We recall and discuss what we saw in the latest episode of 'The Penguin': from Oz's attempts to avoid death to his next step toward seizing power.
As a week earlier (a bit more, to be precise, since HBO moved the show to a Sunday slot), Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) spent almost the entire episode shuttling between two competing Italian mafia families (Falcone and Maroni), and it's still unclear how he plans to seize power in Gotham. That makes it all the more interesting to watch his path and the sacrifices he is willing to make for success.
Previous recaps:
This text contains spoilers for Episode 2 of 'The Penguin'
Luck or a Cunning Plan?
After everything the Penguin does (by the way, this is the episode where he is first called that), it's logical to ask, 'Why hasn't anyone killed him yet?' Many try, but Farrell's character is too slippery. But let's take it step by step.
Oz oversees the Falcone family's drug operation. That's his main job. He deals a drug called 'drops,' which are taken as eye drops but act as a psychedelic. In this episode, he plans to deceive the Falcones and arrange a shipment that will be stolen by the Maronis (having previously arranged with Salvatore that he would confess to the murder of Alberto Falcone).
According to the plan, the drugs would be in the first vehicles of the 'convoy,' and the Penguin would bring up the rear. But when one of Falcone's henchmen, Johnny Vitti (Michael Kelly), shows up unexpectedly, he tells Oz to ride in the car with the goods.
The Maronis attack as planned, unaware that Oz is inside. Not that it matters to them. Two birds with one stone, as they say.
To the tune of Tony Bennett's 'Call Me Irresponsible,' everyone in the first car dies under a hail of bullets... except Cobb, of course. To save his own skin, he kills several of Maroni's men, and Falcone's thug drives him back to the family mansion.
When Sofia (Cristin Milioti) enters the room, she hears the Penguin shouting about an ambush ('We were sitting there like ducks!'). The Falcones are more worried about the drugs, but Sofia tells them their anger is misplaced. 'They humiliated our family,' she says. 'They took my brother and stuffed his body in the trunk of a car like he was a piece of trash.'
Oz decides to tail Sofia. Her uncle Luca is trying to take over the family business, and she clearly doesn't support him. Oz tells her, 'You should be where the decisions are made.' He says he also loved Alberto (HA-HA!), that he will work for her to find the rat (HA-HA!), and that she should take matters into her own hands. But no matter how convincing the Penguin sounds, Sofia is not that simple. She notices that he is desperate and just looking for a convenient way to land on his feet.
Oz introduces Vic (Rhenzy Feliz) to the sex workers he surrounds himself with in the evenings. The main girl (could she be his love interest?!) is named Eve (Carmen Ejogo). To maintain his alibi, he asks her to tell people he was with her on the night Alberto was shot.
Alberto's Funeral, Oz's Confessions
The middle of the episode is filled with melancholy and emotional turmoil. First, Oz goes to his mother after one of his men calls, having found her in the middle of the street without a coat and no memory of what day it is. Cobb calms his mother, dances with her to jazz, while listening to her complaints about not being able to stay 'in this crappy house.'
Then Oz and Vic go to Alberto's funeral, where the Penguin retreats with Sofia to talk. He tells her that there was no funeral service for his brothers when they died. It makes you wonder if he actually had brothers. He tells Sofia that he was incredibly happy when his mother stopped grieving and finally got dressed to go to a jazz club with him. The episode could well have been called 'All That Jazz.' Either way, Cobb slightly melts the heart of Falcone's daughter, even though he lied about his mother's death.
Sofia hires a detective who used to work for her father to find the rat in her organization. He brings her one of Maroni's thugs for interrogation. She locks him in the basement of the Falcone mansion while her brother's wake is going on. When the Maronis find out, they interrogate the Penguin and threaten to gut him (the second attempt on his life in the episode!). In exchange for his life, he offers them blackmail material against the Falcone family – photos showing Johnny Vitti sleeping with Luca Falcone's wife (the same photos from Carmine's safe). He also promises to return their man (and they actually believe him, the fools!).
Shall We Dance?
Oz finds the prisoner in the basement. At first, he really plans to return him to the Maronis after he points to Vitti as the rat. Along with this, he asks Vic to plant diamonds on Johnny. That would complete the puzzle. But the kid messes up, so the Penguin kills the hostage with a knife. This circumstance once again raises the question of a rat in the Falcone ranks, but now they can catch him 'red-handed.'
The Falcones gather everyone in a room. Oz starts fighting with Vitti to plant the knife in his jacket, but instead puts it in the pocket of Sofia's bodyguard. Why? Now Sofia is left without a loyal soldier. She agrees to cooperate with Oz to take power in the family. 'Shall we dance?' the Penguin says to her.
Teaser for Episode 3:
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