Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler Season 3: A Passable Relaunch For The Show

In the last 10 years, there have been two attempts by DC to do a television show about a Batman-adjacent character set in a wider world without having Batman actually in the show in a major capacity. Gotham ran on Fox for five seasons from 2014-2019 and the first two seasons of Pennyworth ran on Epix for its first two seasons before migrating to HBOMax for season three which will debut on October 6th. While HBOMax seems to be pulling out all the stops for the new season (now dubbed Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler) to try and get new viewers, the story just falls short of being something truly interesting.

First and foremost, the show does not have a great on ramp for new viewers and is heavily reliant on viewers knowing what is going on when the show begins. A show does not necessarily need a full primer on what is happening when the show starts, however when a show changes networks and has a full name change (in this case adding a very on the nose subtitle designed to make it clear what the show is about) it is in the best interest of the show to start out making sure that everyone viewing knows what is going on with the interpersonal relationships that are already in progress when the show begins. Eventually it will all be explained; however, it takes about two or three episodes for it all to make full sense.

The show is also trying to rebrand itself with its new network home, however it does not do what other shows that get second chances do in an effort to get more viewers. When one looks back at Gotham, season one was not well received by viewers, and it got retooled between seasons to focus on the younger versions of Batman’s rogues gallery. Being a prequel to Gotham, this complicates the availability of villains for the show, however there are certainly some characters that would fit into this time period while still feeling fresh to give the audience something to latch onto. A young version of Thomas and Martha Wayne are, unfortunately, not enough to capitalize on.

Fundamentally the show also does not answer the key question about what causes Alfred to stay with the Waynes. Throughout the entire run of the show, Alfred seems very into the financial aspect of everything he does after he left the SAS. There is no growth of warmth between Alfred and the Waynes to the degree that he is willing to have this almost blood debt to them and raise their son after they are murdered and also be fine with Bruce going off and being a vigilante. It would be easier to ignore this if the new subtitle of the show did not draw the clear line from Alfred to Batman and instead just treated this like an Elseworlds story. A little more development into that relationship would have gone a long way.

The acting isn’t terrible, and the action is well choreographed, so the entire experience is not terrible. The visual aesthetic of the show is very well done, however the 1960s-set spy show is not anything new at this point. It feels like the success of Agent Carter on ABC and Sony’s development of the since-cancelled Aunt May origin movie in the mid-to-late 2010s is what spawned this show, and the end result is not as bad as one would expect from a show that’s easily dismissed as a prequel about, as the title would suggest, Batman’s butler. The show scratches the same itch that shows like Arrow satisfied, just with more blood, gore, and cursing.

Final Rating: 7.5/10

Pennyworth debuts its first three episodes on October 6th.