Ten days after the release of The Penguin’s premiere, a second episode, titled “Inside Man” has arrived. Scroll further to read our The Penguin Episode 2 Review.
Similar to how the show’s first episode was preceded by a great film, setting up great expectations, this second episode had huge shoes to fill. Not only did it reach these expectations, but I genuinely think it surpassed them.
The Penguin follows Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) as he attempts a power grab, pitting rival gangs against each other in the world of The Batman. The show’s second episode “Inside Man” sees Cobb work with the Maronis to further destroy the Falcone crime syndicate, but he must soon alleviate some surprise tensions that arise.
Last week’s episode saw Cobb murder reluctant clan leader Alberto Falcone to satisfy an instinctual urge, an event that serves as the linchpin of the entire series. The mystery of the character’s death to people outside of the audience’s perspective continues to serve as a fantastic basis for the series, with it resounding in the show’s mob sub-genre.
While I haven’t been able to watch the new episode more than a couple of times, I found a lot of the plot points here to be a lot more refreshing and experimental compared to the first. Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone truly gets to show off some of her insanity here, with the episode’s cold open showing her having involuntary episodes onset by the death of her brother. Her ability to switch between her kindness and her more sinister counterpart works wonders for the series, drastically taking hold of the mood when the story demands it.
Colin Farrell continues to shine, showing an utter aptness for disappearing into roles, becoming one of the best character actors in the show, even alongside legends such as Clancy Brown and Michael Kelly. His make-up work continues to be perfect, yet to show signs at all of feeling fake or tacked on, completely engrossing the audience in the wonderful worldbuilding. While Rhenzy Feliz’s Victor Aguilar gets less to do in this episode, he gives a better performance than he did in the aforementioned, as he is given a lot more emotive material.
Up Next On ‘The Penguin’
While I definitely haven’t caught everything left in the episode for fans, the worldbuilding and production design are so rich that it’s impossible to not pick up on something. It all works perfectly, adding to the already layered and complicated lore of the world first pioneered by Matt Reeves. Craig Zobel does serve as a great successor and come episode four, I’m excited for the next director to pick up the torch.
The Penguin Episode 3 will debut seven days after the release of the second episode, on Sunday, October 6th, 2024, at 9 PM Eastern Time (ET). It will be titled “Bliss”, and will be directed by Craig Zobel, written by Noelle Valdivia, and will have a runtime of 59 minutes.
The Penguin stars Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Clancy Brown, and Michael Kelly. It was created by Lauren LeFranc and the show’s first two episodes are now streaming on HBO and Max.
Thanks for reading this review.
