Homecoming
After a brief detour into Sofia Falcone’s past, The Penguin returns to the present to follow Oz Cobb and Vic Aguilar as they go underground and try to regroup.
Oz Targets Maroni
Given how episode three ended, Oz had to respond to the Maronis. He was building what looked to be a fruitful partnership with Sofia Falcone when Nadia Maroni intervened. This led to Sofia learning Oz killed Alberto, and Oz fleeing without her. He takes Vic underground while plotting his revenge with the target being the Maronis’ son, Taj.
Oz and Vic kidnap Taj and set up an exchange with the Maronis, Oz gets his mushrooms for his new party drug back while the Maronis get their son. This plan has another wrench as Oz pays off a guard to try to kill Salvatore Maroni in prison. During the exchange, Oz gets into a firefight with the Maroni family and makes one of his most sinister moves yet. Oz burns Nadia and Taj Maroni alive. Salvatore overpowers his attacker and escapes prison, calling Oz to let the Penguin know he’s coming. That’s when Oz drops the bomb that Salvatore may be free from prison, but his family is dead. His freedom cost him everything.
Sofia Rebuilds Her Family
In the previous episode, Sofia took revenge on her family for how they responded when Carmine had her framed as the Hangman. The only survivors were Sofia, her niece who she deemed innocent for still being a child and Johnny Viti, a key lieutenant in the family. Police investigate and believe either Sofia or Viti is responsible. Meanwhile, it’s revealed Sofia is keeping Viti locked up until she gets information from him.
Viti reveals that Isabella Falcone was ready to leave Carmine with Alberto and Sofia when Carmine killed her. Meanwhile, Sofia wants to rebuild the family with her in charge. She brings in new members while revealing Viti as her top lieutenant. She uses Viti as a pawn by telling the new family Viti is the only “made man” in the family before killing him when he questioned her moves. Sofia reveals the Falcone Family is no more, she’s now Sofia Gigante.
Sofia and Salvatore Together
With both their original families demolished, Sofia and Salvatore turn to each other. Sofia proposes merging what’s left of the Falcone and Maroni Crime Families. Sofia reveals that Carmine thought of Salvatore as weak because of his devotion to his family, but Sofia sees it as a strength. Whether she really believes this or is manipulating a grieving man is left ambiguous, but it’s some of the best storytelling either way.
Sofia and Salvatore both have plenty of reason to target Oz as he has brought them incredible pain. Oz betrayed Sofia when she was meeting with a reporter which led to Carmine framing her as the Hangman. Oz killed Carmine during The Batman and Alberto during the first episode. Now, Oz has killed Nadia and Taj. He’s underground with the heads of the two most effective crime families in Gotham united in tracking him down.
Oz’s Mother
While Oz is trying to get his mushrooms back from the Maronis, he left Vic to take care of his mother. When things go sideways, he tells Vic to get her to safety. Vic takes Francis Cobb to where he once lived in Crown Point. It was one of the worst places in the city before the Riddler flooded it; now, it’s an even bigger mess, but it’s a perfect place for Oz and Vic to lay low.
When Oz meets up with them, Francis doesn’t want him around either. She feels like he abandoned her when he left her with Vic. Oz references how “the city” took his brothers and understands her feelings. Still, Oz has a plan.
During the firefight with the Maronis, most of the mushrooms were destroyed. It appears Oz won’t be able to use his drug, “Bliss,” to build his empire, but Vic has accidentally helped him. Oz takes Vic to the old subway near where they are hiding. He reveals it is dark and humid which is the perfect place to grow more mushrooms allowing him to see a future criminal empire with him on top.
Rating
Oz Cobb is turning more and more evil with each passing episode. While he’s a known Batman villain, the show built him to have a little loyalty to his mother and to Vic, for now. He has weaseled his way in with both Salvatore Maroni and Sofia Falcone and left both devastated and hungry for revenge. This has left him needing to lay low and also potentially put on a target on both his mother and Vic.
With each episode, Oz is becoming more and more detestable. Eventually, he’s going to do something so bad that the viewer can never be on his side. I assume this will be an eventual betrayal of Vic. I was worried the creators would try to make Oz as the villain you want to see succeed, much in the vein of Walter White on Breaking Bad. Instead, that’s Sofia Falcone. You understand why she’s broken. Oz is just evil, and it’s refreshing to see a villain be a villain. This series continues hitting on all cylinders.
Check out The Penguin on HBO and Max.
Article Written By: Jeremy Brown for Stelmach Brown Media 2024
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