TV Review: ‘The Penguin’ Sacrifices Plot For Character In Penultimate Episode
by Frank Martin
After moving full steam ahead for so long, The Penguin was bound to stumble eventually. This week’s penultimate episode tried to accomplish two things at once as it had a series of flashbacks to Oz Cobb’s (Colin Farrell) youth while also moving the main plot forward. Although a lot of episodes dealt heavily with plot, creating suspense that showcased Oz’s character, this episode sacrificed a lot of it while still trying to push that character forward. It was successful to some degree, but not as successfully as previous installments.
We open on a flashback to when Oz was just a kid. He felt weaker and less than his two brothers, constantly vying for his mother’s (Deirdre O’Connell) affection. One day while it was raining, the boys were playing a game in an abandoned station — the same one Oz would eventually use to run his drug empire. When the boys make their way into in a sewer, Oz locked them in there, killing them in the rain. In the present, Oz’s mother is kidnapped by Sofia (Cristin Milioti). Sal (Clancy Brown) is sent to collect Oz, but he manages to escape. They engage in a scuffle, but Sal has a heart attack and dies. Oz then gives Sofia an ultimatum to trade his mother for his operation. But Sofia detonates a bomb instead, nearly killing him.
It’s odd that the episode starts with Oz being captured and ends with him being captured even though he escapes in the middle. So the bulk of the episode is spent with the character interactions between Oz and Sal as well as Sofia and Oz’s mother. There wasn’t much going on plot wise, but it did reveal a lot about Oz’s character. It showed that he has always been a murderous psychopath, even as a kid. This point is especially driven home when Oz goes on a rant after Sal’s heart attack. He didn’t want to win that easily. He wanted to be a big shot who came from nothing and yet rose up to beat the incredible Sal Moroni. It’s just a shame this profound character moment didn’t come through a more compelling turn of events.
The Penguin streams Sundays on Max.
