Oz Cobb’s Unconventional Rise to Power

The Penguin‘s most important character hasn’t appeared on screen. Rex Calabrese was a small-time gangster who “took care” of the people in Oz Cobb’s East Gotham neighborhood, and he’s the man the Penguin most aspires to be. In Episode 6, “The Gold Summit,” Oz comes closer than ever to achieving that dream with the people of Crown Point. Yet he’s also poised to become bigger and more powerful than Rex ever imagined.

“The Gold Summit” utilizes the emphasis on family that’s common in many other mob stories. Oz’s “family” includes actual blood relatives, his mother, and associates like Victor Aguilar. Sofia Gigante has no one left in her family’s house — save for Sal Maroni, her father’s bitter enemy. Lastly, there are the other disparate “families” of Gotham City, from the Crown Point scavengers led by Squid, to Gotham City bigwigs like Councilman Hady. The Penguin Episode 6 highlights that the Wayne family name isn’t the city’s most important anymore.

Gotham’s Crime Families Have All the Wealth, None of the Power

Episode 6 Highlights Everyone’s Obsession With Oz Cobb

While Oz, Vic and the rest of the people in the “bliss” business are thriving underground in Gotham’s forgotten neighborhood, Sofia Gigante and Sal Maroni are hiding away in their gilded cages after the death of Sal’s wife Nadia. The Penguin doesn’t waste any time explaining how their combined families are still powerful. It shows they are Gotham City institutions, untouchable by any of the on-the-street changes happening around them. Sal calls Oz “a weed,” but he and Sofia are nonetheless obsessed with finding and killing that weed at its roots.

Julian Rush has a twisted relationship with Sofia, one that any fan of The Penguin or Marvel’s Luke Cage saw coming. His brief appearance in Episode 6 is almost a distraction from the story — which is likely what Julian is for Sofia. The more important part of this sequence is Sofia and Sal sharing a meal in the Falcone family kitchen. Interestingly, it’s an Indian dish instead of an Italian one — a family recipe that Nadia taught to Sal. Eating her food bonds the both of them in their quest, while filling Sal with rage over what Oz Cobb took from him.

But while these two are still eating well and not hurting for cash, they are powerless to find and stop Oz. Despite the largesse of his operation, no one is talking or sharing information. Like Rex Calabrese, Oz has bought more than their labor with the money from his drug operation. In fact, the only move they make on the larger board sets up Oz for the titular Gold Summit, in which he unites the disparate families of Gotham against the Falcone/Gigante/Maroni criminal institutions. Episode 6 highlights how, despite being a “smaller” player on the board, Oz is the one with the real control.

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The Penguin Episode 6 Highlights Oz’s Family in Crown Point

He’s Close to Reaching His Dream of Becoming Rex Calabrese

Despite living in literal squalor, Vic, Oz and Oz’s Francis Cobb are almost happy in their hideaway in Crown Point. They have meals together, playing music Francis (and thereby Oz) likes and — most importantly — feel safe.. until their generator dies out. Keeping his underground drug lair powered is important, but it’s the loss of light, heat and these other simple pleasures that causes Oz to act. He assaults Gotham City Councilman Hady, Oz’s pet government official, who was formerly in the pocket of Mark Strong’s Carmine Falcone. That scene is very telling about who Oz actually is.

Sofia is wrong when she claims Oz has no one he cares about. The Penguin told everyone his mother died. However, he cares, to an extent, about the people of Crown Point. Oz knows what it is like to live in a forgotten part of the city, and his confrontation with Hady successfully gets the electricity back on in the neighborhood. Sure, this benefits both his business and his mother, but it also benefits the neighborhood. Even if he doesn’t actually feel anything for others, Oz likes being the “person who takes care of people,” as he tells Vic.

Oz Cobb’s plan for Gotham has always been one that suited his own self-interest. For his entire criminal career, he’s been overlooked, laughed at and disrespected, at least by those in power. Yet Oz has successfully maintained relationships with other gangs and his fellow crime family foot soldiers. He’s not trustworthy, but he is someone who can relate to wanting more and being kept down by larger, more powerful forces. With his Gold Summit — where cans of cheap beer are shared instead of fancy food or champagne — Oz is closer than ever to becoming not just like Rex, but bigger and more important than Rex ever was.

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The Penguin Episode 6 Makes Vic Aguilar a Committed Killer

Shooting Squid Was Not an Act of Desperation but Strategy

The most confusing character in The Penguin is Vic. While Oz only pretends to care about others, Vic really does care. He actually angers Oz when he lies to Francis while she’s experiencing confusion — not realizing he’s saying that Oz’s long-lost brothers are still alive. When the power comes back on, Francis wakes up scared. Vic not only calms her, but allows her to think he’s her son Benny and they dance together.

Vic is the Robin to Oz’s Batman: his main ally in “the mission” but not as fully committed. At least, until Episode 6. Squid, a local Crown Point drops dealer Vic’s family told him to stay away from, approaches Vic for a piece of the action. Squid isn’t someone Vic cares about and may even be someone he fears. When Vic goes to Oz for advice about how to deal with Squid, he sees Oz is obsessed with “bigger” issues, so he is left to solve this problem. Later, Oz knows Vic killed Squid just by looking at him. He rewards him with affection, praise and the assurance that killing “gets easier.” Of course, this lets Vic know that his first murder likely won’t be his last.

Of course, Vic is still very different than Oz in a lot of ways. Vic tries to avoid Squid, but that proves impossible. Vic’s first instinct is to pay off Squid, offering him a weekly payday out of “respect.” Yet Squid knows that if Vic has that to offer, there’s even more money to be made by being a part of it. Vic then tries to invoke Oz’s name with a threat. Only when none of that works does Vic shoot Squid to death. As Squid lays dying, Vic apologizes. The act makes him sick. Still, the scene illustrates how Vic made his choice to stick with Oz, no matter what dark places it takes him to. From this moment, there’s no turning back.

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The Gold Summit Shows the Penguin at His Strongest – For Now

But Eve Karlo Betraying Oz to Sofia Could Weaken Him Quickly

While the Penguin is at his all-important Gold Summit, Sofia is in his “home” watching Vic and Francis celebrate Oz’s victory. She’s there because the one other person Oz cares for — Eve Karlo — gave him up. The Penguin viewers will remember he tried to take her with him when they first fled to Crown Point, but she refused to go. In fact, Eve seems willing to allow “the Hangman” to kill her to keep her “girls” safe. And she only gives up Oz’s hideout when Sofia accuses Oz of knowing she wasn’t the actual Hangman.

Sofia tells Eve that her father Carmine killed those women, who were part of Eve’s family in Gotham. It’s unclear how much Oz knew about the actual truth of the Hangman killings, though Carmine killed a lot of women in The Batman. It’s also unclear if Eve believes Sofia — yet it sounds like something a “liar” and “narcissist” like Oz would be capable of.

Sofia will “get to take her shot,” as Eve puts it, at Oz through Vic and Francis. Yet she does so at a time when the Penguin is more powerful than he’s ever been before. He’s the guy who turned the lights back on in Crown Point and united Gotham’s disparate gangs. If Sofia or Sal kills Francis, Vic or both of them, they will only serve to make Oz even more dangerous. Because then, the Penguin really will have no one left to lose. The Penguin Episode 6 proves that Oz draws strength from other characters around him — but they can also very quickly be his downfall.

The Penguin airs Sundays at 9:00 p.m. on HBO.

Oz Cobb holds a “Gold Summit” to rally the troops. Vic Aguilar makes a life-changing decision. Sofia Gigante and Sal Maroni plot against Oz.

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)

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

Pros

• The focs on family, criminal or otherwise, brings the disparate series’ natratives together.
• Deirde O’Connell as Francis and Rhenzy Feliz as Vic deliver truly standout performances.
• The opening scene with Vic on the motorcycle is a clever nod to Bruce Wayne in The Batman.

Cons

• While clearly intentional, Cristin Milioti plays Sofia’s detatchment too weel, so that sparing Eve feels unearned.
• Councilman Hady’s introduction could’ve been better foreshadowed beyond just Oz’s note in Episode 1.
• The time-jump helps speed the story along but the series would’ve been served by seeing Oz put the bliss operation together.

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