# The Penguin was amazing!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, hbomax-wb-dc
**Created:** [September 20, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503 "2024-09-20T02:17:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/21 "2024-10-10T14:59:54Z")
I’m surprised to be unable to find a thread on this show.
My daughter is a passionate DC fan and especially Batman stuff so she and I have been watching “The Penguin” and my lord this show is shockingly good. I mean, we’re only three episodes in so they have a chance to screw it up yet, but so far it’s just outstanding. No Marvel series has ever been this good.
For the uninitiated (which may include one person) this is a followup to the “The Batman” movie, it’s that version of the universe, and begins basically days after that movie ends, so it’s Colin Farrell as The Penguin (he’s not a big deal yet, but people do insultingly call him that sometimes) trying to become, well, a major crime lord. No superheroes have appeared as of yet; it’s just him trying to get what he wants while working for the Falcone and Maroni crime familes.
Farrell is magnificent. Like, this is an Emmy-worthy performance all the way. The Penguin is both a murderous crime boss and also a guy with some degree of empathy and a relatable life. Also amazing is Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, who is clearly kinda nuts and might or might not be a murderer. She’s playing a person on the edge of sanity, but in a way that’s not overdone or comical - you believe it all the way.
Both deserve awards. Just tremendous acting. It’s interesting to me how they act through their physicality - Farrell is buried in makeup and prosthetics but he emotes brilliantly. Milioti is a small, pretty woman, but she just fills in the frame with menace and unpredictability even when she’s being vulnerable. It’s some of the best acting I have ever seen in a TV show.
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### Author:  [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/22 "2024-10-10T15:26:33Z")
I too am first three episodes into **“The Penguin,”** I find myself quite captivated. Colin Farrell delivers a stellar performance, becoming utterly unrecognizable beneath the heavy prosthetics that transform him into the infamous crime boss. The show masterfully captures the gritty tone and dark atmosphere of Gotham City, immersing us in its shadowy underworld. Coupled with a compelling storyline this series is one I’m eager to continue watching.
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### Author:  [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/23 "2024-10-10T17:17:55Z")
there is another thread [here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503)
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### Author:  [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/24 "2024-10-10T20:25:37Z")
Is there some reason Batman doesn’t even appear in most Batman shows?
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/25 "2024-10-10T20:33:17Z")
Yeah I’m completely hooked on this show.
Seeing The human side of penguin is quite captivating.
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/26 "2024-10-10T20:59:45Z")
I will confess that I’ve been meaning to watch it, but I wasn’t really a fan of _The Batman_, so I’ve been pretty hesitant about diving into this show.
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### Author:  [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/27 "2024-10-10T22:05:51Z")
Tonally, it feels connected to the movie. But it’s still very much its own thing. It’s somehow both darker and funnier. Grim and light.
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### Author:  [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/28 "2024-10-10T22:18:18Z")
I may have to give it a go, then. I just thought _The Batman_ was entirely too long, and that really pulled me out of the movie.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/29 "2024-10-10T22:38:09Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Is there some reason Batman doesn’t even appear in most Batman shows?
This isn’t a Batman show.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [October 10, 2024, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/30 "2024-10-10T23:56:20Z")
So he has to kill Vic before this is over right? It feels like that is what everything is leading to. He gives up what’s left of his humanity to end up on top.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/31 "2024-10-11T00:07:20Z")
But how does that lead to him wearing a tuxedo and saying “waah waah waah” a lot?
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### Author:  [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/32 "2024-10-11T17:39:06Z")
Yeah, poor Vic has/will sacrifice everything for Oz, and still wind up in a car trunk. And it’s probably his mother who will push him into doing it.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2024, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/33 "2024-10-14T05:16:37Z")
> [@SwissMan](#):
>
> I hope we get a flashback episode showing how she ended up in Arkham and what happened there.
Okay, now hope for some other useful things!
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/34 "2024-10-14T18:24:44Z")
> [@TPWombat](#):
>
> Cristin Milioti is _incredible_
She is absolutely magnificent. We got almost no Penguin this episode and you hardly even miss him.
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### Author:  [@SwissMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwissMan)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2024, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/35 "2024-10-15T00:54:37Z")
Yeah, this is probably the episode Cristin Milioti is submitting to the Emmys next year.
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### Author:  [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/36 "2024-10-15T17:51:31Z")
She was absolutely fantastic in this episode. The Penguin was a tertiary character and I barely noticed.
It has been a long time since I read “The Long Halloween”, I am pretty sure that Sofia was the hangman in the comics.
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### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/37 "2024-10-15T19:03:49Z")
I love this show and Ferrell is amazing.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [October 15, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/38 "2024-10-15T19:38:02Z")
Your spoiler is partially right. It was actually in the sequel to The Long Halloween called Dark Victory.
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### Author:  [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/39 "2024-10-16T18:41:40Z")
I own both books. I will have to reread them.
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### Author:  [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2024, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penguin-was-amazing/1007503/40 "2024-10-16T19:00:19Z")
> [@SwissMan](#):
>
> Yeah, this is probably the episode Cristin Milioti is submitting to the Emmys next year.
Just watched it last night. One of the best single episodes of any show I’ve ever seen.
But I have a question: How did she render everyone in the house unconscious? Or are they dead? And if they’re dead, why isn’t Johnny VIti dead?
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