The Penguin Episode 7 Changes Everything About the Series

In the penultimate episode of The Penguin on HBO, Oz Cobb endures a series of victories and defeats. While “Top Hat” is packed with action, the height of the drama happens in a series of flashbacks that reveal Oz’s dark past, specifically how his two brothers Jack and Benny died. Heading into the finale, The Penguin is poised to lose everything just after achieving his dream of finally becoming the kind of gangster he always wanted to be.

What makes this version of The Penguin so captivating is viewers never quite know what Oz is really thinking. He’s proven to be someone who will say and do anything to gain status or, when things go sideways, survive. The only person he genuinely seems to care for is his mother, Francis Cobb, but the flashbacks recontextualize that affection. But believe it or not, this isn’t the episode’s biggest revelation. Oz has a secret deep in his past that changes everything viewers think they understand about the character. His war with Salvatore Maroni and Sofia Gigante, née Falcone, is almost at an end, but surviving it may end up costing him and the people of Crown Point everything.

The Penguin Episode 7 Reveals Oz & Francis Cobb’s Dark History

The Episode’s Biggest Twist Shines Oz Cobb’s Actions in a Very Different Light

In the previous episode, “The Gold Summit,” Eve Karlo betrays Oz to Sofia after she tells his sometimes-girlfriend that The Penguin knew the truth about The Hangman. To Eve, the women killed by Carmine Falcone were “family,” and she gives Sofia a shot at all the family Oz has left. Captured by Sofia, Francis is fearless and defiant. She mocks her captor, insulting her family home and promising Sofia that Oz will kill her. Yet, when Sofia mentions Francis’s dead sons Jack and Benny, she suffers an episode of confusion brought on by her Lewy Body dementia.

Before it was the center of his bliss empire, the abandoned trolley station was where Jack, Benny and Oz would play “flashlight tag.” Angry at his brothers for hiding from him in an overflow tunnel accessible only by a ladder, Oz locked them inside. That night it rained, and the boys drowned. The series keeps Oz’s true intentions ambiguous. He may not have set out to kill his siblings, but the prospect of having his mother all to himself was more appealing than admitting what he’d done.

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Oz was a “mama’s boy” from the very beginning, unwilling to even play with his brothers. While Jack, the eldest, tried to keep Oz away from Rex, even as a kid the young Penguin idolized him. Instead of going out to play that night, Oz wanted to have a “movie date” with his mother, watching old movies snuggled on the couch with her. Later, viewers see the scene Oz described to Sofia at Alberto’s funeral, where they “danced all night.” Oedipal context aside, a tearful Francis makes Oz promise to give her “a better life,” heavily implying she at least suspects what he did to her other sons.This dark twist doesn’t only change how viewers saw Oz, but everything about his actions since the series’ beginning, and arguably even back in The Batman as well. Oz was always an ambitious monster, but now, there’s a sick and demented layer of humanity to his evil. Needless to say, this is “Top Hat’s” best storyline.

The Penguin Episode 7 Pushes Everyone & Everything to the Brink

The Episode Is the Series’ Most Consequential One Yet

While Sofia enlists the help of the dubious Dr. Julian Rush to learn the truth about Oz from a confused Francis, Sal Maroni is sent to finish off The Penguin. Surprisingly, Sofia didn’t kill Vic Aguilar, and Oz sent him to rally the gangs he made an alliance with at his beer summit earlier in the night. Oz stays behind, allowing Sal to capture him because it’s his best shot at finding his mother. As much as Sal wants to kill him, Sofia needs Oz alive, which is all he needs to escape certain death. Oz is, after all, a survivor.

As per their alliance, Sal follows Sofia’s orders, especially his job is to secure the bliss operation. While the head of the Maroni family may be a savvy and pragmatic businessman, Oz’s murder of his wife and son understandably made him emotional and irrational. Because Oz earned the loyalty to the Crown Point residents he put to work, they fight back and save “what [they] built” from the elder gangster. However, Oz’s mother remains a “weakness,” and in trying to set up a trap for Sofia, he allows her to destroy the drug lab and a significant portion of Crown Point with a massive explosion.

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The family (in the organized crime sense) that Oz built is decimated, despite their loyalty to him. As per usual in Matt Reeves’s dark vision of Gotham City, when the rich and powerful fight, it’s the ordinary people who have the least who pay the price. Oz only survives the explosion because he hides in the very overflow drain where his brothers drowned. With his mother and his business both gone, Oz is now at his most desperate. However, that’s when The Penguin is also at his most dangerous. The Penguin was already at its best when it put its characters through the wringer, but these are some of the direst that its titular DC Comics villain and the others have been in. Things can only get worse from here on out, and there’s no other way that this stellar crime drama should be.

The Penguin Episode 7 Ups the Stakes for Oz Cobb

The Episode Gives Oz Cobb His Fair Share of Wins and Losses

The episode begins with Oz happy, walking back from the Gold Summit to see the lights back on in Crown Point. Just like his idol Rex Calabrese, The Penguin is the guy who “takes care of people,” despite his selfish, greedy truth. Every defeat Oz suffers is preceded by small but important victories. His people in the bliss lab are willing to fight and die to protect their hideout, while Oz and Sal fight each other man-to-man. However, just when it seems Oz is about to lose that tussle, Sal suffers a fatal heart attack.

Oz’s reaction to Sal’s heart attack is perhaps the purest example of his unique blend of narcissism and an inferiority complex. He’s almost oblivious to the fact that Sal’s dying, and when he finally realizes what’s happening, he taunts the dying mobster. Oz makes sure the last words Sal hears is The Penguin declaring victory, shouting “I got you!” just as he did during the car chase in The Batman. After Sal dies, The Penguin shoots him multiple times just to add insult to injury. Oz takes back the ring he pulled off Alberto’s corpse in the series premiere, giving himself a permanent reminder of how he “beat” the great Sal Maroni.

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This victory is ironically followed by another defeat, when Sofia sends a bomb into Oz’s lair instead of returning his mother to him as promised. To make matters worse, Oz is captured by one of Sofia’s men at the end of the episode. While Oz’s losses are greater than his victories in “Top Hat,” they are not inconsequential. The Penguin has the loyalty of his gangland allies and, perhaps, the love of the people of Crown Point. Sofia’s attack on Oz was an attack on their home, too. Even though he doesn’t truly care about anyone, the people Oz “helped” may be the ones to save him. Not only does this set up the stage for the series’ coming final confrontation, but it also ties in with the social commentary of this interpretation of Batman’s world. Gotham City is such a corrupt and evil place that the desperate citizens have no choice but to turn to villains and monsters like Oz, who will happily sacrifice them for their own gain. It will be interesting to see how The Penguin wraps up this great subtext that will eventually lead to the highly-anticipated sequel to The Batman.

The Penguin Episode 7 Cements Sofia Gigante’s Downfall & Oz Cobb’s Rise

The Episode’s Writing Is a Masterclass in Dramatic Irony and Villainous Characterization

During her conversation with Francis, Sofia experiences a range of emotions. At first, she respects the defiant old woman who reared a “monster” like Oz. However, when Francis’ mood abruptly swings to confusion and sadness as a result of her dementia, Sofia can’t help but pity and even sympathize with her. Using the same “therapy” techniques Sofia experienced, Julian is able to pry out the details about the deaths of Jack and Benny from Francis, much to Sofia’s genuine shock and horror. In fact, Sofia takes Francis to the same nightclub where she took her son on their second “date” in the episode.

However, Julian also tells Sofia that Gia, the only surviving Falcone family member, wanted to talk to the police. The girl saw the gas mask in Sofia’s bag, which then helped her realize that Sofia had murdered the family. Not only that, but Gia is harming herself. Despite pretending to care about the girl, Sofia is doing to Gia what her family did to her. The little girl is being abandoned in a Gotham institution, largely because she could expose Sofia’s crimes. Just like when Francis was confused, Sofia felt a strong wave of emotion after her threatening conversation with her little cousin. So much so, she’s ready to give up her burgeoning criminal empire.

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Sofia claims to want freedom. Yet, instead of just walking away and starting fresh somewhere far from Gotham, she wants to ensure Oz and Francis both suffer and, ultimately, die at her hands. In a dark twist of fate and despite whatever genuine intentions she may have once had, Sofia completed her transformation into exactly the kind of killer everyone thought she was. She is a mass murderer twice over, after all. However, Sofia doesn’t have the upper hand here. She is at her weakest, both emotionally and strategically. Meanwhile, Oz has allies and, as the flashbacks proved, will do anything to keep hold of his mother. Sofia has only empty vengeance guiding her, while Francis is the only thing left Oz has to fight for.

It’s been said countless times, but it bears repeating: The Penguin really is the shining hour for its stars, Colin Farrell and Cristin Millioti. Their performances elevated an already impressive show, and they steal every scene they’re in. They transformed their respective characters into grotesque monsters who are still surprisingly and even painfully human. Their villainous performances will go down in history as some of the superhero genre’s best. How their blood feud will end next week is a season finale that no fan of either Batman or crime fiction should miss.

The finale for The Penguin debuts November 10, 2024, at 9 PM Eastern on HBO and streams on Max.

Following the events of The Batman (2022), Oz Cobb, a.k.a. the Penguin, makes a play to seize the reins of the crime world in Gotham.

Release Date

September 19, 2024

Cast

Colin Farrell , Cristin Milioti , Rhenzy Feliz , Michael Kelly , Shohreh Aghdashloo , Deirdre O’Connell , Clancy Brown , James Madio , Scott Cohen , Michael Zegen , Carmen Ejogo , Theo Rossi

Seasons

1

Creator

Prequel

The Batman (2022)

Story By

Bill Finger, Bob Kane

Writers

Lauren LeFranc

Directors

Craig Zobel

Showrunner

Lauren LeFranc

Character(s)

Oz Cobb , Sofia Falcone , Victor Aguilar , Johnny Viti , Nadia Maroni , Francis Cobb , Salvatore Maroni , Milos Grapa , Luca Falcone , Alberto Falcone , Eve Karlo , Julian Rush

Avg Episode Length

60 Mins

Pros

• The flashback sequences are surprising and recontextualize everything viewers know about Oz Cobb.
• The mixture of victories and defeats for the characters keeps the episode’s tension high.
• The Penguin cleverly shows how a “loser” like Oz can become a kingpin through luck and quick thinking.

Cons

• The devastation in Crown Point is the first time Batman’s absence from the story is glaring.
• Vic’s survival and disapparance from the rest of the episode feels like narrative convenience that could furstrate some fans.
• While surely intentional, the episode leaves too much of Oz’s feelings about his brothers’ deaths to subtext.

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