'The Penguin Episode Four' Review: The horrors of Arkham are revealed

Things had been feeling a little slow and lack luster in Gotham as of late, which is a surprise given all that has been taking place within its world. The Penguin has been a show that I have been rather on the fence about since I started watching it, not quite sure what I feel about it but definitely knowing that I appreciate aspects of it. The acting can be all over the place depending on the character, while some performances can be really solid and definitely carrying things. Colin Farrell is definitely pulling his weight in the show as Penguin, after all. And I have found myself somewhat enjoying the directing style but also a little tired of it with how it often portrays really dimly-lit interior scenes and rarely anything exterior to expand upon the world. Gotham is a huge place, but this show seems to feel the need to copy the darker aesthetic that was also found within the recent The Batman film which detailed a gothic style of things. Not so much the gothic look has been present here in the series which takes place in the same time period and with the same events at the end of The Batman, where the show picks up from. But the darkness of endless interior scenes has been growing a bit tiresome. I mentioned in the previous episode review that the episode was stronger than the previous, even while focusing on a character I have zero connection to. This was mostly due to the aspects of action that came with additional world building beyond the familiarity of the real world.

Penguin after all is a character from comic books. And comic books are often stylised with beautiful additions to their worlds in the form of colours used, character design, as well as the worlds that these characters interact with. So far The Penguin has felt bland in this regard with how it really is just your typical New York setting but with fancy looking dark interiors in buildings for the elites. I've wanted more of the city, more of the characters interacting within it, but things have been a bit sheltered as the show lingers around a very limited cast so far. There's room for more character development and world building, of course, given we are only four episodes in. But I just have been wanting a little more from it. The Batman gave us a nice mixture of things, up until it focused too much on Riddler's side of things to which it took a massive dive in quality and interest. The Penguin, one would think, would be a great way to give more depth to the world and the characters within it, especially from the villain's side of things. And that villain perspective is definitely a massive strength and something I think we've been lacking for the longest time with these comic book productions. Watching the superheroes all the time definitely gets a bit boring, and we have the questions of what these villains get up to in the day and night when they're not hunted down.

The deception of the Falcone family has been all over the place with the actions of the first episode as Penguin killed a member of the family out of a fit of rage. We have slowly seen how Penguin is a character that is incredibly short tempered, and it's really effective when his character is used accordingly. The most powerful scenes so far have been the ones where we really see what sort of loose cannon he really is, from minor insults in his direction to those questioning him. Those moments in which Penguin snaps are the ones where we really see what sort of character he is, and that's one of sheer terror. But this has been used sparingly so far, and mostly in moments in which Penguin ends up putting himself into a bad situation as a result of those actions. Mixed with the moments in which he shows sympathy for other characters, ultimately deciding to go against his usual actions and take in someone as a sidekick. Penguin's constant toying with people grows in intensity, the constant manipulation and playing every side he can. We see more of that in this fourth episode, though most of it was related to the character of Sofia and the drama that has been unfolding within the family due to a power struggle. We haven't yet seen much of the Falcone family's side of things, the inner drama of a mafia family where the family aspect doesn't hold much weight.

I liked the directing in this episode in how it portrayed a more horror side of Arkham, a scene which detailed the madness of the location, as well as the insanity of its inhabitants. It went beyond to show the space as something full of lunacy, the really dangerous members of society which have been locked up. I found the scene in which a person is taken to the prison powerful, a series of clips which detailed the process of checking a person into the prison, which was shot in a really traumatising and horrific manner, even though these were more routine events. It showed the humiliation of a prisoner in how they're treated, the removal of humanity as a person is stripped of their clothing, fingers placed into their mouths to check for items. I don't think I've seen such a well directed scene of someone being take to prison before in a television series or film. And that certainly caught me by surprise. Arkham is a place of sheer terror, so to see it properly treated as such definitely added to that lacking of world building I mentioned before in the show. More of this, please!