There are good people in Gotham, but we don't see them in the HBO miniseries The Penguin. From start to finish, this is a show about rival gangsters with no loyalty or respect for anyone. They lie, screw over their own henchmen, impulsively commit murder (sometimes of their own family members), and—worst of all—put an elderly mother in peril.
The show picks up a week after the 2022 film The Batman left off: The reigning crime lord of Gotham, Carmine Falcone, is dead and the simple succession plan is quickly thrown out of whack. A fight for Gotham's underworld ensues, with the titular Penguin (played by Colin Farrell, though you'd never guess it beneath his accent and grotesque makeup) playing both sides of the Falcone-Maroni gang war. Sofia Falcone Gigante (Cristin Milioti) and Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown) are the main combatants. Other characters who seem like they may be a factor are instead dispatched more nonchalantly than a Game of Thrones star.
