The opening scene of The Penguin, HBO’s The Batman spin-off series set in the comic book universe Matt Reeves created, is so good I watch it several times before continuing on to the rest of the episode. Colin Farrell plays the titular Penguin (whose name has, strangely, been changed from Oswald Cobblepott to Oz Cobb to try and “ground” the series) as mesmerizing and manipulative in this first scene, and he only gets better from there, propelling The Penguin forward like a motor-mouthed machine, at times eliciting empathy, at others disgust. Farrell is so effective, you can practically hear his name ringing out during next year’s awards season.
The Penguin picks up right after the events of The Batman: Carmine Falcone is dead, the Riddler has flooded Gotham City, and crime is exponentially up in the wake of the disaster. Sensing a power vacuum and knowing that Falcone’s drug-addled son, Alberto, is due to take the throne, Oz immediately heads over to the family’s nightclub—the Iceberg Lounge—to raid the safe. When he’s discovered by an angry Alberto, he deflects, offering his condolences and a drink in Carmine’s honor.
Oz effortlessly manipulates Alberto; within minutes the two of them are half-drunk, reminiscing about the old mafioso until he offers the troubled young man some “drops”— a narcotic that you drop in your eye that induces a state of euphoria (or paranoia). As Alberto gets high, Oz tells him the story of the mob boss who ran his neighborhood when he was young, and how the entire community adored the man, mourning his death with a massive parade. But as Alberto begins to feel the narcotic set in, he doesn’t take Oz’s anecdote as a lovely reminder of his father’s legacy, he (somewhat rightfully, as you’ll quickly learn) picks up on the foot soldier’s desire to ascend the ranks. And so, he begins ruthlessly mocking him.
Alberto unleashes a flurry of insults at Oz from an armchair a few feet away with so much vitriol and hatred you pity the poor guy—you can see he’s faced this countless times before, this endless barrage of barbs based on his physical appearance. You see how it’s sunk deep into his soul, twisting him like gnarled tree roots, darkening his perspective on the world. Right when it all becomes too much, when Alberto seems like he won’t stop, right when you’re practically begging for someone to step in and end it, Oz casually pulls a gun and shoots Alberto point blank several times, barely moving in his seat. My mouth drops, an “Oh shit” escapes me that’s so loud our managing editor Carolyn Petit looks up from her seat several desks away.
Here is where Farrell is especially spectacular: in the immediate aftermath, he lets out a barking, cruel laugh. He’s bested Alberto, he’s silenced someone insulting his looks, his intelligence, his honor. He holds the power. But that harsh laugh dies on his lips, and realization flits across his scarred face—this is the new head of the Falcone crime family, and he just shot him in the club they own. His eyes dart back and forth and I watch as a wave of emotions wash over him: frustration at his knee-jerk reaction, lingering anger at Alberto goading him into violence, fear at the repercussions.
“Oh fu-” Oz laments, his expletive cut off by the bold title card: The Penguin.
Farrell is this good for the entire episode (and series, to be quite honest). His voice, his visage, his physicality are all unrecognizable, and his dedicated adoption of this twisted, tortured soul offers a nuanced performance you so rarely see in a comic-book-inspired series. In one scene, he can make you let out a shocked peal of laughter (I choked on my coffee during a rant about the amount of pickles on his bodega sandwich), and in another he’ll make you despise him for manipulating a young, impressionable kid into doing his bidding. It’s an absolute masterclass in acting, and a delight to watch—and it only gets better from there.
The Penguin episode two airs Sunday, September 29 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.