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As Oz Cobb flees the Maronis, Sofia Falcone begins her revenge tour in the latest episode of the HBO and Max Original Series, The Penguin. Sofia’s past as the Hangman is revealed, and she turns up the heat in this battle between her family, the Maronis, Oz, and possibly the Triad.
Younger Sofia
After the cold open recaps the final moments of the previous episode, Sofia slips away and calls for help. The episode transitions to a flashback where the viewer sees a younger Sofia leading a campaign to help protect women and girls in Gotham who may be considering suicide. This Sofia understands her father does illegal and unethical things to provide for her and her brother. Still, Sofia is the responsible child making the Falcone name look good to people in Gotham who may not know the Falcones are a crime family.
Sofia provides an interesting perspective compared to her brother, Alberto, who is portrayed as a drunkard and “screwup.” It appears like their father is about to go against family tradition and name Sofia as his successor as the head of the family rather than Alberto. But a meeting with a reporter spells the end for Sofia Falcone.
Arkham Asylum
The reporter reveals some injuries in a series of women who worked at one of the Falcones’ clubs that were all ruled suicide. The reporter gets Sofia questioning if Carmine Falcone possibly murdered her mother, whose death was officially ruled a suicide by hanging, as well as these other women. During this time, Oz Cobb is a low-level member of the Falcone crime family who serves as Sofia’s driver. Their relationship appears to be that of more than employer/employee and bordering on friendship. But that changes when Oz tells Carmine about Sofia meeting with a reporter.
Sofia and Carmine have an argument, and Sofia is sent home from a party. On the way home, police pull their car over and arrest Sofia for the murder of the reporter as well as each of the victims whose deaths had been ruled suicide. She’s sent to Arkham for six months after her father, and other members of the family, wrote letters saying she had been mentally unwell since her mother’s death.
While in Arkham, Sofia experiences hell while waiting for her six months to be up. After the time was supposed to be up, she never goes to trial for the murders, because her father has set everything up and she’s being held at Arkham for good, or until Carmine is murdered by the Riddler.
Sofia’s Revenge
The episode returns to the present where she meets with one of the doctors from Arkham. She tries to figure out a way to rebound after losing the Falcone family and her tenuous partnership with Oz. Her uncle, Luca, gave her an ultimatum to leave town, so she attends a dinner in his honor, feigning support for him being the head of the Falcone crime family. Then, she reveals she knows everyone in the room betrayed her, and it’s best she’s not a part of this family.
The setup makes you think she’s going to start her own life and family to take down the Falcones over time, but this episode had one more twist. After luring her younger cousin out of the house because she knows the child is innocent, Sofia reroutes a natural gas line into the house killing almost every member of the family. She walks through to Johnny Viti’s room where he is the only survivor due to her leaving the window cracked. She lets him know that she’s made her move, and this power move has her at the head of the Falcone crime family.
Rating
While The Penguin only served as a minor character in this episode, it served as an important backstory for Sofia Falcone as she made her power grab. The Maronis are still a problem, and it’s unclear where the Triad stands after the Maronis attack on Oz and Sofia. However, immediately after that attack and betrayal, Sofia was at the bottom of the barrel. But with just one move, she has positioned herself in an excellent position to seek revenge on the Penguin.
The episode makes it clear that Alberto was the only member of the family who stayed loyal to Sofia when she was framed. She has been wanting to avenge his murder since the first episode, and she thought the Maronis were responsible until the Maronis held her and Oz hostage after unveiling their new drug. She now knows Oz killed Alberto, and she wants to bring the height of the Falcone family down on him. That’s some of the best storytelling this series has done in its four episodes.
Check out The Penguin on HBO and Max.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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