One of the many things I love about HBO's The penguinhis Batman-related mob drama, starring the perfectly cast Colin Farrell, is something like that Andor of DC TV shows.

That said, showrunner Lauren LeFranc's moody, atmospheric and violent spin-off of Matt Reeves' 2022 Batman film, in which Farrell's Penguin was a supporting character, has nothing remotely to do with superheroes. Just like Disney+ Andor is set in the Star Wars universe, but does not contain lightsabers or the use of the Force, instead focusing on normal people fighting a war.

If you're a fan of TV shows that feature epic crime stories, you've come to the right place The penguin – which is every bit as good as the reviews say and features a remarkable performance from Farrell. He transforms the cartoon penguin into a captivating gangster looking to make a name for himself in Gotham's criminal underworld (and, thanks to some impressive prosthetic work, a real looker for Tony Soprano). And if you need another reason to tune in, the show is also the No. 1 streaming TV series this week, according to the folks at Reelgood.

Honestly, this shouldn't be a surprise. After all, the eight-episode drama has incredibly strong critic and audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes (94% and 91%, respectively). “Depicting Gotham through bone-crushing punches rather than banging onomatopoeia,” is the consensus of the site’s critics, “The penguin is a grounded crime saga taken seriously by Colin Farrell and scene-stealing Cristin Milioti.”

Reelgood, by the way, monitors 20 million viewing decisions every month across all streaming platforms in the US, from Apple TV+ to Max, Peacock, Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, Paramount+ and more. For the 7-day period ending September 25, the 10 TV shows that topped Reelgood's final weekly rankings were as follows:

1. The penguin (HBO/Max)
2. Agatha all the time (Disney+)
3. High potential (Hulu)
4. The old man (FX/Hulu)
5. The perfect couple (Netflix)
6. Slow horses (Apple TV+)
7. Just murders in the building (Hulu)
8. Out of (Prime Video)
9. Kaos (Netflix)
10. Matlock (Paramount+)

There are several great shows in the Reelgood rankings this week, like FX's high-profile spy drama The old man which I've raved about in the past, as well as Apple's own spy drama Slow horses (This is probably the best show ever on Apple's small but mighty streamer).

In the meantime, just a quick word The penguin: Episode 2 of the season airs this Sunday night on HBO (at 9 p.m. ET). That came after the debut episode premiered on a Thursday, before the rest of the season moved on to HBO's much more important Sunday night programming. You can catch now The penguin every Sunday night on HBO until the finale on November 10th, in addition to the ability to stream it on-demand via Max.