SERIES: THE PENGUIN
EPISODE TITLE: “A Great or Little Thing”
EPISODE DETAILS: Season 1/Episode 8
PREVIOUS: “Top Hat”
AIR DATE: Sunday, November 10, 2024
WRITERS: Lauren LeFranc
DIRECTOR: Jennifer Getzinger
SHOWRUNNER: Lauren LeFranc
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, and others
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS: Truths are laid bare as Oz Cobb nears the end of his journey and his power struggle with Sofia comes to a head.
CAST: Colin Farrell as Oz Cobb/”The Penguin”, Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone, Rhenzy Feliz as Victor Aguilar, Deirdre O’Connell as Francis Cobb, Carmen Ejogo as Eve Karlo, Louis Cancelmi as Rex Calabrese, Theo Rossi as Dr. Julian Rush
PODCAST
REVIEW
(SPOILERS!)
JFC!
Great episode, fantastic series!
In THE PENGUIN, there were 5 main characters: Oz, Sofia (Falcone) Gigante, Francis, Vic, and Sal Maroni. We witnessed Sal’s fate in the prior episode and we’d discover those of the other 4 in the finale.
As expected, Oz Cobb did indeed become the top mob boss of Gotham at the end of THE PENGUIN. But what a price to pay to get there, right? Not really. Oz has been a sociopathic, narcissistic, violent POS his entire life. Props to the showrunner Lauren LeFranc and the rest of the team — including the guru of THE BATMAN SAGA, Matt Reeves — for getting the audience to kinda-sorta *like* Oz (You KNOW you found yourself pulling for him at times!), only to end up leaving us hating this guy and looking forward to Batman kicking his ass at some point in the future!
As far as the last 3 — Sofia, Francis, and Vic — 2 received fates worse than death, and 1 was murdered by The Penguin.
No, it wasn’t Francis that Oz killed as expected (He made her a promise, remember?). She got her penthouse, but won’t get to enjoy it due to having a stroke that has left her incapacitated — imprisoned in her own body while still suffering from dementia.
Sofia survived…only to be locked back up in Arkham thanks to The Penguin. As we know, she would’ve preferred Oz putting a bullet in her head rather than going back to the hell that is Arkham. I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of Sofia Gigante, however. The letter she received from her half-sister, Selina Kyle, makes me curious and intrigued in what may and could happen.
And finally, Vic. Alas, it was Vic who didn’t make it out alive from THE PENGUIN — strangled by Oz because having someone around that he cares about is too much of a liability. That one was a punch in the gut and hard to watch.
The final scene of THE PENGUIN featuring a dapperly dressed Oz Cobb dancing in his new penthouse with Eve Karlo (wearing Francis’ dress) was a proper way to end the season. As she roll-plays Francis for Oz and tells him how great he is and that no one now stands in his way…the Batsignal lights up in Gotham’s sky.
Oz, The Batman is coming… – Bill “Jett” Ramey
