TV Review: ‘The Penguin’ Episode 4 Offers A Mixed Bag Detour

Just as a previous episode of The Penguin focused on one side character, this week’s episode solely focused on another. Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) has been an understated character so far in the series. With the amount of time that’s been focused on her, she’s obviously a major player in the series. But her backstory was largely left unexplored, only hinted at and alluded to by other characters. This week’s episode completely changed all of that as it flashed back to bring the audience up to speed with her character.

Things pick up pretty much where last week left off as it gives some context to what was being said right before Oz (Colin Farrell) was saved by his driver. Left for dead, Sofia called for help, at which point the episode flashes back ten years prior, when Oz was still her driver. At that time she learned her mother was killed by her father, who covered it up as a suicide. He’s been doing this for years, and all of the murders were pinned on Sofia. She was sent to Arkham, an experience that essentially broke her into becoming the psychopath she is today. The episode ends as she murders the majority of the Falcone crime family in the present to take it over for herself.

The show is called The Penguin, so having an episode focus so much on a side character comes with some drawbacks. There were some slow moments as young Sofia was portrayed as a spoiled kid. Also, for a series so grounded in reality, Arkham felt very cartoonish at times, and yet, surprisingly horrific at others. Also, the flashbacks provided some much-needed context towards Sofia and Oz’s relationship. Simply hearing that he was her driver doesn’t do the relationship justice. Actually seeing Oz as such a low level figure in the organization shows just how far he’s come and what he’s willing to do to achieve what he believes he’s owed. So the installment definitely had some highs as well as some lows.

The Penguin stream Sundays on Max.