'The Penguin' Season 1 Episodes 4 & 5 Spoiler-Free Review

Oct 22

Episodes four and five of The Penguin have dropped, and we have much to unpack. The series has continuously gotten better with each new episode, setting an incredibly high bar for the final three episodes. Like with episode three, episodes four and five dove into the history of our main characters and helped us understand them and their motives more thoroughly. Warning!! This article contains spoilers for episodes 1-3 and The Batman!!

In episode three, we finally got to know who Victor was before he met Oz. He wasn’t a kid on the streets like the show had led us to believe. Instead, he was a good kid who loved his girlfriend and his family, only to watch his home and family be washed away by the Riddler’s flood in the events that took place during The Batman. When we meet him in the show, he is still trying to deal with this loss and find a way to make money so that he can eat. It was nice getting to know Victor and watching him finally get to make choices for himself. Part of me wishes he would have left with his girlfriend at the end of the episode, but seeing him crash Oz’s car into one of Maroni’s men was pretty epic. Victor finally made the decision to join Oz 100%, and while that makes me terrified for his life, it has led to some incredible moments in episode five!

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Episode four picks up exactly where episode three left off. Instead of following Oz through the episode, we follow Sofia and finally learn how she ended up in Arkham and who the real Hangman killer is. While the reveal was expected, the way in which it was done honestly had my jaw on the floor. I am also now 100% on team Sofia, and even though the show is called The Penguin, I just can’t root for Oz. I have been obsessed with Cristin Milioti’s portrayal of Sofia Falcone since episode one, but her portrayal of her unraveling in this episode deserves an Oscar. We finally got to know her in this episode and why she is so attached to her brother even though they had been separated for a decade. The finale of this episode is one of the best villain origin stories I have ever seen. Her monologue at the family dinner was perfectly done, and her “fresh start” is exactly what she deserves.

Episode five finally gave all of the attention back to Oz and his plans to destroy both the Maronis and the Falcones. What was most interesting about this episode is that he finally made actual power plays against the families. Once he realized that he had made enemies in both families, he had no choice but to finally try to take the reins. Oz and Vic make a perfect duo because they both come from the same type of neighborhood. They know what it is like to grow up with nothing, and they can relate to each other in a way no one else can.

This episode also gave us a glimpse into Oz’s past that we hadn’t seen yet, but I hope that we will eventually get to find out what happened to his brothers. I really appreciated that we got to see more of Oz with his mom because mental health is something that shows typically stray away from, but The Penguin is putting it all on display. It is going to be interesting to see where this story goes and how many of the characters we have come to love are going to survive the series finale.

The best thing about these two episodes is that they finally split up Sofia and Oz. For the entire show, the two of them had been attached, and while it was interesting to see how they were growing together, it was time to see who would come out on top. Breaking them apart and dedicating one episode to each of them finally making power moves, allowed us to not only pick a side but also understand what their plans and motivations are. These are the best episodes of TV I have ever seen, and I don’t see any other series compared to this one for a long time. I am curious to see how the final three episodes will hold up to episodes three through five and how they are going to tie all of this up.

All-new episodes of The Penguin are out every Sunday at 9 pm Eastern on Max.

RATING: 10/10 (for episodes 4 and 5)

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