The Penguin

I think this is one of, if not the only, "comic book" show I have seen that has stuck the landing and has an amazing finale to compliment the rest of an already amazing series. I had no expectations going in other than loving Matt Reeves' The Batman and the universe he has created. Penguin was for sure an entertaining character in the film, but the show does such a good job of showing you every aspect of him, fully fledging Oz out and exposing the audience to his psyche. This is not a show where we spend time humanizing a villain to reach an understanding. There is no "maybe he can be better one day" or anything like that. The show commits to its main character and doubles down on his evil. Oz is a psychotic, murdering sicko who doesn't have a tragic back story. He made his own tragic origin. We come to root for Oz, one, because he is so magnetic on screen. Colin Farrell deserves all his flowers. He completely disappears behind not only the S tier makeup they have on his body, but behind his own performance as Oswald. His quiet moments of building anger, of hiding pain as to not be seen as weak, and of desperately trying to get through to his sickly mother just to have her say she's proud of him, occur throughout the show. He isn't always just screaming and yelling in that hilarious accent. Farrell gives this character everything and the writing supports him the whole time. Sofia Falcone was an incredible surprise! I knew nothing about the Hangman before this so learning about her character was super fun and fucked up. She co-leads this whole show and always manages to meet Penguin at his level. Her presence in the show matches that of her presence in Gotham. You never know what she is going to do next. She's a loose cannon with no real allegiances and she's fucking pissed. Victor was another character I loved, and his story was perfectly executed. Oz seeing himself in Vic, as they both have disabilities and are looked down on by others for it, was such a strong hook in the first episode. It made Oz human without making him likeable. He gives Vic tons of encouragement throughout the show, but you never really know if it's because he cares about Vic or if he just needs Vic's head in the game. By the finale, we find out. Honestly, one of the better shows I've watched this year and is another reminder that Batman fans are in good hands with Reeves and Co. Season 2 please!