The Penguin Just Leveled Up With a Stunning, Game-Changing Episode

Have you ever watched a TV bid and, astir halfway done an episode, instantly knew this was special? That this was the occurrence wherever a amusement you were enjoying leveled up to go a modern classic? The Last of Us did that. Battlestar Galactica. Lost. All the large ones bash it. And present The Penguin has done it too. The show’s 4th episode, “Cent’anni,” flips the full affectional resonance of the amusement with a shocking, horrific, but superb occurrence of tv centering connected Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) and, beatified crap. It’s amazing.

Before this episode, we weren’t rather definite what to deliberation of Sofia. We knew that she was successful Arkham due to the fact that she’d been accused of sidesplitting respective women, which earned her the nickname “The Hangman.” We knew Oz (Colin Farrell) was acrophobic of her, but we assumed it was mostly due to the fact that she was the caput of the household helium was trying to instrumentality over. And, we thought, Oz had successfully convinced her helium didn’t termination her brother, adjacent though helium did. Basically, The Penguin wanted america to spot Sofia arsenic an intimidating but emotionally unstable and malleable villain. No more. Now that we’ve learned precisely who she is and however she got there, she’s intelligibly go the astir absorbing quality connected the show.

At the extremity of the past episode, “Bliss,” we saw Victor smash his car to prevention Sofia and Oz from the Maroni transgression family. Only, Oz told Victor to permission Sofia, which astatine the clip seemed weird due to the fact that they’d been aligned. Well, successful the archetypal fantastic spot of storytelling successful occurrence four, we larn that Sofia is yet told it was Oz who killed her brother, truthful his abandoning her becomes a full different thing. It’s a revelation we assumed was coming astatine immoderate constituent but to find retired this mode added immoderate absorbing context.

But that was conscionable the beginning. From there, we dive into the past wherever we conscionable a younger, happier Sofia on with her father, transgression brag Carmine Falcone (played present by Mark Strong, who took implicit for John Turturro who played the quality successful The Batman), and her brother, Alberto (Michael Zegen). The household seems beauteous blessed and Carmine adjacent tells Sofia that, contempt her older brother, he’s going to permission the household concern to her. Big House of the Dragon vibes.

Of people that doesn’t spell to plan. Sofia finds retired that someone—later revealed to beryllium her father—has been sidesplitting women and covering up the crimes arsenic suicide, going each the mode backmost to Sofia and Alberto’s mother. Sofia learns this successful what she assumes to beryllium backstage but her driver, Oz, rats her out.

It’s a betrayal to beryllium sure—but astatine this point, you’re inactive seeing it from Oz’s perspective. It’s not until aboriginal that we recognize Oz was the 1 who started an unfathomable concatenation of events for Sofia. Based connected Oz’s intel, Carmine confronts Sofia astir her findings and, erstwhile she adjacent hints that possibly her dada killed the women, everything changes. He frames her for the murders, sends her to Arkham, and makes it truthful she’ll ne'er ever get out.

Having her begetter betray her truthful rapidly and brutally was beauteous bad. But erstwhile we larn that Sofia’s full family—minus her brother—lied astir her intelligence information to support her there, you genuinely consciousness unspeakable for her. Then, you consciousness worse and worse arsenic the occurrence goes afloat Requiem for a Dream with the doctors and inmates of Arkham besides seemingly successful connected the program to marque the levelheaded, astute Sofia into the violent, brainsick murderer her begetter lies about. The unit and betrayal look never-ending and, later, we larn it went connected for 10 years.

As we ticker the guiltless Sofia endure some intelligence and carnal horrors—all of which started with Oz—your position starts to shift. Is Oz truly the main quality of this communicative due to the fact that he’s a celebrated Batman villain? He’s conscionable a erstwhile operator grasping for power. Or is the main quality the rightful heir to the throne, betrayed by astir everyone she loved, who fights her mode retired of hellhole to travel back? That’s, by far, the much absorbing story. And erstwhile The Penguin comes retired of the flashback and backmost to the present, it’s a antithetic show.

Now we are connected Sofia’s side. We privation to spot her get revenge. We’re enraged that Oz killed Alberto, the 1 household subordinate who believed successful and fought for Sofia. We’re hopeless for her to get revenge connected her aunts and uncles, and lad does she, with a fantastic last country arsenic she murders astir everyone successful the location without lifting a finger. Chef’s kiss.

Written by John McCutcheon and directed by Helen Shave, “Cent’anni” isn’t conscionable the champion occurrence yet of The Penguin, it’s 1 of the champion episodes of TV of the year. This write-up hardly scratches the aboveground of each the fantastic choices it makes (the wallpaper! The fork! The cake!) or, astir importantly, Milioti’s show which is perfectly award-worthy. In fact, the occurrence was truthful good, I’m present afloat Team Sofia. They should rename the amusement “Falcone.”

The Penguin is present streaming connected Max.

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