After the Finale: Peeling Back the Dark Layers of HBO’s The Penguin
Warning: Major Spoilers Ahead! Proceed at your own risk, folks! Like auditioning for a role in a horror film, you’ll want to take the plunge knowing full well what lies beneath!
Well, well, well! If it isn’t HBO’s The Penguin, wrapping up its first season like a gift you didn’t ask for but couldn’t look away from. Who knew a show about a waddling crime boss could lead to such a high body count? Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb truly took ‘family ties’ to a whole new level. There’s a lesson here: when your mentor suggests taking your mentee on a ride, it’s not for ice cream and sprinkles. Spoiler alert: A fun night ends with murder and a trip back to Arkham cheered on by no one!
Power at What Cost?
The finale showcased a gallery of bruised egos and shattered expectations, with Cobb disposing of his enemies like they were last season’s fashion faux pas. Our dear Sofia Falcone, expertly embodied by Cristin Milioti, finds herself back where she started: Arkham Asylum. You know, they say home is where the heart is, but in her case, it’s more like home is where you get a lifetime supply of therapy sessions.
But fear not! The ride to tragedy is filled with delightful twists, like when young Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) praised Oz, calling him “family”. Mistake! Whoever said “blood is thicker than water” clearly never met a crime boss with a penchant for impulsive decisions. I guess loyalty in this world is about as real as a unicorn on a unicycle!
Mommy Issues: The Roots of Evil
Speaking of familial ties, let’s discuss Oz’s stroke-addled mother. Now there’s a relationship that makes you want to nestle up with a bowl of popcorn and some serious therapy! The writers really went for the emotional jugular in episode seven with a delightful flashback! Nothing says ‘I love you’ like taking a permanent vacation from family with a dash of double homicide!
And don’t overlook the juxtaposition of Sofia and Oz’s relationship — one moment she’s ready to take him down, the next she’s getting swept back into the chaos of his world. I mean, that’s some classic Stockholm Syndrome with an emotional twist. Take notes, future scriptwriters — tension is the name of the game!
A Bitter Sweet Ending
Now, what’s this about a limited series? That’s some fancy talk for “we might be back, but only if we can outdo ourselves”. It’s like waiting for a sequel to a movie that made you question all your life choices — why would you want more? But oh, the delicious temptation! Do we really need to see Oz wallow in his own humanity-free world again? Or do we want him to try his hand at DIY parenting next? That’s right, you can’t unsee it!
The finale left us with a bitter taste, didn’t it? Everyone got their miserable outcome, but isn’t that the beauty of storytelling in this universe? Perhaps the real heroes are the viewers who dared to join this twisted journey. If you didn’t wince, sigh, and question your own life choices while watching, did you really even watch The Penguin?
Final Thoughts: Should We Want More?
So here’s the dilemma: on one hand, the show wrapped up tighter than a drum; on the other, there’s an undeniable itch for more. It’s like finishing a gourmet meal but still craving dessert! Are the writers simply baiting us for more? Or are they playing it smart, leaving us hungry instead of overindulged? Only time will tell if we’ll once again dive into the chaotic waters of Gotham. For now, we’re left with the haunting memory of what was, and let’s face it, who doesn’t love a little well-crafted chaos every now and then?
Stay tuned, my friends, for in the world of crime and corruption, every ending is merely a setup for the next thrilling act!
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HBO’s The Penguin wrapped up its first season with an impactful finale last night, showcasing Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb triumphing over his adversaries but at a harrowing cost. The climactic eighth episode revealed Cobb returning Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) to Arkham Asylum, confronting his ailing mother (Deirdre O’Connell), and, most heartbreakingly, killing his young mentee, Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), who looked up to him.
Oz is a very impulsive character. In his first scene, he didn’t plan to kill Alberto Falcone that night, right? It was because he was being laughed at and disrespected, and that’s a trigger for him. I don’t think he created a scenario where he would kill his brothers, or let them die. But it doesn’t matter because it’s just as violent to let your impulsivity control you and then to follow through. The more terrible action is the waiting. He has opportunity after opportunity to say something to tell his mom, “Hey, they’re down there and we should go get them.” He never does, and that’s what makes him so terrible and so despicable. So I think he knows definitively what he’s doing, but he’s inside with his mom. It’s warm and cozy. This is everything he wanted.
In the finale flashback, when Oz starts making his mom promises in the club about how he’s going to take care of her, does he know what she’s planning? Or do his — and this is what I was assuming — survival instincts send up a little signal flare that he needs to perform here and soothe her a bit?
She would’ve liked to have won the day. I think she had everything at her fingertips, and yet her biggest crutch was her rage and anger towards Oz. If she was able to let that go, she might’ve had a better and freer life. And I think when she realizes that Oz double crossed her, there’s a minimal amount of respect there for him. She knows on that drive she’s going to die tonight by this man’s hand. But she does not anticipate at all that the greater death would be bringing her back to Arkham, which is what Oz does to her.
I thought about it. I hope some people wanted Sofia to beat Oz because Oz is a villain, and at the end of the day, we should have mixed feelings about the fact that he achieves what he achieves at the cost of all these other people’s lives. To me, for Sofia, the greater death is going back to Arkham after she experienced freedom and saw the potential of what she could have. To me, this is the more tragic way for things to end for her. I wanted her to have a little inkling of hope at the end in the finale, as well, because I think she deserves that much.
That’s a great question and I’m so glad that I got you. When you first meet Victor, you think, “This kid isn’t going to last very long.” And he doesn’t. In a way, he shouldn’t have survived the pilot. I think Oz kills Victor because Victor has seen him at his most vulnerable and because Victor really cares about him and loves him — and because Victor does view him as family. He learned something from how desperate he was when his mother was threatened. I think Oz believes that for him to achieve the next level of power, he cannot have weakness. And he views love and affection and family as weak.
Everybody either got their worst, or second-worst, possible outcome. Vic is dead. Sofia’s back in Arkham. The last thing Oz’s mom said to him was that she hated him, and she’s now trapped in this perpetual hell. So basically, The Penguin won the crime boss game at the expense of ruining as many lives as possible.
And losing his humanity, or any form of humanity, that he had. That was my goal. And my pitch really from day one is this is a “rise to power” story. But it needs to feel like there was a cost to the choices he made and to what he achieved. And he really is living in his own delusion. He’s chosen to keep his mother alive. He’s dancing with Eve who’s dressed as his mother. And he’s creating his own narrative and his own world of what is acceptable — which, I think, is unfortunately strikingly relevant to what a lot of people in our world are doing themselves in positions of power.
My task was to make a bridge between the The Batman and The Batman: Part II. I love all these characters, and it is been so much fun writing all of them, and it’s such an engaging world. There are endless stories you could tell in this world. I don’t think anything should continue if there are not better stories to tell, or if you can’t one up yourself creatively.
Es that killing Victor is a way to protect himself. By eliminating anyone who could potentially betray him or expose his vulnerabilities, he reinforces his position in a violent and chaotic world where strength and dominance are paramount.
As the series delved into moral ambiguity, the implications of Oz’s decisions resonate throughout the storyline. Victor’s demise serves as a harsh reminder of the cost of loyalty in a world riddled with betrayal. Oz’s misguided notion of family becomes a pivotal theme, as he grapples with the irony that his closest relationships are often the most perilous.
This intricate tapestry of relationships adds layers to the characters and their motivations. Sofia’s struggle between freedom and her troubled ties with Oz emphasizes the cyclical nature of their existence within the unforgiving streets of Gotham. The emotional stakes are high, leaving viewers questioning the true nature of compassion and allegiance in a world where trust is fleeting.
The Penguin masterfully presents a narrative that intertwines hope and despair, showcasing characters who are both fundamentally flawed and eerily relatable. The finale’s events serve not just as an ending but as a potential springboard for further exploration of these characters’ journeys – a tantalizing prospect for fans eager to dive deeper into Gotham’s dark underbelly.
So while we ponder the lingering questions about Oz, Sofia, and the uncertain future of Gotham, one thing remains clear: the show has left us with a visceral craving for more—and perhaps that’s the most powerful takeaway of all.
