It seems a weird thing to criticise, but is anyone else out there thinking that The Penguin may have a bit too much mob stuff going on? I know it’s a ludicrous question that’s not unlike taking a pop at The Godfather for including too many gangsters, but as we approach the third episode in the crime-sentric spin-off of The Batman, there’s a sense that The Penguin maybe waddling around in circles a bit. Maybe it’s because most or the episodes are shot in the same oppressive darkness not matter whether they’re inside or out; maybe it’s because Oz’s masterplan to take over Gotham is running a little slow; or maybe it’s that we still have five episodes to go, but it feels that the show needs to shift focus a bit from solely focusing on Colin Farrell’s crook bullshitting his way through every episode.
Enter Victor Aguilar, the stuttering street punk who has been by Oz’s side since the first episode as his semi-reluctant right-hand man. As Oz and Sofia Falcone try to make their big push, this latest episode manages to give us an alternate view of the damage the Riddler wrought on Gotham City through the eyes of The Penguin’s most “innocent” character.
As we get a glimpse of what Victor’s life was like before the Riddler’s flood crippled large sections of Gotham, we not only get to meet his loving, simple family who were content with what they had in life, but we also are introduced to Graciela, Vic’s girlfriend whom he was out with when the surging flood wiped out his entire family. However, weeks after the water subsided, Victor manages to run into her again which causes something of a painful decision to make – does he leave Gotham and try to struggle out a new life somewhere not choking in crime and poverty, or does he stick with Oz and risk his life in the effort to accumulate power and wealth by any means necessary?
To be honest, Vic’s picked a rather sensitive time to have a crisis of conscience as Oz and Sofia’s union seems to be bearing fruit and the secret wonder drug that Cobb has been hearing all about is now within his grasp. The drug is named Bliss and it’s a powerful euphoric grown from the spores of a rare mushroom that was given to Sofia during her stay in Arkham Asylum in order to make the patients more docile and seeing as Gotham is in dire need of some cheering up, Sofia rightly believes that Bliss will hit big.
Firstly, they have to convince the Triads to distribute it for them, but a snag arises when they refuse to do business without the support of Falcone underboss, Viti; so the next thing on Oz and Sofia’s agenda is to get leverage on Viti to get him to comply.
However, while the plan seems to be going swimmingly, Vic indecision enrages Oz who is wounded by the accusation that his protege feels trapped (no big surprise considering that Oz has pulled a gun on him in every episode so far); but when the Maroni family gets wind of Cobb’s deceitful actions, Vic has to make a snap decision: reclaim his old life, or forge on with a new one with the Penguin.
I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but for all of its plus points, The Penguin seems to be in danger of getting a little repetitive. After all, we’ve had two full episodes watching Oz Cobb weave his devious web of bullshit over a crime empire that’s been compromised by the destructive acts of a deranged, domestic terrorist – but while the deliberate tone is weaving together numerous threads that will no doubt soon pay off, The Penguin seems to be weirdly playing things safe. While Oz’s world is a dense and heavily complex affair, the last two episodes has seen a near unbroken string of events that’s seen our anti-hero weave in and out of deep shit thanks to a quick wit and a quicker mouth. Similarly, his dance with Sofia Falcone a has taken many twists and turns in the mere two episodes that’s aired so far that’s gone from one extreme (she’s had him tortured) to the other (a team-up to get her to the top), but despite all the twists and turns, it doesn’t really feel like the show’s going anywhere particularly fast and the constant chicanery is starting to feel a little predictable.
What The Penguin needs is a new outlook on this world that Oz is trying to manipulate and with its third episode, the show thankfully pulls itself back from the brink by giving Rhenzy Feliz’s Victor more to do than being Cobb’s long suffering dog’s body. A flashback to the night of the flood lays out his life perfectly to show exactly what was taken from him that fateful night while Batman was beating the shit out of incel snipers and not only do we see what he lost, we also find out that he always had a desire to want more for himself before The Penguin started lining his pockets. As the episode transpires, we also see him having to face numerous trials after his monumental fuck up last week – on one hand, he figures out how to avoid getting waylaid by police by sacrificing the sizable wedge of dough in his pocket, however, while he’s starting to find his way in the world of the lawless, his reconnection with his old girlfriend makes him question this world entirely and even has him debating if he should leave Gotham behind him for good and his waddling, quick tempered teacher with it. It’s a welcome change of pace from the ceaseless plotting and while it gives Victor more dimensions, it doesn’t do it at the expense of all the complex crime shit that makes up every episode.
In fact, it’s something of a relief that this secret drug plan that’s been hinted at before Oz secretly pumped Antonio Falcone full of bullets is finally being laid out and enacted. The idea that Sofia is planning to utilise a hallucinogen used on her during her stay in Arkham is intriguing, especially as she reasons that an euphoric drug deployed during such a time of misery and pain would sell like gang busters proves to be bang on the money. In fact, the whole shtick that the drug comes from rare mushrooms, is used in insane asylums and is hurriedly named Bliss in the spur of the moment feels nicely like a the sort of comic book concept that keeps the show in line with its inspirations.
From there, it’s business as usual. With the deal with the Triads only going through if they get a nod from a certain member of the Falcone family, Oz and Sofia hastily assemble a plan to get leverage on Vito and we get yet another tangle in the messily knitted sweater that is Cobb’s plan for Gotham. But it seems that that sweaters many lose threads are about to be pulled – not only have the Maroni’s decided to pull Penguin’s plug for his profane plotting, but we find out that it may have been Oz’s doing that Sofia was sent to Arkham in the first place years earlier. Whatever comes of the latter remains to be seen, but after an impassioned rant by Oz after he finds that Victor is planning to leave town sees the Penguin’s student enticed back with the lure of a payday just in time to thwart the assassination attempt.
While the show is as slick and well acted as it’s always been, it’s something of a relief that the plot is starting to move along with a bit more urgency. The Maronis are on to Oz, the Bliss business is booming and Vic seems to have made his final choice that resulted in him taking a life for the first time in his life. Could it be that it’s time for the Penguin to really take flight?
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