DC’s Batman Universe has never been so brutal

It is always going to be difficult for The penguin Episode 5 to reach the same stunning high of the previous chapter, but DC’s best live action show continues to soar. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc could be forgiven for easing off, but instead the story draws even tighter to Oz’s precarious position, with a major development setting up an exciting arc for the rest of the season.

this time, The penguinThe action returns to the present after episode 4 explores Sofia Falcone’s backstory. It’s very much a set-piece episode, as you’d expect from the midseason point of any show, but that doesn’t mean The penguin Pull the punch. As this excellent show continues to develop the story of Oz, it is impossible not to be impressed.

Naturally, “Homecoming” deals with Sofia’s betrayal of her family in The penguin The end of episode 4, as well as revealing more of Oz Cobb’s plan for Gotham. Inevitably, nothing is as straight-forward as it seems, and Oz’s resilience and resourcefulness are both put into action. And at the same time, we get a real indication of just what Penguin can offer as a kingpin in one of the most memorable scenes in any DC release.

The Penguin Episode 5 earns its TV-MA rating in style

Oz Cobb’s Gotham is kill or be killed

Despite the kill count in episode 4, and the flashes of ultra-violence elsewhere in the season, “Homecoming” deals everything by going for the jugular. Having built Oz as a sympathetic character – or at least one with fairly understandable motivation – Here we are reminded that this is not a good person by any definition. The hard expression of his almost tender plea to Victor to take care of his mother because she “keeps him good” to his plan to deal with the Maroni family is jaw-dropping.

Such is the decidedly sad moral of this show and the whole The Batmans expanded universe. There are no heroes – rather precisely in the case of Batman’s continued absence – and the real question is how far any of the power players are willing to go to achieve their goals. Both Oz and Sophia use sharp flashes of violence to express their own credentials, while The emerging threat of Clancy Brown’s Sal Maroni offers a new and exciting dynamic for future episodes to explore further.

The Penguin announces Sofia Gigante’s arrival

Another excellent showing for DC’s best villain on the new screen

After being saddled with an origin story that isn’t hers thanks to the Hangman crimes that saw her locked away in Arkham for a decade, Cristin Milioti’s Sofia has now arrived. Episode 4 was about reclamation and rebirth, and “Homecoming” adds to the new beginning for Sofia by focusing on her new crime family, her new name and her renewed threat to Gotham City. All of this spells disaster for Oz, of course.

Milioti’s performance has rightly received rave reviews, and Episode 5 refuses to take its foot off the gas in its excellent storytelling. The actor is terrifying coolness personified, a chilling, reserved addition to the Batman Rogues Gallery. Whose only downside is that it’s impossible to see her actually facing Batman at any point. Impressively, Milioti’s performance is all about restraint and subtlety – a marked contrast to Colin Farrell’s more animated take on Oz – and Milioti deserves infinite credit for capturing the right balance.

The Penguin Episode 5 has another excellent performance

Oz’s mother is the heart of everything

It is Almost despicable to note how great Colin Farrell is as Oz CobbAnd once again, the story expertly positions him exactly where the performance is the most rewarding. When he’s winning, he’s menacingly good fun — especially when he watches his dirty handiwork in the factory — but Farrell is at his best when Oz is unraveling, and there’s plenty of that in “Homecoming.”

The manipulator of some of the episode’s emotional undercurrent, his on-screen mother, Francis (Derdre O’Connell) deserves equal praise. Her gentle take on a mind lost to dementia is as moving as it is thoroughly believable, and the heavy swerve in her performance when she’s lucid is very impressive. O’Connell is effectively playing two characters at once, and against her influence, Oz’s extreme behavior makes perfect sense.

As for the rest of The penguinCast: Praise must also go to Michael Kelly as Johnny Whitty, one of the few survivors of Sophia’s massacre in episode 4, who shows a completely different side to the character in the fallout of the Falcon “tragedy”. He does desperate, sniveling pity very well. It is a It’s a shame, though, that we didn’t get more of Shoora Aghdashlu, who feels a little underutilized.

Final Thoughts on The Penguin Episode 5

Another stand-out episode keeps the show’s winning streak up

“Homecoming” is both very present in its narrative moments – giving them time to really leave a mark – and also very much focused on what comes next. This is often a difficult balance to achieve, however The penguin is a masterfully crafted story, capable of manipulating the audience in directions that are unexpected but never stolen. And technically, the way this episode is shot feels like David Fincher dropped by for a quick consultation.

The only serious issue – and I’m sorry to bring it up – is The penguins lack of acknowledgment for The Batmans missing letters. Batman’s absence now feels like a conscious expansion of the uncertain tone of Batman’s ending and his future, but not having Jim Gordon even remotely involved in the fallout of Gotham’s gang war feels odd. There is at least an allusion to this, thanks to the return of Chief McKenzie Bock (Conn O’Neill), but Gordon’s shadow insists.

The penguin Episode 5 isn’t as monumentally good as its predecessor, but it really is brilliant television from top to bottom, and a joy to be able to recommend. And as a final reward, the use of emo rock icons The Cure over the final scenes is the culmination of a personal campaign to match Batman with his perfect music that I can claim has absolutely no role in the actual decision. But it’s colossal and appropriate all the same.

New episodes of The penguin Release every Sunday night on HBO.