The Penguin Episode 4: Let’s start off with showing y’all the trailers shall we?

Ok so now we’re officially halfway through this season….yeah that’s right we’re 4 episodes in, and we still have 4 more episodes…a total of 1 month, I cannot wait to see what the next 4 episodes will bring us.

This week’s episode is 58 min long btw, so another perfectly length episode. Each episode is like a mini movie, that’s one of the best parts of this show.

For now, let’s get the rating out of the way so we can get into spoilers…..overall I still absolutely loving this series, plz for the love of God go check this series out…..I am calling this the definitive version of The Penguin.

If anyone is curious these versions of each character are my favorite versions of each of these Batman characters and what I consider definitive.

Batman (Micheal Keaton aka Tim Burton’s Batman, also I like Kevin Conroy’s version of Batman as well)

Mr. Freeze (Batman and Robin) (yeah I know sew me but I love Arnold and I love the outfit design)

Poison Ivy (Harley Quinn show)

Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) (also specifically James Gunn The Suicide Squid, and Harley Quinn show)

Penguin (Matt Reeves universe/The Penguin Show)

Joker (Heath Ledger, aka The Dark Knight, also i like Mark Hamill’s version of Joker)

Commissioner Gordon (Matt Reeves Batman universe, and the Dark Knight Trilogy)

Catwoman (Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, Matt Reeves Batman)

Two-Face (Harley Quinn show, Arkham Game Trilogy)

Bane (Harley Quinn show, and the Arkham Game Trilogy)

Yeah I know I went off a bit but I wanted to express which versions of each of these characters I consider definitive, and as stated The Penguin Show to me is the definitive version of The Penguin for a reason….the reason is Collin Ferrell does an amazing job playing him.

Also whoever wrote the script for this series needs a raise, they completely understand how to make a compelling show. Also same thing for the director, this guy knows what he’s doing.

Also, I should give a warning this episode does get extremely dark, at points this episode is hard to watch, also we get some answers that were up in the air, also I ain’t kidding when I say this episode gets dark and heavy. Like I wouldn’t blame some y’all who might want to not watch this episode.

The episode finally gives us answers about who The Hangman is by putting the audience under the spotlight. Because we as the audience were instantly to believe that (spoiler alert) that Sofia Falcone is The Hangman.

Because we just assumed that because we read comics, so in a way, we’re not any better than the people in this show who look at her and labels her The Hangman. But just like them we never took a moment to peel things back and look at the true evil who’s obviously there. We just took info at face value, like the people in Gotham did.

No not talking about The Penguin I’m talking about Carmine Falcone, yeah that’s all I’ll say that should be enough to peak y’all interest to continue reading.

So overall I’ll give The Penguin Episode 4 a solid 10/10, yes I know 4 in a row that is 10 out of 10s that is impressive….. Anyway, spoilers ahead y’all been warned.

So in this episode, we get to see Sofia Falcone’s past in Arkham Asylum. Also, we get a snip it’s of Carmine Falcone as well (now played by Mark Strong).

So in this episode, we get to see Sofia Falcone and what she was like before she got sent to Arkham. So in this episode, we start off with where the last episode left off…..we get to see what Sofia Falcone hears when they are both on the ground at gunpoint by the Salvatore family.

The wife comes out and basically says this ur pathetic, u just thought we’d sit around while u make up lies and do nothing? Then she reveals to Sofia that Oz killed her brother and blamed it on Salvatore Maroni, uhhh ohhhh now she knows the truth. How will Oz get out of this one?

So basically the mother knew Oz was a swindler.

Also, we can see up close of Oz trying to talk his way out of this all the while this foam spit is coming out of his mouth. Uh ew, kinda reminds me of Danny Devito’s Penguin.

Anyways then Vic comes and saves them by running into a Maroni, also I guess now this makes sense as to why Oz said to leave Sofia….because now she knows the truth.

Anyways as Sofia watches Oz get away in his car…..Sofia gets a panic attack and calls up her therapist, telling him she needs his help. She can’t finish her sentence and falls to the floor and falls unconscious….because she accidentally hit her head on the floor but now that she’s knocked out we get to see flashback story to her previous self before she got put in Arkham.

We get to see her as a happy woman who’s running a charity, aw that’s so kind, she clearly loves what she does. Also, she has to give speeches at the events. Also, she tells the group that her mom killed herself when she was younger….yeah uh keep that in mind for later.

Yeah, she built this charity because her mom committed suicide, so she wants to help prevent other people from suffering her mom’s fate.

Also, we get to see Oz Cobb as her driver, we also get to see how close they are…..he takes her outside and gives her a cigarette, and makes a joke about how some jobs are better than others…which Sofia says like what? U having to drive me around? Which Sofia tells Oz she’s joking with him. Ugh seeing this side of Sofia hurts because we get to see a caring side of her who likes Oz.

Anyway she says he does deserve better but also so does she, aw, anyways Oz goes and grabs the car….as that happens this reporter woman named Summer Gleeson (who’s a news reporter who has shown up in the comics before) she tells Sofia she’s doing great but there’s more she can be doing to help.

She points out there have been women who have been dying, by being found hung, just like Sofia’s mother…..Sofia hesitates and says u said I can help? Which Gleeson says they used to work for a business that is owned by ur father. One of them worked at the IceBurg Lounge. Uh oh,

As soon as she finds out Gleeson Is a news reporter she says I don’t talk to the press….so when she gets into the car she has a back flash to seeing her mom hanged dead in her bedroom. She thought she was going hide and seek with her mom, but ended up finding her dead.

Jeepers this scene was a bit hard for me to watch, anyways Sofia goes home to have dinner with her father and brother. He doesn’t like his son because his son goes out drinks and parties a lot.

He’s ashamed while Sofia is being useful, anyways she tells her father about her mother’s death…. and he says why are u bringing up old wounds all of a sudden? Yeah, Sofia why? Also, he wants Sofia to take his place when he’s gone, he doesn’t see his son worthy and he wants to break tradition. By allowing a woman to be in charge.

Let’s see how long that lasts. Btw side note even though they recast Carmine Falcone with Mark Strong, it works better here because these flashbacks take place a decade ago when he was a bit younger than we saw him in The Batman 2022.

Also just my preference but I actually prefer Mark Strong as Carmine Falcone over John Turturro, sorry actually not sorry. I just couldn’t see him fall into the role of Carmine Falcone…..but here Mark Strong really does fall into the role perfectly.

BTW oddly enough this isn’t the first time Mark Strong has played a role in a DC project. He played,

Sinestro in Green Lantern.

Sivana in Shazam.

Now he’s Carmine Falcone in The Penguin Series.

Anyway next day while Sofia and her brother are riding together, to drop him off…she asks him if he’s ever seen anything weird about her father…like a different side to him, but he doesn’t reveal anything.

So she goes and meets Gleeson at night in a shady area where she shows her images of these girls who were found hung. Anyways she gets flashbacks to her mother being found hung to death. Her father comes in and cuddles her saying don’t look….she tries taking his red-tinted glasses off but he puts them back on right away, guess u can say he always sees things in this red-tinted perspective of the world.

Anyways Sofia leaves and basically tells Gleeson fuck off, that her dad is a great guy. Uh-huh sure, keep in mind she’s fully aware of the business her father does….so she knows he’s a crime boss, and she thinking he’s a good man. Kinda contradicts one another.

Also we see her dark side slip a bit….she tells Oz I don’t want ur opinion ur my driver shut it…oooohhh.

Oh, btw when Sofia has these secret conversations with the news reporter or conversations with her brother. About their dad, we can see Oz is eavesdropping. He is keeping notes on them so he can report back to Carmine Falcone. What a piece of shite.

So come to the night of her father’s party, Oz comes in with a new suit and tells Sofia her dad is waiting for her in his office….also u can see the look on Oz’s as if he’s not happy with what he has just done.

Anyways, he confronts her and tells her how dare u go to the press ur never supposed to do that. Womp womp, she says she told he to fuck off…

Which he says is that so? Because I found out she’s working for the cops and there’s an investigation happening…if I murdered these woman or not.

Sofia says there has to be a reason to why mom hung herself, u had nothing to do with it….he says what u mean? She says u had scratches on ur hands the night mom was found hung…..ohhhhhh, which he says what’s happened to u….ur clearly sick, u need to go home now before u make a scene, Oz will take u home now.

On a side note, Carmine Falcone has a thing for strangling women, he’s a monster….I mean we’re about to see how much his monster side knows no boundaries.

Wow father of the year, anyways on the drive home she gets mad at Oz for rating out her talking to a news reporter to her dad….he says I did my job it’s what my dad hired me to do, as this happens the cops come and tells Sofia to get out of the car…also we get to see one of the corrupt cops from The Batman 2022 appear here….

They take her in and arrest her for something she didn’t do, Oz says let her go! She tells him to call up her brother.

I do think Oz is legit surprised Carmine Falcone would do this to his own daughter, lock her away in Arkham….cutting her off from society, punishing her for something she’s never done. I do feel deep down he has some regrets for what happened to her. But a sa whole he doesn’t have regrets because he did get stuff out of it.

So according to her lawyer and brother….Sofia is being labeled as The Hangman, that she has mental illness….that many people have signed a paper that attests to her having mental illness. Which includes her own family like her uncle and cousins. Including uncle Luca, dunn dunn dunnn!

Oh also on the papers they mentioned she has a tendency for killing animals. When she doesn’t, wow this is blatant forgery at its best. But no one can do anything about it because Carmine has almost everyone, including the GCPD under his grip.

Even though Carmine Falcone is The Hangman!

Ok jeepers, this is getting extremely hard to watch…this is hard to watch, Sofia’s life just got ruined instantly.

Anyways she asks so I get a psychic evaluation to determine if I’m sane or not? Which her lawyer says it’s not that simple u have been approved to be sent to Arkham Asylum for the next 6 months.

Before ur trial, ohhh no no no no no not Arkham Asylum, this place is freaking corrupt up the wazoo.

The lawyer gives her 2 min with her brother and she breaks down into tears…telling her brother their father was the one who killed these women including Mom….he wants this, he knows I won’t be able to make it in Arkham Asylum….which I can’t, I can’t do this…

He says ur a Falcone it’s only 6 months, u got this. 6 months huh? Well hmmmmm we will see about that.

Oh btw I think we can now understand why Alberto Falcone became a drug addict and alcoholic, he had to endure what his dad did to his sister. He had to live with his dad even after he did that to his own daughter.

Plus all the stress of how he had to do his best to get his sister out of Arkham while under his father’s grip, yeah no wonder why he became a drug addict. I don’t blame him on single bit.

On a side note after watching this episode I can now safely say that The Riddler did Gotham a favor in The Batman 2022 by killing off Carmine Falcone. Jesus Christ he deserved what he got, Carmine is a heinous sleezebag monster. Bur this episode highlights how much of a monster he truly is.

I now go back to watch that clip on the internet to get some pleasure from watching him die.

Anyways she gets taken to Arkham….is stripped of her clothing, and is hosed down. Also, her teeth are checked out. Also, metal objects shoved up her, yeah I’ll leave it at that.

As we can see they get rough with these examinations, remember this is Arkham….everyone inside is corrupt.

She’s tossed in a cell and is told for the next 6 months there will be no visitors allowed….they can’t let anything affect the tests for the next 6 months, anyways in her cell she meets her neighbor whose name is Magpie…like the bird, she killed her mom when she refused to call her Magpie.

Also, we see Sofia break down into tears, because the weight of everything just collapses on her…..she’s all alone, she got shunned by society because her father pinned his murders on her because he’s a crime boss.

U can feel her pain when she starts crying because we just saw her life in a snap get warped on its head. Also, I think another reason we can feel for her is because the feeling of isolation while no one is listening to u is a horrific thing to fathom.

Shite, anyways during lunch time she takes a seat near Magpie. While they sat down she noticed an insane woman who wasn’t chained….just staring at her insanely, she came up to her and started taunting Sofia.

Saying ur The Hangman…u killed those girls, she then grabs Sofia and beats her up.

She wakes up in her cell with an injured arm, her doctor comes into the room and asks are u ok.

She tells him that woman was clearly let loose on purpose, as a coordinated attack….but how do u prove ur not insane to docs who already think nah she’s insane? Also, the doctor says I’m here to help.

This is gonna become a consistent thing that happens where men keep saying I’m here to help.

Anyways they take her to the cafeteria where the woman is there chained up….they hand Sofia a fork, and she says is this what u want? U want me to kill her just so u can prove I’m insane?

She gets too close to her, and the woman grabs the fork and says plz plz end this…end this (wait was she put up to this?) (How much deeper does this go?).

Anyways the woman stabs herself killing herself…..ooooff, anyway Sofia is put through months of shock therapy…..jeepers when’s this episode gonna end, also her doctor starts thinking maybe she’s not insane.

But the person in charge still writes down she’s insane, so Alberto visits her and tells her ur not getting a court hearing I’m sorry…..I wish I could do more, they signed the papers the judge agreed. U will be staying in Arkham.

U can tell how corrupt Arkham is, Carmine is paying off them to all this to her so she can’t ever leave. Makes u also wonder how corrupt this worlds Arkham is, I mean is this the first time something like this happened? Doubt it. For all we know a similar situation could have happened with Bruce Wayne’s mother.

Who in this universe was sent to Arkham because she witnessed her parents dead bodies, who were declared dead from murder suicide…..maybe that’s not the case.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck, yeah sorry I just broke down but this is a heavy episode. Anyways she goes back to the cafeteria…..where Magpie is sitting there saying we get to be best friends forever now.

Sofia realizes they hired her to spy on her, so she snaps and slams Magpie’s head into the table multiple times, yikes. She did her first kill.

BTW it was at this point she broke and became a cold-hearted ruthless woman. She started off as a princess of the family, but thanks to her father, also Cobb. She ended up being tossed out of society, severely punished for something she didn’t do.

She never returned, and whatever bright happy-go cheerful woman she once was is now gone….instead all that’s left is this cold-hearted ruthless person left in her place, in a way Carmine won. He got what he wanted, he wanted her to become in charge of the Falcone’s when he was gone.

All it took was a little push (or a massive push).

Also on a side note, I don’t think we will be seeing Oz Cobb the same way ever again after this episode. This episode really highlighted how far he will go to reach his goals. Which is another reason I love this show, no one is morally black and white. They are complex grey characters.

BTW we know she wasn’t just gonna get in Arkham for 6 months, she ended up staying there for 10 years, yikes.

Anyway, she wakes up now back in the modern day at her therapist’s room….her therapist is the doctor who was watching over her…yeah turns out he quit, and anyway, as he gets food ready for her…she looks in his drawer and finds pills.

She comes to the conclusion that she’s not insane, it’s men who are…they’ve always been saying to her she’s insane and here to help her…they always look down at her, he tells her maybe she does need to leave away to get a fresh start.

She realizes she has been used by men for a long time….she should have killed Oz when she and the chance because she had a feeling about him.

She tells him u miss having power over me. Hence why I’m here, even though u helped get me out of Arkham Asylum.

I’m still here wearing ur outfit, doing anything u say. She then walks away and says u r right I do need a new start.

So anyway she goes to one of Uncle Luca’s dinners and interrupts, she comes in wearing a yellow drees BTW, also shes no longer wearing a scarf around her neck to hide the marks…..she sits down and starts eating..

They are wondering what she’s doing here. She says being supportive of my uncle…as Uncle Luca starts talking, Sofia gets up and has a toast to give.

I take her coming in wearing a yellow dress and nothing covering her neck, as a way of her accepting The Hangman persona….she’s like u want a Hangman? OK I’ll show u a Hangman.

She mentions all the victims her dad has killed…she then points out to everyone in the room that no one here helped her out, her brother was the only one who helped her out….but as soon as he died they wanted to mourn his lose, but never help her out.

What’s worse is she was innocent and no one in this room was innocent, her friend sends her daughter to her room to go to sleep..

Sofia demands her cousin/friend stay while the daughter goes to sleep.

She points out how everyone in this room is guilty, she says starting tomorrow I’m gonna give myself a new start, to new beginnings….uh oh.

So she brings the girl down to have cake but they have a piece of cake in the greenhouse because she doesn’t want to wake the girl’s mom up…..hmmmmmm.

Anyways she has the daughter sleep with her in the greenhouse….the girl says my mom doesn’t want me to talk to u, she says u done bad stuff…which she says I did do bad stuff because I was locked away with monsters..

The girl says will I be locked away? Sofia says no don’t worry about that will make sure that never happens to u ever..aw how sweet?

Anyways come morning Sofia goes into the boiler room and turns on the turns on the carbon monoxide.

While she’s wearing a gas mask, anyways she goes around the house dancing all gleeful…she goes into each bedroom and passes the downstairs revealing all the guests dead including uncle Luca…

Yep she murdered them, good riddance also wait she’s turning on the carbon monoxide, does that mean she jus killed a kid?

Anyways episode ends with her entering Viti’s room with a gun and aiming it at him, saying put ur pants on we need to talk. As we cut to the end credits where this song called Strange Little Girl by The Strangler starts playing.

Yeah, this is a first, me mentioning the name of the song at the end credits, but why all of a sudden I did this is because this song I actually find catchy. It’s thanks to this episode I now have a new favorite song.

Also, this song fits perfectly for this episode, I mean the band name is called The Stranglers. Hehe hehe Stranglers, very clever I see what u did there show. Also, the lyrics fit this episode…I mean the first couple of lyrics say “One day I saw this Strange Little Girl looking at u”. Well if that isn’t this episode in a nutshell.

Also, this leaves me in some kind of Dilemma….on one hand, I’m feeling more sympathetic for Sofia Falcone because she’s a victim, she has been manipulated by her family and friends. It’s rare for a show to make u sympathize with a villain…

Last time that happened was with Walter White in Breaking Bad, but also I am still rooting for Oz because I like him as a villain. But at the same time, I don’t like him because again Sofia has gone through shite.

I don’t want either of these 2 characters to die, if either of them dies I’ll hate this show. Especially if Oz dies, again it’s rare to be rooting for 2 different villains with 2 completely different morals.

Just remember her life was completely tossed away, she was dishonored by her family all because her father deemed it so he could pink his murders on her….what a monster, but this was caused because Oz ratted her out.

Now where do the next 4 episodes take us, idk. I’m curious myself because as it stands at the moment the Maroni’s want Oz’s head, and Sofia wants Oz’s head….Oz is all alone with Vic only. They have no resources. At this moment there is no way he should even be allowed to live at this moment.

They won’t want to here any of his BS, I wonder how he’s gonna get out of this one. Guess we’ll find out in the next 4 weeks.

BTW I’m gonna do something different for this specific episode, I’m gonna show y’all the behind the scenes breakdown from the cast/crew….as they explain the nuances of the episode.

Oooofff wow this was an extremely dark and heavy episode, I hope y’all enjoyed this review…also here’s a teaser for next weeks episode.

Also here’s the week’s ahead trailer, they just released a mid-season week’s ahead trailer.

Yeah, I’m super excited….I can’t wait to see what the next month of episodes is gonna bring us. Anyway till next time.