The much anticipated first episode of The Penguin, the spin-off series of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, has premiered on Max, and right off the bat the pilot turns Gotham’s criminal underworld on its head as the Penguin’s ambition to fly reignites a long-dormant mob family feud. Shifting the tone from the crime noir of The Batman, the series takes inspiration from classic mafia media to highlight one of many faces of Gotham’s upper-class corruption. While Colin Farrell’s version of Oswald is more grounded, and a bit altered from the showboating kingpin fans are used to, the character embodies the ideals and worldview of his comics counterpart very well – and fits right in with the terrible elements propping up from the corrupt, twisted underbelly of Gotham. Amidst the star studded-cast, Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone turns out to be a definite show stealer, whose conflict with Oz is going to be something to look forward to in upcoming episodes.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Oz Kill Alberto Falcone?
The series picks up one week after the events of the Riddler’s terror bombing across Gotham, which resulted in the city being flooded after the destruction of the seawall. The impoverished neighbourhood of Crown Point suffered the most, while the posh areas remained unscathed – Riddler was no seeker of justice like he pretended to be, just an edgy extremist criminal mastermind whose actions ended up propagating the class discrimination even further. Anyway, with Gotham’s most dreaded mob boss, Carmine Falcone gone, and his influence over the administrative and legislative divisions exposed, the Falcone crime family is weakened, with Carmine’s son Alberto at the helm. Control over Gotham’s underworld is up for the taking, for anyone bold enough to seize the opportunity, and that’s where Oz Cobb, Falcone’s drug operation handler, comes into the picture.
As the episode begins, Oz is seen returning to 44 Below, the inner sanctum of his Iceberg Lounge, where Carmine had stashed away incriminating information on every head honcho of the city, including the underboss of his own crime family – Johnny Vitti, which is exactly what Oz was looking for. Carmine’s ill-gotten load of jewels gets his attention, when a drunk Alberto Falcone arrives all of a sudden, suspecting foul play on Oz’s part. Oz smartly handles the situation by buttering him up and knowing Alberto’s alcoholic tendencies, quickly eases his mind with a whiskey. An addict himself, Alberto mentions something about switching up the composition of the wildly popular drug, ‘drop’ to bring something which has the potential to revitalize the drug business, and a big load of shipment will be arriving in Gotham soon enough. Alberto shows Oz Salvatore Maroni’s ring, which Carmine had taken as a way to disrespect his long time rival before ratting him out to the cops, and wonders whether he will be able to honour the legacy of his late father. To answer his question, Oz reminisces about his younger days to emphasize what it means to have a legacy. Oz recalls about Rex Calabrese, an old time gangster back in the day, who was much respected in his neighbourhood for the good work he did for the community – obviously to have leverage and control but that’s not the point. Rex had respect, didn’t matter whether it was bought or not, and that’s something Oz, who in this iteration hails from a humble background, craves the most. Alberto finds humour in Oz’s vaulting ambition, and doesn’t hide it in the least – mocking him right to his face – which ticks off a short-tempered Oz enough that, forgetting everything else for a brief moment, he riddles Alberto with bullets, getting a hushed last laugh afterwards. No ‘am I here to amuse you’ warnings with this guy, he is as volatile as they come.
For an extremely self conscious man like Oz, whose crooked appearance has been reason for a certain insecurity, fitting in among the respected and powerful is a big deal. Alberto’s jeering remarks, coupled with laughter at his expense, is something he can not shrug off, and it was an impulsive decision, or was it? Realizing what a foolish mistake he has committed, Oz plans to hide Alberto’s body by taking it away to a relatively secure location, when he sees a bunch of teenagers trying to jack his fancy car. One of the teenagers, Victor Aguilar, a resident of Crown Point who is later revealed to have lost his everything in the flooding of the city, is unable to escape as Oz scares the carjackers away, and Vic’s stuttering issues motivate Oz to take pity on the kid, thanks to his own deformity. Oz makes Vic assist him in putting Alberto’s body in the trunk of his car and makes Victor drive him around the city as he makes arrangements to cover up his crime. Oz pays a visit to his mistress, Eve, to bribe her to vouch for his alibi if the situation calls for it, then bonds with Vic while munching down on takeaway. Victor realizes Oz’s fascination with and willingness to see himself among the influential ones, which is why when, right after dumping Alberto’s body in a random car’s trunk, Oz decides to tie off the loose end by killing Vic, the youngster desperately pleads for his life by emphasizing he is willing to make it big – only if he gets a chance to prove himself. Oz was already in a conflicted state of mind regarding Vic’s fate, as he was starting to see a bit of himself in him. There’s also the fact that for Vic, Oz is not a nobody – which somewhat matters for a guy who is so conscious about self-image. Oz spares Vic’s life and basically makes him his chauffeur. Before dumping Alberto’s body, Oz takes Salvatore’s ring from him and takes the date and location for the drug shipment arrival from Alberto’s phone as well.
Why Did Sofia Suspect Oz Regarding Alberto’s Disappearance?
The next day, Oz gets summoned by Johnny Vitti and Falcone’s bodyguard, Milos, regarding the ‘drop’ business, and the duo promptly inform him that they have decided to shut down ‘drop’ related operations in Gotham for a number of reasons. Desperate to cling to his position, Oz mentions the upcoming shipment, which Alberto had kept a secret from Johnny and Milos. Oz’s mentioning it draws the attention of Sofia Falcone, Carmine’s daughter who has been recently released from Arkham Asylum, and is known as the Hangman killer, which hints at her violent past as a psychopathic serial killer. Sofia takes Oz to lunch, where by her own admission, she reveals how she didn’t ever fit into the lifestyle her father wanted her to get used to. While Oz wants to climb the social ladder, Sofia feels exasperated while at the top – and knowing how Oz’s mind works, Sofia deliberately mentions her uneasiness with her social position to make Oz feel more trusting towards her. Sofia questions Oz as to how he knew about the news of shipment which Alberto had only shared with her, and wants to ask him if he knows as to why Alberto has been unreachable since last night – especially because Alberto had left for the club in the first place. Oz deflects the question with his gift of gab, stating he has nothing to do with Alberto’s disappearaence, mentioning his alibi and asking Sofia to check up on the club as well if the need arises. For the time being, Oz gets Sofia off his back by assuring her that Alberto’s addiction or other licentious habits might have kept him busy and he will turn up soon, but he knows all too well that Sofia is a dangerous person, not to be trifled with. The minimum hint of what Oz has done will send Sofia on a vengeful pursuit which will end up burning down everything close to him. To take pre-emptive measures, Oz takes Vic on a long journey and arrives at his family home, to meet with his mother, Francis Cobb.
Why Did Oz Give Salvatore His Ring Back?
Oz plans to take Francis away somewhere safer until the heat is off his back, and his dementia-afflicted mother doesn’t take much time to realize that something is off. As she learns about Oz’s actions, she reprimands him not for the kind of crime he has committed but for the fact he is not man enough to be proud of his deeds. Francis has been fanning the flames of Oz’s ambition and sees nothing wrong in seizing the opportunity in a city that operates on a dog-eat-dog hierarchy. Oz has been taught a very different lesson about power and control from his mother, and this is in sync with the dysfunctional relationship Francis and Oz share with each other in the comics as well.
Later, Oz and Vic are seen to be enjoying some old-school Hollywood charm as “Put the Blame on Mame” from Rita Hayworth’s noir classic, Gilda, plays on television. Oz, as bemused with Rita Hayworth as the prisoners of Shawshank Redemption were, is inspired by the lyrics to make a fall guy out of Maroni, and the next day he goes to Blackgate to pay him a visit. Oz tries to convince Maroni to join hands to take the drug shipment, knowing that his position with the Falcones is in bad shape at the moment, he proposes joining hands and tearing down the Falcone crime empire together. But ol Sal is aware of Oz’s crooked diplomacy and straight up turns him down. Actually Oz hadn’t expected him to agree to his proposition either; he had arrived to give Sal his ring back, which he had taken from the corpse of Alberto. Sal is surprised as to how Oz got the ring in the first place, which was with the Falcones, but gets no answer. Taking a sense of satisfaction from Sal’s bewilderment and the possibility that now he estimates him better, Oz takes his leave.
How Did Sofia Falcone Learn About Her Brother’s Murder?
Before meeting Sal, Oz had entrusted Vic with a particular job, which is revealed during the climactic moment of the episode, and the task is daunting enough for Vic that he starts hesitating. Without rattling his cage, Oz simply tries to draw a similarity between him and Vic, as he mentions that refusing an opportunity is a luxury that people like Oz or Vic cannot afford. Life wasn’t served to them on a silver platter like it happened with the likes of the Falcones, and to escape their miserable lives, they have to grab luck by the scruff. This is enough to motivate the young lad, and he goes on to complete the job Oz has assigned him to.
After visiting Sal, Oz gets captured by the Falcones’ thugs, but not without a fight. Sofia might not be accustomed to the Falcone way of life, but she sure is as sadistic as mob enforcers can be, as she instructs her thugs to strip Oz naked and torture him with garrotte wire. Oz is once again under suspicion as Sofia has captured one of the carjacker teenagers, who had seen Oswald leaving the club that night; however, Oswald denies having met him and doesn’t bat an eye even after Sofia kills the boy by shooting him in the face. Mistaking Oz’s speech to Vic as a sympathetic gesture will be a big mistake; he doesn’t have any qualms with committing or approving to any form of heinous action if it suits him. Sofia’s torture session comes to an abrupt end as a car crashes through the front yard of the Falcone mansion, and from its trunk, Alberto’s corpse is recovered with a severed finger missing. Sofia’s anguished cry reaches Oz’s ears, and he can’t help but have a big smile painted on his face. The trunk of the car has ‘Payback’ written on the inside, and it doesn’t take much imagination to realize that the Falcones will consider this act to be the handiwork of the Maroni family, as an act of revenge. A captive Sal is already incriminated with his ring back in his possession, and he will be forced to comply with Oz’s demand for alliance. Vic, the mild-mannered kid, has grown up within the span of a couple of days, as he pulled off the mission cleanly and doesn’t seem to have any conflicting afterthoughts about it either. Later, after getting released, Oz thanks Vic and, planning to use the upcoming shipment as a means of controlling the underworld trade, shares his wish to let Vic be his accomplice. The episode ends with a shot of Gotham’s skyline, suggesting the city will be under Penguin’s grasp with two crime families warring against each other.
