TLDR The Penguin stands on its own. It gets my highest rating of, "Yea, I'd recommend it to a friend."
@StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears recommended "The Penguin" in @siggy47 ~BooksAndArticles territory, but I think that was because @Jon_Hodl hadn't revived ~movies yet. It was a strong endorsement based on the first couple episodes #714678
I saw @DarthCoin give an endorsement for Taboo w/ Tom Hardy in ~movies so I figure this is the place for TV now. Here's his review, which I recommend too #766415
Since I'm on paternity leave #726174, I've had the time to re-watch the first two seasons of The Sopranos and also watch the whole first season of The Penguin both on HBO Max. FWIW I've also started re-watching Goodfellas and The Godfather but I don't think it's fair to compare movies to TV shows.
I can't tell you how sad I was when I realized that the first season of The Penguin is only 8 episodes!! I was watching the season finale and how everything was all wrapping up, and I was like no no no this looks like it's ending!!
The big difference is that The Penguin is a villain. That's right you heard me. A Villain!. You see that's the big difference between Tony Soprano and Oz (The Penguin's name).
Look at em both! Slouched over in their arm chairs, all grumpy face. The difference is, the picture of Collin Farrell above as Penguin is after he just murdered a guy in the pilot out of impulse. For James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), that's him in his psychiatrist's office.
What's delicious about The Penguin and the other HBO Max show Succession is they're all about the villain. Rooting for the villain. The irredeemable villain. Oz is a monster. His female counterpart Sofia reminds him of that constantly. Just as the show gets you to finally think that he might care about other people, or that he might have redeeming qualities, or that you could trust him. NO! You CAN'T! The Penguin is a bad, bad man! And I AM HERE FOR IT!
So yea. There's a lot of similarities to the Sopranos, but that's a lazy take. Sopranos follows a family. The struggles of a father trying to provide for his kids, and of course wrestling with his morality for the things he does. But it's not on impulse. There's careful thought behind all of it. And moreover, Tony's plot armor is very weak. The Penguin takes constant leaps of faith where his prayers are answered. But that's fine. I LOVE how high budget the show is to have massive explosions and flames and car chases and all sorts of effects. But it's a fictional world of Gotham. The Sopranos is not necessarily low budget, but much more grounded in the reality of New Jersey in the 2000s.
TLDR The Penguin stands on its own. It gets my highest rating of, "Yea, I'd recommend it to a friend."
