TV Review: ‘The Penguin’ Matches ‘The Sopranos’ In Pacing
by Frank Martin
There are a lot of comparisons between The Penguin and The Sopranos — and with a lot of justification. In many respects, The Penguin definitely feels like a version of The Sopranos taking place in Matt Reeves‘s The Batman universe. There are obviously some notable differences. The Sopranos is an extremely grounded series whereas The Penguin does carry over some fantastical elements that are typical of comic book stories. One obvious example is the use of fictional drugs and Oz Cobb’s (Colin Farrell) overly disfigured appearance. But the similarities stem beyond the surface as the third episode of The Penguin also models The Sopranos in pacing.
This week begins with a flashback revealing what Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) went through during the night of Riddler’s (Paul Dano) attack. He was left devastated with his home destroyed. It’s a circumstance that explains how and why he’s fallen in with Oz. Meanwhile, Oz also works with Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) to distribute her new drug onto the market. But Victor is having second thoughts about his place beside his new boss. They have a falling out, but for whatever reason, Victor decides to return and manages to save Oz’s life as he is about to be executed by Maroni’s (Clancy Brown) goons.
The episode felt much slower than the previous two, and this probably wasn’t by accident. There was a lot of ground to cover regarding the plot and characterization. The relationship between Sofia and Oz had to be explained while also introducing how they were to distribute their drugs. Additionally, Victor’s character hadn’t been expanded upon yet. So if he is going to be a big part of the story, the show needed to develop him further. However, just when the episode seemed like it was going to end in a lull, there was an explosion of action. This type of slow drama followed by sudden violence is textbook Sopranos. And The Penguin is following that formula very closely.
The Penguin streams Sundays on Max.
