The Penguin Just Revealed Its Darkest Secret Yet

Clearly, Oz Cobb is a bad guy. He is, after all, the Penguin, one of Batman’s most notorious villains. Watching a show on his rise to power was never going to be puppy dogs and ice cream. Throughout the show so far, we’ve seen Oz (Colin Farrell) do all manner of awful things, from burning his rivals alive to betraying someone who trusted him. On this week’s penultimate episode of the show though, Oz’s true evil was exposed. And, oddly, it saved him too.

Episode seven of The Penguin, “Top Hat,” began with this crucial information. In a flashback, we saw a young Oz (Ryder Allen) living with his mom (Emily Meade) and two brothers, Jack and Benny (Owen Asztalos and Nico Tirozzi). It seemed like a pretty normal household all things considered, with Oz, the middle child, yearning for the attention of his mom and respect of his brothers. The three boys go out to play and, after feeling like they’re messing with him, Oz locks them in a storm drain just as it’s beginning to rain. He tells them “Have fun getting out” and goes home. As the rain keeps coming down and his mom keeps worrying, Oz does nothing. The implication, of course, is that not only did Oz kill his brothers, but he was okay doing it.

It’s a chilling and frankly uncomfortable moment. Maybe the hardest thing to watch of everything that’s so far on The Penguin, and that’s saying a lot. But what made the revelation even more interesting was how it came back at the very end.

The last episode left Oz at the mercy of Sal (Clancy Brown) and Sofia (Cristin Milioti). They’d kidnapped his mom and he was willing to do anything to get her back. Eventually, Oz turns the tables by killing Sal (sort of, he has some kind of episode) and attempting to trap Sofia. Only Sofia beats him at his own game. She sends a bomb in place of herself, hoping to blow up not just Oz but his entire operation. When Oz discovers this, he ignores everyone who works for him and runs to save himself. Where does he find refuge? In the exact same storm drain (or at least one that looks like same) his brothers died in all those years ago.

Frankly, I’m still grappling with what exactly the implication is here which, on its own, is noteworthy. You don’t often find yourself pondering comic book TV shows hours and days later. But fact of the matter is this symbol of Oz’s darkest moment comes back to save him in another. Is he being rewarded? Is he being further punished? Is it merely a coincidence? Our best guess is the filmmakers are continuing to show how even Oz’s worst, most despicable choices all contributed in some way to his rise. That you don’t get to the top without some huge sacrifices. And this one, causing the death of his brothers, is the biggest one yet.

One episode left of The Penguin and we can’t wait to see how it goes. What did you think of this week’s episode?

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