‘The Penguin’ ends with perfected tragedy

By Ben Konuch

“I got the devil in my house, Rex. What am I supposed to do?”

If you ask any longtime DC fan who they think the most monstrous Batman villain is, you’d probably get the same answer: the Joker. Of course, plenty of Batman’s longtime enemies are nasty, but how do you make mobsters like Black Mask or the Penguin appear as sadistic or hateable as the iconic Clown Prince of Crime?

After finishing its final four episodes, I can now say that HBO’s “The Penguin” found a way.

I cannot overstate the strength of writing and acting needed to make “The Penguin” not only an entertaining and nuanced crime drama but to turn Oz Cobb from a slight nuisance into a genuine monster. Make no mistake, that’s what Oz is. He is given opportunity after opportunity to be a better man, to live a better life, and yet destroys everything and everyone around him for his insatiable desire for love, power, and respect.

And I couldn’t look away.

In a world of so-called “comic-book fatigue”, “The Penguin” is living proof that this genre has barely scratched the surface. Because “comic-book adaptation” and “superhero films” are not genres, they’re mediums. 

They can tell stories as lighthearted as “Ant-Man” or as dark and brooding as “The Penguin”. They can show us why evil exists, and the darker the evil, the brighter the hero. They can be nuanced, mature and fresh. And sometimes, they can even be a darn good crime story too.

I could go on for paragraphs upon paragraphs about the plot, and the twists and turns it takes us on to deliver a gut-punch of a finale. I could rave about Cristin Milioti’s Sofia and how her character journey has gone from wanting to perfect the world of crime her father left her to now wanting to burn it down. I could talk about how much I adore Rhenzy Feliz’s Vic and the development from being the guy at the wrong place at the wrong time to being the strongest and most inspiring supporter Oz has ever had.

But I won’t. And not because they’re not worthy of discussion, far from it. Each of the characters I’ve mentioned are worthy of having a show all to themselves, but that’s not why “The Penguin” exists. It isn’t here to set up a multiverse, or establish the next three spinoffs in the world of “The Batman.” It’s a character study drenched in sin. It’s here to prove a point to us, that the limping, fat mobster with the thick New York accent in “The Batman” is more than just a punchline or a punching bag.

As his mother says in episode 7, Oz has got the devil in him. And as an audience, we’re forced to watch it consume whatever humanity Oz still has and unleash its toll on Gotham City. As I mentioned in my previous reviews, Oz is a master manipulator, but even we as an audience don’t fully understand how much of him is a facade until the finale. He manipulates, inspires and corrupts until he brings down those around him to his level.

We better understand him by the end of the series, but we almost don’t want to. We get the answers we want about how his brothers died, about who he was even as a child, and how he became so trusted by Carmine Falcone. We understand what he’s willing to sacrifice and who he’s willing to hurt to get what he wants. 

But when the smoke clears, and Oz finds himself on top, the blood he’s left standing in and the pain he’s inflicted shows his true colors – and the devil that’s been within yet hidden all along.

As its final plot threads are wrapped up perfectly, giving satisfying yet heart-wrenching conclusions, just enough unanswered questions linger to point to “The Batman: Part II” to show us where Gotham will end up. Yet this ending isn’t a triumph, it’s a tragedy. It was always going to be.

“The Penguin” is not the story of Oz as a sympathetic, tragic villain. It’s the story of a monster who has finally been unshackled. It’s a story of family, of betrayal, of the good and evil at war within humanity, and how far those who crave power are willing to go to obtain it. Some, like Sofia, find that they don’t want it. Some, like Vic, find that they are content with just a taste of it to serve those who have more of it. 

But Oz will never be satisfied, and as the series ends with the Bat-Signal illuminating the Gotham skyline, we’re left with the reminder that only one person in Gotham can stop him now.

When the Bat inevitably comes across Oz in “The Batman: Part II”, I have never been so excited to watch a villain lose a fight as I am to see Oz’s reckoning catch up to him. For all the victims he’s caused within his enemies, his family, and even his friends, I can’t wait to see Bruce Wayne knock him back down.

How long until “The Batman: Part II” comes out again? 

I give “The Penguin” a final score of 9.5/10

All episodes of “The Penguin” are now streaming on Max

Ben Konuch is a senior Strategic Communication student who serves as a writer for Cedars A&E and as their social media lead. He enjoys getting sucked into good stories, playing video games and swing dancing in the rain.

Images courtesy of Max