I rarely watch show adaptations from movies; for some reason they just don’t strike me and feel as if they’re just filling space. I gave episode 1 a shot of “The Penguin” and dare I say I am locked in.

We are a long way from the on screen Penguin played by Danny DeVito back in 1992. Even from the comics, Tim Burton put is dark spin on the character Oz Cobb, and completely changed who he was. Since “The Batman” came out, I was pleased to see Colin Farrell in this role and even more pleased to know that after watching it, it was him! The design team hit a home run with it. Matt Reeves brought us a new approach to the on screen Batman as well as the villains, turning Penguin from a circus freak, to a mobster with self entitled intentions. He is smart and plays the game well, quick in his thinking to get out of jambs and play multiple sides at once.

Episode 1 we get to see a little of all of that. Seems to me that his is one of Colin’s favorite roles to play. A scene in the beginning when he is staring down this kid who was trying to steal the wheels off his car, the face he makes made me laugh because that was a trademark look I have seen in his other movies. The timeline takes place after the events of the movie “The Batman” and Oz sees an opportunity to fatten his pockets with some blackmail. The son of the mob boss who was killed is now in charge and between an exchange, Oz kills him because the kid laughed at him. His anger and temperament is his achilles heel at times. Oz disposes of the body but in the process he forces on the street kids who tried to steal from him, to be his lackey in exchange for not killing him. We see the development of them as well as how he balances the mob boss’s son’s sister who was just release of of Arkham and is looking for him.

Colin is so strong in his role it demands continuous watching to the end. This is a miniseries of 8 episodes. No word on if it will continue after that or if this is a lead up to the sequel “The Batman II”. I think that would be dope if the movie picks up where the show leaves off with “The Penguin”. If you haven’t checked it out, its on HBO Max and its worth the watch.