SERIES: THE PENGUIN
EPISODE TITLE: “Bliss”
EPISODE DETAILS: Season 1/Episode 3
PREVIOUS: “Inside Man”
AIR DATE: Sunday, October 6, 2024
WRITERS: Noelle Valdiva
DIRECTOR: Craig Zobel
SHOWRUNNER: Lauren LeFranc
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, and others
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:
CAST: Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, and others.
REVIEW
Questions are answered and more questions arise…a LOT of them.
That’s episode 3 of THE PENGUIN in a nutshell.
“Bliss” is essentially Vic’s episode. We learn why he’s constantly preoccupied with the texts he receives. We discover why he gets distracted while passing the “Have You Seen…” flyers plastered all over Gotham after The Riddler’s terroristic attack as seen in THE BATMAN. All of this (and more) is revealed during the flashback which opens this episode. It was particularly shocking, and heartbreaking, to see The Riddler’s flood through the eyes of the regular people of Gotham which it affected the most.
In the “present day”, Oz and Sofia make a deal with an Asian gang, the Triads, to distribute their new party drug, “Bliss.” To get the deal done, the Triads want to speak to Johnny Vitti to make sure Oz and Sofia are working on behalf of the Falcone Family. This leads to Oz finally playing his trump card against Vitti — the pictures he has of Vitti in bed with Luca Falcone’s wife, Tina.
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With Oz and Sofia working together, we also find out the details of their previous relationship…back before Sofia was sent to Arkham. Seems that Oz was her driver and ended up helping to get her institutionalized — on behalf of Carmine Falcone, apparently. Is Oz sorry about it? Yes and no. Yes, because he did care about Sofia (so he says), and no because doing so led to him being promoted within the Falcone Family. Furthermore, it seems as if Sofia was framed and did not commit the “Hangman Crimes.” More on that will be exposed in future episodes I think.
Back to Vic, his girlfriend, Graciella, tells him she’s leaving Gotham for Los Angeles and invites him to join her. Vic is torn on what to do: Go with the girl he loves and start a new life with her, or stay with Oz and continue to lead the dangerous life of a gangster. Furthermore, what will Oz do if Vic tells him he’s leaving? Vic knows quite a lot, to say the least. We find out before the end of the episode in quite an exciting ending. Speaking of which…
Bam! Where are Oz and Vic heading?! Where’s Sofia?! How many of the Maroni gang (including Nadia Maroni) were taken out?! What does Sal know?!
See, questions answered, but lots of new ones now need to be answered. – Bill “Jett” Ramey