‘The Penguin’ Episode 6 Sets Up (Another) War in Gotham
When we last left The Penguin, Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) was gazing at the sewers of Gotham like he’d found El Dorado. Meanwhile, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), now Sofia Gigante, killed her entire family to take control of their criminal empire. She also partnered with Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown), who escaped prison in the last episode after Oz killed his entire family. Now that he’s running the drug business in Gotham, the Penguin has enemies everywhere—and they’re all coming for him.
Following a short time skip, Oz breezes through the updates to his operation as if he just snorted a line of his own supply. He frenetically runs through the events of the past five episodes in a flurry of exposition—complaining about the “Maroni-Gigante-whatever-the-fucks” who are out for revenge. Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) is also in deep with Oz’s new business. He makes important drops of their drug “Bliss,” and he carries around a gun. Victor is more than Penguin’s driver now—he’s his right-hand man. “Look at what we got, kid,” Oz tells him. “They’re gonna tell stories about us one day. Victor Aguilar…Oz Cobb… Our names are gonna live forever.”
Sofia’s Gigante Problem
At the Falcone mansion, Sofia continues her oddball sexual relationship with Arkham Asylum doctor Julian Rush (Theo Rossi). Please don’t make me explain it. But for whatever reason, she’s keeping him around. The doctor is fully dedicated to her. To get back at Oz, she schemes with Sal to murder any street dealer who works with the Penguin. “They murdered my boys!” a random gang leader named Donnie Sullivan tells Oz over the phone, sounding like Marge from The Simpsons. Sofia’s plan works for one day until Oz figures out a way around it. Give the product away for free until the demand is through the roof.
Sal angrily smashes up the Penguin’s apartment, while Sofia discovers a photo of Oz’s girlfriend, Eve (Carmen Ejogo). Visiting Eve feels like an incredibly unnecessary non sequitur, but I guess that’s what we’re doing this episode. Sofia talks to Eve in a five-minute conversation that feels like it’s thirty minutes long, but Sofia eventually gets Oz’s girl to reveal his location. He’s “by the Zoo” in Crown Point. Wait…hold on a second. By the Zoo? Like in Batman Returns?!? Don’t tease me about penguins with rockets strapped to their backs if you’re not going to do it, HBO!
The Zoo
Oz’s mother’s (Deidre O’Connell) condition is severely worsening. She can barely form sentences, and her memory is all over the place. It doesn’t help that Oz has her “cooped up like a goddamn P.O.W.” in a cold and abandoned apartment building. He can’t even get the record player to work. To help her out a little, he threatens a Gotham councilman and tells him to turn the power back on in Crown Point.
“I won’t be one of those pathetic little broads drooling, shitting themselves,” Oz’s mother tells him. “If I lose my dignity, what else I got?” She makes him promise to kill her if her mind goes before her body. “Don’t you pussy out on me,” she says. “I’ve given you everything….Say you’ll do it.” He says he will. Then he dresses her up and does her makeup. “You look powerful,” he tells her. “Like Gilda.”
Sadly, the Zoo isn’t a real zoo. It’s the name of an abandoned apartment building, which is so wrong on multiple levels. Nicknaming a low-income building “the Zoo” is crazy enough, but putting up a giant neon sign and making it the building’s official name is one of most insane things I’ve ever seen. If I lived in Crown Point, I’d be furious, too. Plus, no penguins!
Outside the Zoo, Victor’s old gang acquaintance is causing problems. His name is Squid, apparently. He blackmails Vic and threatens to reveal their hideout if he doesn’t involve him in their business. Under duress, Victor reveals his gun and kills him. It’s the first person he’s ever killed, and likely also the first time he’s even fired a gun. Victor breaks down. “Why did you make me do that?!?” he screams. If this were anywhere but Gotham, Victor would probably be in massive trouble. The Penguin later tells him that he did the right thing. “Protecting those you care about,” he says, “it gets easier.”
Oz Cobb’s “I Want” Song
The Penguin episode 6 ends with a massive monologue from Oz Cobb. He sets up a meeting with a bunch of the small-time gangs in Gotham whom he hopes to recruit in his war against Sofia and Sal. One of the groups is called the “Low Boys.” Donnie Sullivan is here, too. I feel like I’m watching Sons of Anarchy. “You’re all gonna be proud to say you were here tonight,” Oz tells them. “They run shit, we eat shit. The sad thing, Donnie boy, is they don’t even know your fucking naaaaame!” He holds that “A” in “name” like he’s about to break out into song. I almost wish he did, just for laughs. But I recently saw Joker: Folie à Deux, so I’ve heard enough songs set in the Batman universe for a lifetime.
“Everything you heard about me is true,” Oz tells the group. “I hustle. I do what it takes. At the end of the day, I’m just a poor kid from the East Side who’s got something to prove. Like all of you.” The gangs accept. They drink to their new business partner and to “taking back Gotham.” But there’s no rest for the wicked—Sofia finds Oz’s mother.
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