Nothing we’ve seen in The Penguin is unique. We’ve probably even seen some of it done better.

That’s where I am two episodes in, and I’m still here for it. Things are heating up in Gotham with Episode 2, which is titled “Inside Man.” After framing the Maronis for the murder of Alberto Falcone, Oz finds himself an unwilling informant caught between two powerful factions. The Falcones are on high alert after a shipment of drops gets stolen, and Sophia suspects a mole inside her own ranks. So Oz is scrambling to keep his cover while he cleans up his own messes, including a loose end that could expose him. It explodes when a scapegoat gets framed, and by the end Sophia’s trust is eroding, the alliances are shifting, and Oz’s cunning is the most dangerous weapon he’s got.

The Agatha All Along Comparison

Going into this one I found myself, oddly enough, making comparisons to the Disney Plus series Agatha All Along.

What I’m comparing is that neither one of these is high action or over the top in terms of what’s happening, but both are very dramatically satisfying. They’re telling very compelling stories.

And on its face, The Penguin is telling one we’ve all seen. It’s the thing we’ve been programmed to call an American story: the guy at the bottom of the gutter who picks himself up and works really hard to get where he’s going. It’s the same idea we got in The Godfather and other properties like it. Oz is doing his best, he’s balancing everything in his own life, and the whole time he’s got his eye on the prize. Eye on the ball, if you will.

Sophia Runs Cold, and Then She Doesn’t

Oz has a conversation with Sophia early on where he tries his best to ingratiate himself to her, and she ends up being real, real cold toward him. That felt on the nose for what we’ve seen from Sophia’s character so far.

Then you get to later on, after Oz’s plan has come to fruition as best it can. Vic can’t leave the jewels he’s been trying to plant in the right place, because he got cold feet, and Oz threatens him about it later to help him get over that nonsense. Sophia’s getting pushed out. Her uncle Luca is telling her maybe she should go back to Italy. She goes through that whole moment, and she finally turns to Oz.

I’m here for the story. I’m here for the drama. But that felt a hair contrived to me, and I sat there asking myself whether this really works. I’m still here, though. I love the story they’re telling.

His Mother, and the Landlord Keeping Watch

This is the episode where you start to find out his mother suffers from dementia. He’s got the landlord watching out for her, and he’s paying a little something extra to keep an eye on her. Oh, is he a doctor now too? But things are getting better from that end.

You’ve also got Oz’s lady friend, the one he got his alibi from in the first episode, and she’s finally piecing everything together. She tells him, look, you’re putting us in danger. You killed Alberto Falcone. That’s why you needed my alibi, isn’t it? You’re putting me and my girls at risk, and that’s not part of the deal.

And I loved what he tells her. Did you catch it? He says he’s going to have a really good idea, it’s going to be great, it’s going to be a nice, big, amazing place, way bigger than the other place, the club he had. I believe he’s talking about the club we’re used to seeing from him, the nice big fancy one, the ties, the whole nine yards.

The Penguin We Eventually Know

At one point Oz meets with the Maronis, and he ends up having to turn on a guy anyway. He’s in it right up to his head.

The one place I feel like this show is excelling is in really painting the picture of the future Penguin we’re going to see. It’s the way he goes about it. He refuses to give up. He’s 100 percent committed to his path.

It recently came out from Matt Reeves that this is where the series is taking us, that we’re actually going to see the birth of the Penguin we eventually will know. My understanding is that it leads into the next Batman movie, where the Penguin will be an in into that world at that time. So I’m really excited to see what they’re pulling off.

The Verdict

The Penguin Episode 2, “Inside Man,” lands at a 7.5 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index. That’s a drop.

This episode does a lot of really good things, and I think there are some things it can do better. The number comes down only because I want to see them tighten up some of that storytelling. I like the A to B to C. Things are flowing and things are moving. I want to see things that feel less like luck and more like precision, because over time we need to get all of this stuff.

If they could find a way to do something along the lines of how Daredevil justified his outfit and the person who made it, show me that. Show me Oz meeting up with someone like the toy maker, somebody who can give him those umbrellas. Pull in some of the mythos of the Penguin. We’ve got this very grounded Penguin, and I feel like it would only enhance the story if we could begin to see him evolving.

Because remember, Batman is at a certain level of, not advancement, but escalation. I want to see the Penguin reach a point of equal escalation. That’s the opportunity to really, really showcase this gritty world that Matt Reeves and them have put together.

Tell me what you thought of “Inside Man” in the comments on the video above. I’d absolutely love to talk more about it.