monition : This article contains major spoilers forThe Penguin(2024 ) .
There is an integral danger in make a show likeThe Penguin . The series has to humanize a despicable villain , Oz Cobb ( Colin Farrell ) , and make him a type that viewer want to pursue for eight hour . At the same time , it has to verify not to humanise him so much that it terminate up removing the character ’s villainous border . That ’s a balance that sure superhero movies and TV shows have struggled to strike over the years .
At times , it expect likeThe Penguinwas going to fail to do that as well . For nearly all of its eight hours , the HBO series does a noteworthy job of taking a excellently off - putt , unlikeable character likeThe Penguinand turning him into a charismatic , underdog bod viewers can root for in their own way . In its net 20 minutes , though , The Penguinreminds viewer who its friend in reality is . It slap DC lover across the expression and makes their belly drop — committing to a blackhearted conclusion that leaves a sour taste in your mouth .
That ’s just what a serial likeThe Penguinshould do , too .
Cruel twists of fate
Atthe end ofThe Penguin , Oz Cobb finally go everything he ’s ever wanted . With the help of Vic ( Rhenzy Feliz ) and some likewise challenging mid - grade gangster , he outsmarts Sofia Falcone ( Cristin Milioti ) , sends her back to Arkham Asylum , and shoot his place at the top of Gotham City ’s criminal netherworld . Thanks to a deal he make with Councilman Sebastian Hady ( Rhys Coiro ) , he even manages to tuck himself into the existence of Gotham ’s elite — as is evidenced by the tuxedo he ’s tire when he gets back from an event at the close ofThe Penguin‘s finis . The serial then ends with Oz enjoy his new , penthouse flat and dancing with his buff and business associate , Eve Karlo ( Carmen Ejogo ) .
This is a decidedly glad closing for Oz , butThe Penguinmakes sure viewers know that it ’s an unhappy one for everyone else . Things all begin to take an unexpected , yet dead acidic act when Oz ’s mother , Francis ( Deirdre O’Connell ) , suffers a stroke that leaves her in a vegetal State Department before she ’s able to witness her boy ’s long - promised criminal rise . In the aftermath of this , Oz then strangle an unsuspecting Vic , whose ingenuous gossip about the two of them being “ class ” prove to be all Oz ask to consider his protégé as a failing he ca n’t afford . after , Oz coldly tosses Vic ’s ID into a nearby river — overwhelm his identity in a style that find tragically remindful of how The Riddler ’s bombing of Gotham ’s bulwark swept away the young man ’s entire kinsperson .
Somehow , things go on to end even risky for Francis than they do for Vic . While the former suffers a life - altering stroke that renders her totally mute and immobile , she does not actually get any peace or rest . Instead , Oz land her with him to his new penthouse apartment — placing her in a infirmary layer that looks out over Gotham from her son ’s Modern high - wage increase window . Oz , in other actor’s line , ignores his female parent ’s heroic last wish and breaks the promise he made to her inThe Penguin‘s sixth episode when she demanded that he rent her go if the day ever came when she ’d stop up in the accurate place she does in the show ’s finale .
As he tout to his mutely shout out female parent about how he ’s kept all his promise to her , we realize that none of this was ever really for Francis . It has always all been for Oz . He does n’t contribute his mother with him because he thinks it ’s what she want . Heknowsit ’s not . It is for his validation , not her joy . He does it because he needs to feel like he ’s a good son who kept his word . He wants to finger like a good son , and just in typesetter’s case his last conversation with Francis did n’t make that expressed enough , his net dancing with Eve does . In the latter scene , Eve is reveal wear down a clothes and wigging that makes her look incisively like his mother on the night they went dancing together class ago .
“ Tell me you love me . Tell me you ’re proud of me , ” Oz demands as he and Eve begin to persuade together . It is needy narcissism on full , unembarrassed show , and it startlingly recontextualizes all of Oz ’s Lie throughoutThe Penguin‘s eight instalment .
The villain of the story
Oz may have spent most ofThe Penguinclaiming that he cared about Gotham and its underprivileged and painting himself as a better alternative to the Falcone and Maroni families , but the show ’s finis reveals the inconstancy of those claim . Oz has and always will be a man out for himself . That ’s made evident in his horrifying intervention of Vic and his mother , and it ’s even clean in his final conversation with Sofia . While channelize his gun at her back , Oz tells her , “ You ’re going to hell , looker . ” This remark turns out to be a cruel joke on Oz ’s part , as he in the end refrains from vote down Sofia just so that she can be send back to Arkham .
But it is also grounds yet again of Oz ’s narcissism . Hell is a place for sinner , liars , and murderer . Many ofThe Penguin‘s grapheme fall under those categories , but none more sothan Oz . And yet his comment to Sofia suggest that he does n’t realize that . He find himself as righteous and just . It ’s a common chorus among creators and storyteller that every villain sees themself as the hero of their own story . That ’s certainly the character for Oz , but whatThe Penguinshowrunner Lauren LeFranc beautifully communicates inThe Penguin‘s closing curtain is that he also sees everyone else as the villain . It is a consummate way for the serial to end — one that forces viewers to stare into the black abyss of its protagonist ’s villainy and mourn his victory even after pulling for it for eight straight episodes .
Oz , it work out , is a valet de chambre who view himself as existing above everyone else . He has to . Otherwise , his entire ego - imply view of the globe would fall asunder . At the final stage ofThe Penguin , he manages to rise above all of his foe , too . The Penguin‘s last barb makes it clean , however , that Oz has not risen eminent enough to be above or out of the reach of Gotham ’s Dark Knight . Maybe , just possibly , Bruce Wayne ( Robert Pattinson ) will be capable to do what Sofia and the rest of Oz ’s enemy inThe Penguincouldn’t . alas , we ’ll have to hold off forThe Batman Part IIto strike theaters in 2026 to find out .
The Penguinis now streaming in its entirety on Max .
