The Penguin
When it comes to TV show spin offs I have been so tired of them. I think of all the spin offs from Disney with things like Marvel and Star Wars which were fun at first but then the care and creativity just started to go away. It just felt like that company was just milking those products for money and I just didn't even bother with it. But I am so happy to say that The Penguin doesn't do that whatsoever. This show does what all great spin offs should do: it expands the world of The Batman. it's not dependent on call backs or fan service which are definitely there sometimes but overall, it's there to progress the story. Once you get past those first two episodes that personally, didn't do much for me other than essential aspects to the story but were kind of presented in a very lackluster way, episode 3 and beyond present such a great and exciting story through Gotham's criminal underworld.
The thing the show does the best with are these characters. In The Batman, Colin Ferrell was excellent as The Penguin but when it comes to that overall story personally I found the other characters much more interesting than him. But in this show he brings his A game to the max. Now I just want more of this character. They kind of try to do a Tony Soprano thing where they give him a lot of depth and character with the people around him. He has a heart but he is filled with greed and evil that just leaves him as a hopeless character. This show leaves him in a place that I cannot wait to see how a future Batman movie or season 2 will further develop him. Another great character is Sofia Falcone played by Cristin Milioti. She is absolutely fantastic and brings a certain evil to her character that just captivates the screen every time she's on. She is absolutely amazing and I hope we see more of her in this Batman universe. There are so many other great characters but I'd be going on and on. Just trust me, it's great. All these actors just give such depth and layers to these characters. Through all these gangsters and crimes, this felt like a deeper story about deeply broken characters in a world that doesn't care about them and that fuels their evil.
The main thing I loved about this show though is something that I mentioned beforehand. The story has nothing to do with Batman or the other characters that would just be there to service the fans. Everything that happens to progress the story. The world building and characters all come together to make a strong story. Also the production design and cinematography is so excellent in every single episode.
I guess my main issues were in those first two episodes. I did enjoy them but when you compare them to the other episodes, they don't even compare. They are essential and shouldn't be skipped, but I think they could have been better with setting everything up.
This was a great time and I was pleased with mostly everything. This just makes me excited for more Batman and I hope the energy this show brought doesn't go away for other potential spinoffs. Also the last shot is such a hell yeah moment.