The Penguin miniseries

"A masterful examination of criminality, the show is twisted, disturbing and deeply enthralling" 

"But even if it largely succeeds on its own terms, 'The Penguin' could’ve benefited from a little more romance and variation, rather than a relentless and gloomy dose of reality" 

"An intriguing push and pull between the grotesque and the grounded" 

"The hurried nature of the plotting means that many of its highest profile supporting actors are underserved. The same is actually true of Gotham, with the locations and production design shining in several episodes, but getting lost in the narrative churn of others" 

"'The Penguin' is scuzzy, brutal, and fierce in all the right ways" 

"The Oscar-nominated actor works hard to lift up a flightless Mob-war story. Nice try" 

"But though 'The Penguin' accomplishes its goal of telling a Batman story without Batman, viewers may be left wondering around the fifth or sixth episode of this eight-part series, "Wait, why am I watching a show about the Penguin again?"