Now in the back half of the series and the penultimate episode, we finally get to see the extent of Oswald’s darkness. Particularly, the story of how he lost his childhood innocence. Just as well, the fruit of Sofia’s decisions fully reveal her true nature. Let’s continue the discussion below.
It is unclear just how much Oswald loves his family, but he undeniably loves being loved. Just his one sided obsession with Rex Calabrese shows how Oz quantifies the concept of love. Of course, lovingly brought to life by Louis Cancelmi of Boardwalk Empire fame as Agent Mike Malone. The most important observation is how Oswald conflates the fear Rex commands as love and respect. Even to the point that he misunderstands the relationship his family has with Rex because of how much money he gives them. It draws more attention to the fact that everything Oz covets in the present seems pure, but is more often than not, rotten underneath. This includes his sensitive relationship between his brothers. Nowadays, Oz speaks very highly of his brothers and their tragic deaths. Back then, his mother kept her sons out of the streets, while serving Rex’s empire as somewhat of a bookkeeper. Although the boys enjoy their childhood, only the eldest brother, Jack, seems to understand the plight of being under a gangster. Yet, Oswald romanticizes the thug as a provider and his mother as his love. His jealousy is biblical, calling up inverted Abrahamic parables of Joseph and his envious brothers. Except in this case, Oswald despises sharing his mother with his siblings. Likely, seeing himself as more deserving because of his disability.
Part of this episode puts childhood on trial, and questions if people are born good, or become evil through circumstance. Certainly, The Penguin uses Oz as an example of inherent evil. Oswald Cobb is a heartless liar, murderer, and more. Despite how unintentional the loss of his brothers may have been, Oswald Cobb would go on to embrace his darkest impulses for the rest of his life. In fact, the series sets up a parallel between Vic and Oswald’s first nights after a murder. One one hand, Victor is extremely guilt ridden in the rainy night. Meanwhile, young Oswald smugly pats himself on the back, watching Fred Astaire similarly gun down his rivals. All the while, the meaning of the haunting rain tortures his mother to this very day. Similarly, Sofia’s niece is unintentionally traumatized as well. After the night in the mansion, Gia spends her nights at the children’s home hurting herself. While Sofia may see herself as a justified avenging angel, in truth she tore Gia away from her parents. Last episode, Sofia began to see the idea of the Hangman was a symbol of fear to women, but now it has become a reality for those she claims to protect. As for Gia, the child suffers irreparable trauma that already steals what’s left of her innocence. Whether that means she is beyond saving is unknown, but Sofia is undeniably at fault.
The other half of the show is set in present day, following Sal and Sofia’s attack on Victor and Francis Cobb. Maroni forcibly bargains with Oswald for the location of the mushroom operation, while Francis is psycho analyzed by Julian Rush. Considering how much Oswald loves his mother, him leading his enemies down into the tunnels isn’t much of a surprise. However, the amount of support and cooperation his men exhibit to save him is truly shocking. In many ways, their willingness to sacrifice their safety is a testament to the loyalty Oswald cultivates among his own. Furthermore, it shows how close Oswald is getting to his dream. Still, the space work is quite poor in this episode. For some reason, Sofia ransacks the apartment, leaves Victor alive, Oz arrives, then Sal comes to the building for Oz. It just makes no sense. The weakest link in this episode by far is the treatment of Francis. They capture her, have a biting back and forth with her to some end, and then Julian gives her therapy. By the end of it, it goes nowhere. They just change locations and head to the theater, anyway. Admittedly, the fake out with the bomb in the underground was cool looking, but it was also kind of silly as a set up. The showrunners want the audience to buy all of these gangsters standing around this vehicle in a disadvantageous situation. Outside of the suspense, it is a glaringly stupid stand-off. The saving grace is how amazingly poetic Oswald escaping from the same chamber his brothers died in was.
The Penguin continues to impress, but this was undeniably the least effective episode. The handling of Salvatore Maroni adds nothing to the overall story and could’ve been cut out. In spite of that, I do love Clancy Brown. Theo Rossi’s Julian Rush feels shoehorned into the plot with the least tangible motivation. Lastly, there isn’t very much for our main cast to do but to wait. Weirdly, much of the run time primarily focuses on our characters inactive. Not to mention, we do not see Rhenzy Feliz for a large percent of the episode. Otherwise, this episode was a great look at the formative psychology of our protagonist, while indicting both of our leads as the same evil.
HBO THE PENGUIN airs every Sunday night on HBO/MAX. Images and video from YouTube.