We’ve known from the start that Oz lives with the ghosts of his brothers around him. We learn everything that happened in The Penguin Episode 7, "Top Hat."
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Penguin Episode 7
The start of the episode takes us back into the past, all the way back to Oz's childhood. In the present day, Sofia and Sal gets the chance to hurt Oz the way they want.
The Penguin Episode 7 review, “Top Hat”: What happened to Oz’s brothers?
The episode opens with a young Oz and his mother. It’s clear that he wants the attention of his mom, but his brothers don’t always make it easy. They also aren’t the kindest to a young Oz, picking on him and taking advantage of his bad leg.
It’s not that surprising to see Oz take some sort of power back, but he takes things way too far. He and his brothers explore the tunnels under Gotham, but Oz struggles to get down the ladder because of his leg. Rather than risk falling, he decides to go home, closing the door on the tunnel at the same time. There is no way for his brothers to get out, and as the rain pours, the tunnel fills with water.
Oz lies to his mom, saying that his brothers went to the movies. Oz gets to spend the night with his mom watching a movie while his brothers drown. And all Oz can do is smile. He has what he wants, and that’s all that matters. Is it that surprising then that he continues to do whatever he wants when he’s literally gotten away with murder?
This was the start of Francis’ mental decline and self-centered personality. Of course, as the momma’s boy that Oz is, he didn’t see a problem with this and promised her the world.
Sofia and Sal get their chance at revenge
Back in the present, Oz returns to Crown Point to see all the lights on. It should be a good thing, but he immediately realizes something has happened in the apartment where he and his mother are staying. The door has been kicked open and Vic has been knocked out. Francis is gone, and Oz immediately knows what’s happened: Sofia has found and taken his mom.
Sal and his men show up looking for revenge, but Sofia doesn’t want to kill Oz just yet. They both want to hurt Oz first. And that means hurting Francis.
However, Sofia seems to second guess her choices. When she brings up Oz’s brothers, Francis snaps back to the past. She’s worried about her two boys out in the rain, and Sofia realizes that Francis is suffering from dementia. Every now and then, Sofia gets in touch with her humanity, especially when she's talking to other victims of sufferings. We saw it with her cousin Gia and now we’re seeing it with Francis.
There is another loose end for Sofia. Gia wants to tell the police about something she saw the night of the “gas leak,” so Sofia decides to pay Gia a visit at the group home where she's now living. Gia saw the gas mask in Sofia’s bag. There’s a moment when Sofia looks like she is becoming her father as she gaslights Gia into thinking her mother's death was an accident. However, when she sees that Gia is harming herself, Sofia realizes that she needs to help her cousin. She makes it clear that Gia’s parents were bad people, but Gia can be better. They both have a chance to be better. There isn’t much hope for Sofia at this point, but there is hope that Gia can prevent this generational pain and destruction.
Oz has to get himself out of a sticky situation again
Once again, Oz finds himself having to get out of trouble that he clearly didn’t expect. Sal forces Oz to show him the base of operations for the drugs. Oz initially tries to turn Sal against Sofia, and then he decides to taunt Sal over the way Nadia and Tariq died. It’s all a delay tactic to get his own men to help him out.
It just so happens that fate is on Oz’s side. Sal has a heart attack while beating Oz. I do love how Oz’s reaction is just like ours. Sal was supposed to destroy Oz and take down Oz’s growing empire, and his heart just failed him. It’s just one of those “WTF” moments that I didn’t see coming. Bravo to the writers on that one!
There’s a beautiful callback to the first episode with this. Oz takes Sal’s ring and puts it on his finger in the way that Carmine and Alberto did.
I’ll also give Oz his due: he praises the guys who helped protect him. They stood up for their home and he’s proud of their loyalty. Many others would have run away, but Oz has paid them and treated them better than any other boss has before, so they stay.
It’s back to Sofia vs. Oz in The Penguin
With Sal dead, it's back to Oz vs Sofia. Oz offers to turn over his product in exchange for his mother, who is currently getting “help” from Julian, and Sofia agrees.
After seeing Gia, Sofia realizes that Francis is right that changing her name changes nothing. Sofia has gone from one institution to another, and now she needs to figure out how to do something different. All she wants is to be free and for Oz to feel real pain.
We’re getting to see just how much of a break there is in Sofia’s head. Unless she’s focusing on revenge, she suffers from a panic attack. Focusing on anything else means that she loses control, and she’d lost control for too long in the asylum. I wish Sofia was surrounded by people who actually wanted to help her, but that wouldn’t make a great Gotham story, would it?
The mini-breakdown does help Sofia figure out her next move, though. She decides not to walk into Oz’s trap after all, but she does deliver a “present.” No, it’s not Francis’ dead body. It’s a bomb in a car.
Sofia is showing her growth and her wish to adapt. Killing to hurt Oz wasn’t the right path. Blowing up his operations is.
The penultimate episode certainly ended with a bang! Now we get to see the ultimate showdown. While we know the story of The Penguin in the DC comics, it’s going to be interesting to see if Sofia can come out on top. She’s found Oz’s weak link, but can Oz find hers and use his skills to think on the spot to get himself and his mom out of dodge?
Episode grade: A-
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