of situations, even if it leads to killing someone else. She then has one of her men go up to him and wrap a Barb wire around his arm to dig into his flesh….she then says really think this one through, there’s no one left but u and me….no Carmine Falcone, he’s not here to gift u things to make u feel special….I ain’t gonna do that.

Also, she talks about how in prison they take the clothes off the prisoners and pat them down….how cruel that is, well yeah it’s cruel.

BTW remember how I said this woman is nuts? Well, get this her nickname in Arkham was The Hangman because she’s a psycho killer…..oh ok, I wonder how she got out of Arkham then, ain’t no way Arkham lets psycho killers out of prison.

Her guard starts cutting into the Penguin’s flesh, yikes. She says to tell me that I’m not being paranoid, that I am not crazy. That my brother is alright and will show back up. Oh shite man ur doomed.

Just then a car comes ramming into a building next to them, this catches Sofia Falcone’s and her gang’s attention…they go outside and see this random car crashed into the building….she sees the back slightly open, she opens it up revealing her brother’s dead body and a missing finger also with the words painted inside the back cover that says “Payback”….yeah they just framed the Maroni’s, Cobb really is a manipulator.

Also now makes sense why Cobb gave Maroni back his ring, so it makes it looks like Maroni stole the ring back…..wow what a freaking prick, like I said no one in this show is good guys.

Sofia starts screaming, btw This screaming is horrific it really sounds like she’s she’s screaming out for bloody murder. We then see Cobb just laughing to himself in a Maniacal way…..yep he’s definitely gonna start a gang war by framing one side…this is also why I’m invested in this show, I’m fascinated by how far Cobb will push the lies and manipulation to get what he wants…

And what he wants is power, money, and respect. Also, a good friend who cares for him.

Anyway, the show ends with Oz Cobb sitting on the side of the road when Vic comes walking up to him with 2 slushes for them….this slush is called slush puppies, earlier Cobb told him about slush puppies and how great it is to mix different flavors together…

See moments like this are what really humanizes Oswald, sorry meant Oz Cobb….yes there are moments where he yells at his newfound forced friend…but it really seems like he does actually care about Vic and he really just wants a friend. So to just see moments like this is very wholesome.  He asks Vic why didn’t u just send in a finger of her brother? She would have gotten the message either way?

So anyways Vic tries to explain why, but Oz says actually it doesn’t matter…..then he tells Vic he’s earned a position next to him when he rules….and that’s the end of episode 1, yeah isn’t that a lot for 1 episode? I told u this show is very Riveting.

BTW here’s a teaser trailer for the upcoming weeks of what’s to come for the show.

Yeah if u can’t tell I’m excited about the next 7 weeks from this Sunday…..if episode 1 got me this invested in this new world of Batman then I wonder what the next 7 episodes will bring us, I’m deeply invested in Oz Cobb story in this show….I wanna see where this whole Sofia Falcone and Salvatore Maroni thing goes in this show.

I’m invested in seeing how Oz Cobb gains power and becomes the number 1 mob boss….

Anyway till next time, till the second episode releases, I’ll see y’all then….hope y’all enjoyed this review and hope y’all are on board for this 1 episode review per week angle I’m going with.