The Mothers of Penguins Season 1 Review – A sentimental and heartfelt familial drama

Episode Guide

Something Wrong
Online
The Challenges
Failure
#protest
Knockout

The Mothers of Penguins is the latest Polish series on Netflix. Split across 6 episodes, the show dabbles a little into the world of MMA but really, the focus here is on the familial and interpersonal drama between the characters. And it’s here where the show really shines.

Specifically, we follow three “Mothers of Penguins” and those come from Kamila and her son Jas, Ula and her daughter Tola, and Tatiana with her son, Michal. These mothers are brought together through the fact their children have disabilities of varying degrees of severity and we see how each of them struggle and attempt to navigate the pitfalls of being a mother.

To complicate matters, each of these three women have their own drama and obstacles to overcome at home. Ula’s issues come from her social media influence, which is severely hampered late on when a big twist involving her husband threatens to undermine everything. Meanwhile, Tatiana finds herself with some serious health scares, and it fractures her relationship with Grzesiek. The pair are united in their bond for looking after Michal, but it’s clear there are bigger issues at work for these two.

Finally, we have the central protagonist of the show, Kamila. A prolific Polish fighter (although obviously not as big as someone like Joanna Jędrzejczyk), this MMA fighter finds herself at a crossroads. She’s in denial about her son’s condition, brushing it off as just being a little slower than the other kids, and trying to build up her profile as a big-time player in the UFC.

The first episode gives the impression that this is going to be another drama similar to French thriller The Cage, which also dabbles in familial issues while focusing on drama inside the octagon. Instead, The Mothers of Penguins steers defiantly away from this route, with the mixed martial arts stuff basically background fodder to the meat of this show – the characters themselves.

Alongside the three women, there’s also another subplot involving a guy called Jerzy and his daughter Helena. They end up bonding with kind-hearted Robert, and their story is interwoven into the fabric of the story, which all encapsulates around Wonderful Harbor, the school these kids attend.

What’s particularly great here is how the series examines the trials and tribulations that parents go through raising disabled children. There are obviously preconceptions and judgments from bystanders and those in the streets, only made worse when massive outbursts from the kids further show how difficult the strain can be on parents.

That side of Mothers of Penguins is captured so effectively and there are some definite stand-out moments. Seeing Jerzy with his daughter Helena for example, bonding but struggling at the zoo, works really well to show how the small wins can sometimes be monumental. Likewise, seeing the military precision needed to pull off a school trip with a group of special needs kids (like the one in episode 3) really shows how we sometimes take the little things for granted in our own lives.

None of these parents are perfect archetypes and seeing their struggles, and the mistakes they make along the way, really helps to empathize with their situation. However, this is very much a series that doesn’t let its characters have many wins either. Even Kamila, when she makes a big decision and finds some glory in episode 6, she’s immediately brought back down to Earth again by a shattering revelation.

I won’t spoil anything here of course, but the same goes for all the central protagonists in this one. I’m loathe to use the term misery porn here, but it does sometimes border on that. It would have been nice to see a bit more balance with the show; a few more wins or moments of pure bonding between the kids and parents as a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, would have done wonders for this one.

However, that is a nitpick in what’s otherwise a solid and very enjoyable drama. It’s definitely not for everyone, and some of the pacing is a tad slow – especially in episodes 4 and the first half of 5 – but if you can look past that and expect an open ending, there’s a solid series in this worth checking out.

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