DAVE DAVIES, PRESENTER:

This is FRESH AIR. In 2022, writer-director Matt Reeves presented The Batman, the latest film version of DC Comics’ popular costumed hero. Robert Pattinson played the lead role, and the villains he faced included a drug lord named Carmine Falcone, as well as reimagined versions of The Riddler and The Penguin. Colin Farrell, who played the Penguin in that film, is now reprising the role in a new eight-part HBO spin-off series called The Penguin. Our TV critic David Bianculli found the series surprisingly dark and even more surprisingly compelling. Here’s his review.

DAVID BIANCULLI, BYLINE: In every television or movie version of the Batman story, from the cheesy 1960s series to the more recent, increasingly grim “Dark Knight” films, the villains have always been more colorful and arguably more interesting than their heroic opponents. Modern DC comic book movies have tried to redress that imbalance by focusing on the psychological demons that drive rich orphan Bruce Wayne to become a costumed crime fighter. And it worked. But as the more recent and upcoming spin-off films featuring the Joker prove, the same approach of psychological deconstruction works even better when applied to the villains.

And here comes the Penguin. When Burgess Meredith played him in the TV series Batman, he was a shambling, cackling, cartoonish character in a tuxedo. When Danny DeVito played him in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, he was still cartoonish but more menacing. And as Colin Farrell played him in the recent film The Batman, buried almost beyond recognition under prosthetics and a full body suit, the Penguin was sassy and vicious, but all too human. In this new HBO spin-off, the human element is everything. Lauren LeFranc of ABC’s Agents Of Shield is the showrunner and Craig Zobel of Mare Of Easttown is directing the first three episodes.

The action in its sequel takes place just a week after the events of the Batman film. Carmine Falcone is dead and the battle to fill the void at the top of Gotham City’s evil underworld has begun. Falcone’s former lieutenant Oswald Cobb is one of the people who has his eye on the vacant throne. But there are others. One of them is Falcone’s surviving son Alberto, who mocks Oswald’s girth and limping gait by calling him the Penguin. And then there is Falcone’s daughter Sofia, who was locked up in Arkham Asylum for years but is about to be released.

So the series, titled The Penguin, boils down to a story about a power struggle among gangsters. With no costumes, no superpowers, and no Batman, The Penguin’s eight episodes are less like a comic book series than a crime drama—closer to The Sopranos than the Batman movie it’s based on. It’s even darker, with a sometimes shocking amount of language and violence that’s not suitable for adults. And like The Sopranos, the twisted relationship between the main character and her mother is key to it all. As The Penguin opens, Oswald, played by Colin Farrell, commits an impulsive murder and runs to his mother to protect and relocate her. The mother, powerfully played by Deirdre O’Connell, is none too pleased.

(Sound recording from the TV show “The Penguin”)

COLIN FARRELL: (As Oz) Ma, here’s your water. Take these two bowls and we’ll get started, OK? There you have it, OK?

DEIRDRE O’CONNELL: (As Francis) First, tell me how I lost your respect?

FARRELL: (As Oz) What are you talking about?

O’CONNELL: (As Francis) You come in here and try to bribe me with a necklace, some (expletive) because of some urgent special occasion.

FARRELL: (As Oz) Ma.

O’CONNELL: (As Francis) Did I raise my sons to lie to me? Did I?

FARRELL: (As Oz) No.

O’CONNELL: (As Francis) (Expletive) then. What did you do? What did you do? Come on. What did you do?

FARRELL: (As Oz) I…

O’CONNELL: (As Francis) What did you do?

FARRELL: (As Oz) I shot Alberto Falcone. He’s dead. It’s not safe for you here. Do you understand? Sofia Falcone is out of Arkham, and she knows it. If she doesn’t do it, she will.

BIANCULLI: He’s right about Sofia. Sofia, played by Cristin Milioti, is the truly shocking surprise of this series. Until now, Milioti has specialized in playing likable, resourceful, independent women in shows like the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” – she played the mother – and the brilliant “USS Callister” episode of “Black Mirror.” She starred on Broadway in the musical “Once” and was in the second season of the FX series “Fargo.” But she’s never played a character even remotely like Sofia, and she’s just outstanding. Her character, like Oswald’s, is intensely and intelligently dissected in flashbacks. And her development, like his, charts the slow but steady path to becoming not just a gangster but a monster. After she leaves the asylum, she has her men capture Oswald, tie him to a chair and torture him while she watches and talks to him.

(Sound recording from the TV show “The Penguin”)

CRISTIN MILIOTI: (As Sofia) You’re so good at talking your way out of situations, even if it costs you someone else’s life – especially then, right?

FARRELL: (As Oz) What are you doing?

MILIOTI: (As Sofia) But my father is no longer here to reward you with fancy suits and stupid cars…

FARRELL: (As Oz) Sofia

MILIOTI: (As Sofia) And a thug that he makes you believe is yours.

FARRELL: (As Oz) Sofia – (screams).

MILIOTI: (As Sofia) Now it’s just you and me, OK? So I want you to think – I want you to really think – am I crazy? Am I imagining all this?

FARRELL: (As Oz, screaming).

MILIOTI: (As Sofia) Tell me.

FARRELL: (As Oz, screaming).

MILIOTI: (As Sofia) Tell me I’m too emotional, that I have an overactive imagination, that I shouldn’t take things so personally.

BIANCULLI: Milioti has an unusually rich character development as Sofia. She’s Breaking Bad at top speed. Meanwhile, Colin Farrell embodies the Penguin so thoroughly and convincingly that under all the makeup you actually forget it’s Colin Farrell, at least I did. And I really cared about and believed these characters, a level of commitment I don’t experience in most DC Comics adaptations and didn’t expect here. As for the lighter side of the Batman canon, I still love the TV and Tim Burton versions. But as for the darker side, The Penguin is the best entry yet.

DAVIES: David Bianculli reviewed The Penguin on HBO and streaming on Max.

(Sound recording from “MULTILATERAL NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT” by the BEASTIE BOYS)

DAVIES: On Monday’s show, we’re talking with Todd Phillips, who directed and co-wrote the movie “Joker,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, and the new sequel starring Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The characters are very loosely based on the Batman stories, but it’s a dark story about trauma and mental illness. It’s also a musical, with Gaga and Phoenix both singing. I hope you can join us. For Terry Gross and Tonya Mosley, I’m Dave Davies.

(Sound recording from “MULTILATERAL NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT” by the BEASTIE BOYS)

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