Diksha Sundriyal
Entering its second half of the season, HBO’s ‘The Penguin’ puts the titular character in his most challenging time yet. The previous episode details the harrowing journey of Sofia Falcone after she is betrayed by Oz, as well as the rest of her family, when her father decides to banish her to Arkham. A decade in the place does a number on her, but it also prepared them for the challenges that lay ahead of her now that she has done away with her entire family, leaving no one to challenge her authority. Still, her plan isn’t just to lead the Family but to make it the most powerful force in Gotham. For that, she needs the support and loyalty of the people who have been loyal to her father for a very long time. SPOILERS AHEAD
Oz Tries to Turn the Tables in His Favour
The night he and Sofia are almost killed by Nadia Maroni, Oz flees with Victor. His secret is out now, and he knows that he will have to act quickly before Sofia starts to gather forces against him to avenge the murder of her brother, Alberto. That night, he calls the people most loyal to them and focuses on the most important thing at the time: the Bliss. Having been taken into the heart of the operation by Sofia, Oz knows everything about the mushrooms and how to make the drug out of them. He also knows that with the Bliss under his control, he will have the power and the influence to stand against the Falcones and the Maronis. The only problem is that the Maronis have the mushrooms now.
From TikTok, Oz is able to track down Sal and Nadia Maroni’s son, Taj, at a tattoo parlor. By now, the Maronis have inflicted enough damage on the Falcones to get confident about their win. It is this overconfidence that leads Taj into Oz’s clutches. Now, he has a way to get the mushrooms back, but he knows that returning the only leverage he has also means that he will be even more vulnerable than he was before. While he makes the offer of getting mushrooms in return for Taj, Oz also discovers the horror that has passed at the Falcone mansion. It turns out that all the Falcones, except Sofia, are dead. It doesn’t take much for Oz to realize that Sofia is behind this, but instead of getting scared, he sees this as an opportunity.
To Oz, Sofia has done him a favor by wiping out the Falcones. This leaves the Maronis, and Oz comes up with a plan to get rid of them, too. He has Sal stabbed in the prison. When he meets Nadia Maroni for the exchange, he doesn’t reveal that he has doused her son in petrol. As soon as he gets his hands on the mushrooms and Taj reaches his mother, Oz sets him on fire, which leads to the mother and the son being burned alive. Oz leaves the site with the mushrooms but later discovers that outside of the carefully staged environment, the mushrooms have died. Only one batch of it remains, and Oz decides to salvage it, as he has no other option.
Sofia Marks the Beginning of a New Era
While the bodies of her relatives are taken away and her niece, Gia, is sent to a home for orphans, Sofia focuses on getting her affairs in order. She’d kept Johnny Viti alive because she needed him to find her father’s stash. However, Viti reminds her that it isn’t just the money that she needs to take control of things. She needs the support of the people who have been loyal to her father so far. He also tries to emotionally manipulate by telling her about her mother, Isabella. He says that she’d tried to leave Carmine but couldn’t because of her children. On the day that she was killed, she had planned to leave for good, and Viti had been waiting for her to escort her to safety, but she never showed up.
While she is not happy with the manipulation, Sofia knows she needs Viti to get everything together, at least in the beginning. Sure enough, Viti plays his part and brings everyone around to hear her out. The first thing Sofia does is discard her father’s name and legacy and take over her mother’s name. She talks about being more fair to the people who will work for her now and how she intends to end the war with the Maronis. When Viti interrupts her, she shoots him in the head, sending a clear message to everyone in the room. Her action sets forth her intention, and when she throws the money, every man in the room bows to her and takes their share.
Now that Sofia has taken over the Family, she finds Sal Maroni, who has not only survived the attack in the prison but also escaped. He is heartbroken over the death of his wife and son, which is when Sofia finds him. She explains to him the new dynamics of the Family under her control. She offers an alliance with which they can rule Gotham together while also taking care of their common enemy, Oz. While this is happening, Oz tries to take control of the situation. He sends his mother in hiding with Victor, who takes her to Crown Point, the neighborhood that was destroyed by the flood caused by the Riddler. Later, when Oz arrives there, he comes upon something that reminds him of the tunnel system beneath Crown Point that was abandoned by the authorities a long time ago. He and Victor go into the tunnel to take a look around, and it’s clear that this is perfect to be their new base of operations.
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