‘The Penguin’ Episode 5 “Homecoming” Review: War Is Coming

The Penguin episode 5 is now streaming on Max, and as we draw closer to a conclusion, gang war is beginning. Read our full The Penguin episode 5 review below. 

Many audience members thought there was no topping The Penguin’s “Cent’Anni”, but The Penguin further continues a trend in which each episode beats the last in both quality and stakes. This episode, “Homecoming”, manages to do a lot in its 54-minute runtime, leaving the episode to feel like a stomach after a good Thanksgiving dinner – stuffed with goodness. 

The Penguin follows Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) in his journey to power, overthrowing the reigning gangs of Gotham. This places him at odds with Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown) and a variety of ranking mob bosses in the Gotham underworld. Last week’s episode left the audience on a major cliffhanger, the death of the entire Falcone crime syndicate at the hands of Sofia “The Hangman” Falcone. While not much development happened outside of this, due to the episode being largely a flashback, it left us in a pivotal place in the series. 

This week’s episode is a masterclass in pacing. I haven’t felt so fulfilled by a runtime in a TV episode for the longest time. So much happens in about an hour that it feels like a whole movie. Although in these weekly reviews that I have been doing, I have repeatedly reiterated just how good Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti are, I regrettably must say it again. Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti are giving performances of a lifetime, playing off the material to an amazing extent. I sound like a broken record here, but they truly make the series as special as it is, commanding all attention on the screen at all times.

The plot developments in this episode continue to make me love the story and Oz’s transition into a good and proper mob boss. The rising tensions between the newly formed Gigante syndicate (led by Sofia), the Maroni’s and Oz’s gang really set the stage for something huge and I am so excited to find out how that plays out. I really love some of the character deaths in this episode and the way Sofia absolves herself of the Falcone name. A minor gripe I did find in this episode is to do with Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi). As a character, he has not been fleshed out in the slightest and comes across as overtly creepy, despite having an overall Harley vibe to Sofia’s Joker, with Rush being an Arkham therapist turned criminal simp. 

When the episode drew to a conclusion I was thoroughly content with what we got. Entertained from start to finish, never checking my phone, I was thoroughly enthralled with how director Helen Shaver handled the episode both visually, and on a conceptual level. It worked great and I love the work showrunner Lauren LeFranc and writers Breannah Gibson and Shaye Ogbonna have done here. 

The Penguin Episode 5 stars Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb / The Penguin, Cristin Milioti as Sofia Gigante, Theo Rossi as Julian Rush, Clancy Brown as Salvatore Maroni, Michael Kelly as Johnny Viti, Shohreh Aghdashloo as Nadia Maroni, Aria Shahghasemi as Taj Maroni, and Con O’Neill as GCPD Chief Mackenzie Brock. The episode was directed by Helen Shaver and written by Breannah Gibson and Shaye Ogbonna. It is now streaming on HBO and Max.

Up Next On ‘The Penguin’

Next week we should see just exactly what happened between Sofia Gigante and Salvatore Maroni, as well as Oz getting the Bliss trade back off the ground. We likely will get that, plus so much more in the upcoming next three episodes of The Penguin. 

If you missed the mid-season trailer, you can watch it below:

The Penguin Episode 6 will debut seven days after the release of the third episode, on Sunday, October 27th, 2024, at 9 PM Eastern Time (ET). It will be titled “Gold Summit”, and will be written by Nick Towne, and will have a runtime of 52 minutes. DC Studios‘ The Penguin is now streaming its first four episodes on HBO and Max. 

Thanks for reading this review of The Penguin episode 5, for more The Penguin content stay tuned here at Feature First.