TV Review: ‘The Penguin’ Episode 6 Illustrates The Many Sides Of Oz
by Frank Martin
The evolution of Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) has been interesting to watch. In his first appearance in The Batman, he wasn’t really a crime boss. He had a high position within the Falcone organization, but he hadn’t yet risen to the stature of demanding his own empire. Of course, he has aspirations of making that possible, and The Penguin has done a great job chronicling his rise to make it happen. This week’s episode truly saw the beginnings of what will eventually be his empire. But the Penguin’s core character is still a mystery, which is part of his appeal. The question remains as to whether or not he really is a sociopathic narcissist only out for himself or a blue collar hero determined to make Gotham better.
Oz’s operation is well underway in the abandoned train tunnels. He’s growing plenty of mushrooms and distributing it to gangs all over the city. Sofia (Cristin Milioti) and Sal’s (Clancy Brown) alliance is strong, but they are unable to locate Oz or stop his operation. Meanwhile, Oz threatens a city official in order to get electricity back to the rundown neighborhood he calls home. As Sofia tries to put the pinch on his drug operation, Oz unifies all of the various warring gangs to take on Gotham’s elite politicians and gangsters. But the episode ultimately ends with Sofia discovering Oz’s mother, Francis (Deirdre O’Connell), who she thought was dead.
There are times Oz is portrayed as the selfish liar he is. He has no problems killing anybody to achieve his goals of success. But here, we get glimpses of a different side. Although he did it largely to benefit his mother, he still succeeded in returning power to the impoverished neighborhood that nobody is protecting. Also, his speech towards all the other crime bosses about taking the city back from the wealthy who don’t even know their names is powerful. He’s talking about building something, a movement that gives power to the people. He also discusses giving people in the community jobs and money to support their family. And yet, he’s dealing drugs that completely destroys communities. This dichotomy is what makes him such an interesting character.
The Penguin streams Sundays on Max.