The Penguin’ Season1 Episode 8 Review
The opening scene of episode 8 of Penguins takes you to dramatic heights. You will smile from ear to ear as you watch two characters who prefer delusion to reality. While young Oz continues to hide the truth about his brother from Francis, Francis begins to accept her son’s dark side as he promises her a life of luxury. When Oz tells his mother that he has actually met her and how he knows how his mother can fool people into believing something with a smile, or that she smokes more cigarettes when she thinks, Francis smiles like a happy woman, realizing that there is someone out there who actually listens to her and cares about her needs. The rest of the episode unfolds as expected. There’s a lot of noise about Oz’s death, but since Colin Farrell is already confirmed to reprise the role in the Batman sequel, we’re watching the show with the assumption that the character will live on in the end. There’s also the obligatory “future shot” before the credits roll.
But what I found ridiculous about this episode was Sophia’s lack of preparation before confronting Oswald. She’s been waiting for this moment for so long, and now Oz is just going to slip away so easily. At least we see Francis calling Oz a “pervert with no character,” implying that there’s no one Oz loves more than he does. He can allow someone to cut off his mother’s finger to save his own skin. I was not surprised by Vic’s fate, and I was not surprised by the final scene. Nevertheless, these decisions seem natural, coming from Penguin. He is doing what is expected of him in this series. That just restates that we should not expect too many shocking events in this Penguin finale.
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Looking back at this episode, I wonder why I felt nothing when I saw Vic die. The reason must be the fact that we knew from the beginning that he was being prepared for this moment. His backstory was ignored as a footnote just to create the illusion of depth and personality. Vic’s superficial role is clear throughout the series. Perhaps with another character, we might have had doubts about Vic, but we are well aware of Penguin’s behavior. His actions seem to be predetermined in a way, so a show about him can’t really run on its own. This means that “The Penguin,” despite its dramatic appeal (which is minor and only occasional), is little more than pretentious prestige television. I wonder if this will be something of a Holy Grail for fans of the superhero genre who are consumed by mediocre superhero shows and movies. It’s currently streaming on Afdah stream website.
Watch it here: https://afdah.live/the-penguin-s01e08/
