The worldly advice of keeping one’s friends close and one’s enemies closer proves really effective in the world of organized crime, even more so when Gotham is the playfield. Oz knows this too well; as caught in the gang war he himself instigated, Oz continues to shift alliances to save his skin, which becomes the narrative focus in the third episode of Max’s The Penguin. Previously, a bruised ego prompted Oz to take an impulsive decision to kill the Falcone crime family chief, Alberto. Soon enough, Sofia Falcone, Carmine’s psychotic serial killer daughter, puts the heat on Oz, suspecting him to be the killer. To cover up his tracks, with the help of his new lackey, Vic, and information about an upcoming Falcone drug shipment, Oz successfully incriminated the Maroni family for Alberto’s murder. Making an imprisoned Sal Maroni the fall guy, the next thing Oz needs to take care of is conjuring up an inside man—to make his lies more believable.
Spoilers Ahead
Sofia’s Vision
The second episode begins with Sofia experiencing a nightmarish vision during a session with her therapist, Dr. Julian Rush. In her vision, Sofia finds herself back in Arkham, where she sees Alberto has returned to meet with her. The siblings clearly shared a strong bond, which is making Sofia’s mind project her desire to see his brother once again. However, reality creeps in as Sofia gets horrified seeing Alberto being shot to death. Dr. Rush helps Sofia’s panicked mind to ease up a bit through verbal and visual cues, and it is suggested that the duo share something beyond a professional relationship. Julian expresses his willingness to help Sofia, but she isn’t convinced that she can be helped while she is in Gotham. Sofia’s words hint at a troubling past, which was the cause of the broken state of her psyche, and in future episodes the truth of her past will be revealed. A lot of fans are speculating Julian Rush to be connected with the infamous psychologist-villains of the Batverse like Hugo Strange or Scarecrow, but there is nothing substantial to pinpoint as such during the character’s brief first appearance.
Oz Hands Falcone Drug Shipment To Maronis
Oz returns to Blackgate to meet Sal Maroni, who is much displeased after having had to take the blame for the crimes Oz himself committed. However, mob bosses like Sal Maroni, who love to flaunt their ill-gotten powers, are too proud to even refuse being wrongly blamed if it boosts their reputation—so Oz knows Sal will not rat him out to the Falcones. Oz assures Sal that he is on good terms with Luca Falcone, Carmine’s brother, the new Falcone crime family chief, who is too timid to wage gang war to avenge Alberto’s death, and to keep his end of the bargain, offers to let Maroni’s men seize a Falcone ‘drop’ shipment. Consulting with his consignee, Nadia, Sal agrees to cooperate and introduces Oz to Ervad, one of the Maroni capos, who will lead the operation on their front.
As Falcone’s shipment is being moved to Robbinsville, a minor setback arises as Johnny Vitti’s decision to coerce Oz to take lead of the operation threatens Oz’s own plan, but in the end everything works out just fine, as Maroni’s guys successfully seize the shipment by killing most of the Falcone crooks, Oz himself eliminates a number of his Falcone family comrades, but saves Castillo, Sofia’s bodyguard—which helps him to stay on the safe side when Johnny and Luca question him about the mess up. While Johnny is furious about the loss of the shipment, Oz finds unexpected support from Sofia, who is more interested in taking the fight to the Maronis to avenge the death of her brother. Sofia also floats the idea of having a mole in the family, who has seemingly helped their rivals to kill Alberto and seize their shipment. Luca isn’t the most perceptive one, but he realizes Sofia has more brains and is daring, and fearing that he will lose control in no time, Luca tries to keep his niece out of the family business. Oz, who is quite aware that Sofia will face pushback, pretends to sympathize with her, trying to turn her against the old timers who are calling the shots. Sofia isn’t convinced by this sudden show of loyalty Oz is trying to project and deduces it as his desperate attempt to secure his position in the family. She decides to act on her own by asking an addict detective, who was formerly on Carmine’s payroll, to find the inside guy in exchange for cash and a hit of drops.
Vic’s Past Life
Oz heads back to his apartment with Vic, and on their way, Vic comes across a number of missing persons posters, which momentarily grabs his attention. It was hinted that Vic lost his entire family when Crown Point flooded after the seawall collapse; perhaps he is still holding on to hope that some of them might have survived. Later on, as Oz throws a party at his apartment, Vic is seen ignoring a text from someone known as Graciela, who seems to be a close acquaintance, pondering about Vic’s wellbeing. It raises the question of whether Vic was being honest about having lost his family or if he was trying to evade his past for reasons personal to him. Oz shares another story with Vic, this time of his former employer, a gangster named Pinchy Rovegno, under whose command Oz forced himself to learn driving within a weekend’s duration. The point Oz wants to make is that Vic needs to adapt to the necessities of this deadly lifestyle if he is willing to reap the rewards afterwards.
Anyway, without anyone in the party noticing, Oz slips back into his bedroom as he plans to incriminate Johnny Vitti with the leverage he has on him and intimate pictures of him with Luca Falcone’s wife, which will undoubtedly result in Vitti’s getting eliminated from the family. Vitti, who remains distrusting of Oz, poses a threat to Oz’s ambition, and exposing him will also bolster Oz’s position to Luca. Oz’s girlfriend, Eve, follows him into his bedroom, and it is revealed that she has figured out that Oz killed Alberto Falcone. She is worried about the safety of her own and of her friends who have accompanied her to the party, but Oz manages to reassure her somewhat.
Sofia Gets Close to the Truth
The next day, before Oz can attend Alberto’s funeral, he finds out his mother’s dementia-afflicted mind is putting her life at risk as she was found loitering outside her house by the landlord. Oz tries to comfort his mother by putting a classic tune on the record player and waltzing with his mother for a brief time until Vic reminds him that he is getting late for the funeral.
Oz smoothly dodges Sofia’s questions about being late at Alberto’s funeral by drawing upon the family angle, knowing it to be her weak spot. Oz shares that, after the deaths of his brothers, the only way his mother could process the grief dawning over her was to take young Oz to a jazz club and dance together. Oz has a unique bond with his mother, but once again, that’s not the point his cunning brain is trying to make to Sofia; he wants to let her think of Oz as a dependable, sympathetic presence. Throughout the episode, Sofia’s notoriety as the Hangman Killer continues to remind us about her sordid past, sometimes through podcast and news recordings, through public outcry against her, and even during the funeral, the uppity socialite crowd whispers about her actions. Sofia had seemingly murdered seven women before ending up in Arkham, and no matter how much influence the Falcones hold over Gotham, crime of such caliber cannot be brushed under the rug. Sofia’s cousin, Carla, catches up with her, and even she is afraid to let Sofia get close to her daughter. All this contributes to a feeling of alienation, which distances Sofia from everyone as she suffers in silence, with the trauma experienced at Arkham continuously haunting her.
Castillo takes Sofia to the detective, who has managed to capture Sal’s capo, an injured Ervad, from the hospital, and drugging him with morphine, has brought him to Sofia. He believes Ervad can direct Sofia to the inside guy, and Sofia instructs Castillo to keep him captive in the basement for the time being until Alberto’s memorial service ends. Oz is called to an urgent meeting by Nadia, who blames him for Ervad’s capture and suspects he’s still siding with the Falcones. To save his skin, Oz has no other option but to hand the leverage he has on Johnny to Nadia to prove that he is indeed on their side. Oz promises to break Ervad out of the Falcone mansion, as otherwise his involvement will be discovered by the Falcones.
Oz hands Carmine’s gems he had taken from 44 Below to Vic, asking him to put them in Johnny’s car—one way or another, he is determined to bury Johnny Vitti. Oz manages to locate Ervad being held in the basement of the mansion, and as Castillo briefly leaves his position of guarding the basement, Oz uses the opportunity to ask Ervad to pin the blame on Johnny. However, things go south as Vic fails to put the gems in Vitti’s car, prompting Oz to stab Ervad to death. Oz leaves the basement in time and leaks the word of Ervad being kept as hostage to Johnny and Milos, which results in Luca questioning Sofia about her taking matters into her own hands. As Ervad is found dead, all the drop business associates at the mansion are rounded up and searched for the murder weapon—as it is suspected that one of them is the inside guy who killed Maroni’s capo, when Oz creates a ruckus with Johnny—making it seem like he is going to plant his knife in Johnny’s pocket, but surprisingly he plants it on Castillo, and Sofia is all too quick to assess his bodyguard as bring the killer given he had the perfect chance and opportunity to do so. Before Castillo can say much in his defense, Luca puts a bullet in his head.
Why Did Sofia Decide To Join Hands With Oz?
Sofia is furious at her uncle, as she wanted to take revenge for Alberto’s demise, but for Luca, an inept show of strength was necessary to remind everyone who is in charge. Luca indirectly asks Sofia to leave the family business to him, as he suggests she return to the old country, Italy, leaving Gotham for the older men who have assumed power for so long. Distanced from her family, Sofia is quick to take a hint, and without turning the situation any more tense, she leaves.
Oz is tasked by Johnny to bury both Ervad and Castillo, and he charges Vic to do the digging. Oz’s volatile nature and short temperament are on display as he suddenly decides to remind Vic that he is living on an extended warranty granted by Oz by asking him to lie with the bodies—where he really belongs. However, the tense situation soon eases up as Oz helps Vic climb out of the deep grave and reminds him how costly slip-ups can be. It is clear that Oz hasn’t taken Vic fumbling his task as a casual mishap, and Vic cannot rely on his friendly, witty demeanor as a sign of assured security. Vic needs to adapt and improvise if he wishes to survive in this dangerous game.
Speaking of improvisation, Oz has planted the gems in Castillo’s apartment, incriminating him as the inside guy who was responsible for Alberto’s death and Falcone’s shipment loot. Sofia meets Oz at the Falcone family mausoleum and shows him the gems recovered from Castillo’s place and mentions Alberto wanted to use them to expand the drop business along with Sofia. With her brother gone, Sofia has no one by her side, and she turns to Oz to assist her in overtaking the family business by going against the likes of Luca, Johnny, and the selfish old timers in power who don’t care about the legacy of the family in the first place. As the episode ends, it doesn’t need to be stated that Oz is elated to agree to her proposal, but what remains to be seen is whether someone with an unstable state of mind and a violent, aggressive streak—such as Sofia Falcone by Oz’s side—is actually going to serve well for him by the end.
