Review: The Penguin delivers huge twists and turns in Episode 8, "A Great or Little Thing"

The Penguin series finale did not disappoint, but it did bring some shocking twists and turns. How does Oswald Cobb’s story end?

Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Penguin Episode 8

The first part of the episode takes us back to the past. This time, we see the aftermath of Oz’s brothers’ deaths from Francis’ point of view. She knew everything. She found evidence that Oz was with his brothers and locked them in the tunnel the night they drowned.

So why did she choose to ignore it? Well, at first, we learn that she was going to have Oz killed. However, in the end, her motherly instincts won out and she decided to allow Oz to remain with her and eventually become the man that he is.

The Penguin Episode 8 review: Secrets and lies all come out

In the present day, Vic gets to the location of the explosion. The various gangs are leaving, and while Vic makes a great speech, it doesn’t do anything to keep them around. They are only interested in power and money, and so it’s not surprising to find out that they head to Sofia.

As for Sofia, she starts off the episode taunting Oz. She tures him to the remains of the theater where Oz and Francis once danced and threatens to remove Francis’ little finger in retaliation for him chopping off Alberto’s finger. To prevent this, Sofia wants Oz to be honest about what happened to his brothers.

I have to question whether Oz actually believes he wasn’t the cause of his brothers’ deaths. The best liars tend to start believing their own lies. It’s how they keep the stories straight. We know Oz is a narcissist and a sociopath, so is it possible that he actually believes he had nothing to do with his brothers’ deaths? Or is it just that Oz is good at compartmentalizing everything? Is there a difference?

No, it’s just that he doesn’t care. He doesn’t even care enough about his mom to prevent her finger from being cut off. It’s only as Francis screams at him that she’s always hated him, and Sofia realizes how little Oz cares about anyone but himself, that Sofia decides it’s not worth the finger. I do appreciate that Francis finally gets the chance to say everything that she needs to. These are the last words of hers that Oz will hear, and she doesn’t hold back.

Unfortunately for Francis, this is where it all goes terrible for her. She has a stroke, and Sofia is in far too much shock with everything she’s witnessed to prevent Oz from fighting back to get out of his restraints. Oz manages to get Francis out of there.

Oz finally takes over the empire

Oz continues to think on his feet. After getting his mom to the hospital, he and Vic need to find a way to get the gangs back on their side. The problem is the leaders of all the gangs have chosen Sofia. She has promised them her father’s empire for as long as they can hold it in exchange for Oz.

It’s not surprising that the Triad takes full advantage. Link makes a call to Vic to lure Oz into a trap. As they meet at the hanger, I noticed that while Oz was held at gunpoint, Vic didn’t seem to be. It was clear that there was a much bigger plan going on, so it wasn’t that surprising when Link and his guys shot Feng in the head and took over.

Oz knows how underdogs work. He knows how people who have constantly been pushed down work. That’s who he was. When people who are at the bottom have had enough of being trampled on, they will fight back. And so we see there’s a huge shift in each of the gangs around Gotham. At Oz's urging, the younger members kill their leaders and take over.

This is a restart for Oz, and he now has people who are willing to work with him. They want what Oz promises, and as long as you’re loyal, he pays out. They’ve seen that happen.

But to fully take over the empire, Oz needs to deal with Sofia. To do that, he works with the councilman who turned the lights back on at Crown Point the episode prior. Oz arranges for Sofia to be arrested, putting her back into Arkham Asylum. I’m glad to see that it’s not completely over for Sofia. This is a character we need to see more of. She’s just so interesting! And sure, The Penguin is a limited series, but there is foreshadowing for how Sofia’s story can continue. In Arkham, Sofia gets a letter from a Selina Kyle, who claims to be Sofia’s half-sister. We all know Selina is Catwoman, which hints that we’ll see more of Catwoman in The Batman: Part II. Will Sofia feature in it as well? Or could we get a limited series that gives us Selina and Sofia working together?

Oz cannot have people he cares about

Now for the most heartbreaking moment in The Penguin series finale. Oz and Vic sit on a bench by the river to have a heart to heart after Oz learns that his mother has suffered such a massive stroke that she will never be able to move or talk again. She’s pretty much got locked-in syndrome. She’s there, but she can’t communicate.

Vic wants to be there for Oz. He shares how grateful he is that Oz gave him a chance, but then he says the words that lead to his downfall. He tells Oz that he thinks of Oz as family.

One thing this whole ordeal has taught Oz is that he can’t have people he cares about in the world. We’ve seen how he uses family and love against others, and he can’t allow people to use that against him. It’s devastating to watch as Oz kills Vic with his own bare hands.

This is the point Oz becomes The Penguin for me. He could feel like he was starting to view Vic as a son or as a younger brother, and he needed to cut off those feelings before they took over.

There is only one person he will keep in his life, and that’s his mom. He finally gets that penthouse and he has a room with a window for Francis to look out at to see the whole of Gotham. This isn’t what Francis wants, though. The tear that runs down her face makes it clear that she just wants to die. She wants to join her boys.

Why would Oz keep his mom around if he loves her? I don't think it's love. This is a selfish action, maybe partly to punish her for using her last words to tell him how much she hates him, or in the hope that he'll hear something good from her in the future. I can't quite figure that out, but this isn't love.

As for Oz, he uses Eve to tell him everything he needed to hear from his mom. He gets Eve to dress up as Francis from that night at Monroe’s when Francis was arranging to have a young Oz killed.

Considering everything Eve did to send Sofia to Oz’s door, I’m really surprised that Oz didn’t use this moment to kill Eve. I guess he doesn’t have any feelings for her. He never did. It was all about using her to get what he needed, and in this case, it was for his mom to tell him how proud she was and how much she loved him. We see the difference between how he grew close to Vic compared to Eve, who smartly kept him at arm's length.

What I will say is that Carmen Ejogo managed to get a lot of Francis’ mannerisms from that Monroe’s scene down. I could actually believe that it was Francis saying them, and it’s easy to see why this was enough for Oz in this moment.

Overall, The Penguin finale brought us the tension, the twists, and the surprises that we needed to end the series. It now makes me want more from this DC universe.

Episode grade: A+

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