The Penguin Season 1 Episode 1 Recap

After Hours – The episode opens with a GC1 news report about the murder of Gotham Mayor Don Mitchell Jr. A newscaster says their sources are reporting an arrest warrant for Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) is in the works. Newscasters (Dean Meminger, Roma Torre) report on Batman rescuing the injured caught in the Riddler’s explosions. Mayor-elect Bella Real (Jayme Lawson) promises the people that they will rebuild. The elite area of Gotham Heights remains untouched by the collapse of the seawall. FEMA camps for the poor are stretched across the city as crime escalates. Notorious crime lord, Carmine Falcone’s (Mark Strong) murder is causing its own set of problems in the city’s underworld. Alcohol-addicted Alberto Falcone (Michael Zegen) is expected to take over for Carmine.

The Penguin/Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) arrives outside the Gotham Casino. He emerges from his car, retrieves a sledgehammer from his trunk, and enters the building. Once inside, he makes his way to an office where he utilizes the sledgehammer to break open a concealed compartment. He removes a lone file filled with Gotham Casino and Resort records, photos of Councilman Hady at the casino, and a woman. He inspects a portfolio of jewels. As Oz stuffs the file into his jacket, an armed Alberto approaches from behind. He gives him the jewels, claiming Carmine wanted him to have them. Oz congratulates him for stepping into Carmine’s shoes as the leader of the Falcone crime family. It takes a bit for Alberto to believe him. A short time later, they are discussing Alberto’s plan to produce a drug that will revolutionize the game. After giving him a gemstone necklace, Alberto asks for his discretion. Oz thanks him for the necklace. Alberto claims Carmine knew and was okay with Oz skimming off the top. Holding up Carmine’s ring, Alberto says it once belonged to Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) and he wore it as a trophy. Oz declines his offer to try it on. Alberto questions if he will ever be as good as Carmine. Oz tells him about a gangster, Rex Calabrese who helped the people in his neighborhood and when he died, the locals held a parade in his honor. Suggesting it is Oz’s dream to be a famous gangster, Alberto teases and calls him a “bi**h.” Oz pulls out his gun, shoots him dead, and laughs until he realizes what he just did.

A dead Alberto is in a body bag. Oz frantically retrieves Alberto’s phone, takes a picture of his face, zips the body bag shut, and swigs it over his shoulder. Reaching the landing, he tosses the body bag down the stairs. A short time later, he emerges from the building with two bags to find four guys trying to steal his rims. He fires a shot and the guys scatter but he manages to capture Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz). Frightened, Victor apologizes and yells for his friends. Oz threatens to shoot him if he doesn’t shut up. Victor pleads with him to not do it. Grabbing his wallet, Oz looks at his ID, stuffs it in his pocket, and forces him to help put the body bag into the trunk of his car. He tells him that the dead man disrespected him. He threatens to kill his family if he doesn’t follow his orders and hands him his car keys. A short time later, Oz studies Victor’s face while he is driving. After finding a November 18 shipment noted in Alberto’s calendar, Oz utilizes his gun to break his phone. He boasts about his aqua paradise air freshener. Looking at Victor’s ID, Oz sees he lives at 194 Tower Avenue. He claims to be from the eastside and recalls buying Slush Puppies from Buddy’s Market. Upon arriving at their location, they pass two drag queens (Jupiter Genesis, Christopher J. Alfaro) en route to a flat. Eve Karlo (Carman Ejogo) answers the door and asks if he is okay. He asks her to give him an alibi. She agrees and he pays her.

Oz places the two bags in a fire and sits down to eat. He tells Victor that he doesn’t have any ambition and orders him to put out the fire. Victor drags the body bag to an abandoned vehicle. Utilizing a crowbar, Oz pops open the trunk. They put the body bag with Alberto’s body into the trunk. Oz takes Alberto’s ring, lights a cigar for Victor, and says he is the new Falcone family crime boss. Oz considers killing Victor as well. Victor assures him that he has ambition and offers to help him. Thinking about it, Oz agrees to give him a chance to prove himself but warns against stepping out of line. He sets down to enjoy the sunrise. A short time later, they arrive at Oz’s apartment. While Oz gets dressed, Victor looks around. He removes his sock to reveal five deformed toes. He puts Alberto’s ring in a box.

Oz leads the way to a warehouse where an illegal operation is in progress. He stuffs a photo of Councilman Hady at a casino and a paper with a list of figures into an envelope. He claims Hady is a friend of Bella Real and owes Carmine a huge gambling debt. He writes “Lets Be Pals” on the envelope and gives it to Nick Fuchs (David H. Holmes) to deliver. Doc, a warehouse crew worker (Luqman Agiya) informs him that the Drop recovered from sewer water may be contaminated. Oz assures him that won’t stop the Dropheads from buying it. A battered Mickey Stone (Joshua Bitton) is brought into the warehouse. Mirti (Eugene Solfanelli) denies knowing who is responsible but suggests it was either Burnley Town or the Odessa Mob. The entire stash was taken during the attack. Oz is summoned by the Falcone family. En route to their destination, Victor questions if the Family knows about Alberto. Oz explains how he handles the big guys. Victor is impressed with the Falcone mansion. Oz starts to tell him what to do if he doesn’t come back out but gives him a word of encouragement instead. Milo Grapa (James Madio) informs him of their plan to consolidate and relocate all operations to Robbinsville. Oz argues against it but Johnny Vitti (Michael Kelly) quickly reminds him that it is the Falcone Family’s operation. Oz claims 70% of the product has been recovered. Vitti warns him that the police are circling. Oz tells them about the impending shipment of a new drug and agrees to oversee it. Carmine’s daughter, Sofia boasts of being rehabilitated and asks if he has seen Alberto. Vitti asks Sofia to stop and gives Oz a 48-hour deadline to close the plant. Oz promises to do it but is not happy. She pursues him and asks if he has seen Alberto. He says no. She comments on his car and asks about a dent near the trunk. He says kids tried to take his rims. She invites him to join her for lunch.

Oz watches as Sofia stuffs her mouth with found. When people stare at her, she doesn’t blame them and recalls the Gazette labeling her a “The Hangman.” She says Alberto said he was going to Oz’s club and refused to let her go. She asks why he pitched Alberto’s plan to revolutionize the drug business. Oz admits to screwing up and asks her to put in a good word for him because Alberto’s plan should be executed, even though, he is on another bender. Sofia asks what he means by bender. He tells her about Alberto’s Drop addiction before offering to take her to see Eve who he was with last night. She declines his offer. He assures her that Alberto will show up. Upon leaving, she whispers in his ear that she always knew he was capable of more.

Oz and Victor take the train to a location where he has a car waiting. Upon arriving at their location, Oz threatens to kill Victor if he says anything. He puts Alberto’s necklace around her neck. She says it is perfect. He retrieves a bag of money from the HVAC return vent. He tells her that they are going out of town. He finds her medicine box in the bathtub filled with water. Seeing her confused, he insists she take her medicine. She becomes hysterical at the sight of Victor. Oz tells her that Victor is going to help take care of her. She demands to know what he did. He admits to killing Alberto because he laughed at him and Sofia will come after them. Francis says he is her son and he is no wimp. She insists he killed Alberto because he wanted to and the city is his for the taking. Oz talks to Victor about Mame. He says it doesn’t matter who she is since she’s just a scapegoat. Later, Oz tells Victor he’s part of this. Victor admits he’s worried since he’s never done anything like this. Oz knows his home is gone, but he still made it. He asks if Victor can imagine living like the Family. Oz insists the world wasn’t built for guys like them. They have to take what is theirs. Oz says Victor needs a guy like him. Victor tells him he can do it. Oz instructs him to keep his phone on. Next, Oz goes to the jail where he meets Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown). Oz says he’s there to make things right since he’s done with the Family. He wants to offer his services to Sal and his family.

Oz explains the Family doesn’t remember what it’s like to get their hands dirty. Instead, they hire guys like him. That allows him to understand their ground game. The Falcones will be shutting down the biggest drops operation they got. It’ll move to some part of Gotham. A large chunk of their business will be ripe for the taking. Oz is in control of the move so he could easily hand it over to Sal and they could split the payday. Oz asks if he misses the respect which is what Carmine stole from him. This is just the first hit because Oz knows more than people think. Sal questions what Oz is really after. Sal tells him to get out of there. Oz tries to smooth things over. Oz says he’ll come back in a few days to see if they can work something out.

Oz returns his ring and says Carmine wore it as his own. The Falcones have been flaunting what they’ve done to Sal for years. When Sal asks how he had the ring, Oz suggests he knows more than what Sal thinks. Next, Oz keeps an eye on Sofia, Milo, and others. When he speeds away, Sofia tells her men to go. It appears he gets stuck and has to leave his vehicle. When the men stop to search for him, Oz gets out of the trunk and returns to his car. Vitti points a gun at him. This leads to a struggle. Vitti is eventually hit by a school bus. Oz is punched and knocked out. He is held captive by Sofia. She talks about being turned into a thing and thinking there’s nothing left anyway. Her brother visited her every week and said there was something left. Sofia wants to know if she’s more than a thing to play with.

She admits he was right about the club and the loft. The downside of driving a plum car is that it’s hard to forget and so is Oz when he shoots at kids in the street. Sofia has one of the boys Oz shot at on the night of Alberto’s death. Oz insists the boy is lying so Sofia shoots and kills him. Sofia knows Oz is good at talking his way out of things, but her father isn’t around to reward him anymore. Sofia’s man tortures him. Sofia wants to know that he’s alive. A car crashes outside and stops the torture. Sofia sees a cinderblock on the gas pedal inside the car. She opens the trunk and finds Alberto’s body. “Payback” is written on the inside of the trunk. Oz laughs when Sofia begins screaming. Victor gets them slush puppies later. Oz says he did well today. Victor tells him why he only chopped off Alberto’s pinky.

Oz says it’s fine since the Maronis will have to take the credit for Sal wearing the ring around Blackgate. Victor thought Sal knew. Oz says there’s no more playing it safe. He’s going to get whatever is in the shipment and run the city. Oz wants Victor in on it.

 

The Penguin Review

The series is a disrespect to the iconic DC Comics character, Oswald Cobblepot “The Penguin,” and its creators, Bob Kane and Bill Finger, as well as long-time fans of the Batman franchise. Lauren LeFranc transformed the villainous character into a vicious gangster. Colin Farrell’s Penguin shares no similarities with the original character. His impression of the Penguin is far off from the voices of Burgess Meredith, Tom Kenny, and Danny DeVito.

The cinematography and CGI are subpar at best. The setting is nothing like the Gotham City fans have always known. Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” feels out of place, probably a placement ad.

Why was it necessary to give Victor a stutter? Rhenzy Feliz started acting in 2016. He is mostly known for his role in Runaways which ran for three seasons before being canceled. Victor should have been played by a more experienced actor.

The series is a major disappointment. While I’m sure it wasn’t, it looks like a low-budget production. The pilot episode deserves a 5 out of 10.

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