Since the start of The Penguin, it' been clear that there was more to Sofia Falcone than we've seen. Episode 4, "Cent'anni," delves into her backstory and reveals why she stopped trusting people.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for The Penguin episode 4
While The Penguin is about the rise of Oz in the criminal underworld, there’s another major player in his story. Sofia quickly proved to be a spanner in the works since her release from Arkham Asylum. This episode is deeply traumatic and emotional. It’s impossible not to feel sorry for her as she’s forced through “treatments.”
It’s been clear for a minute that Sofia isn't actually The Hangman serial killer the news has made her out to be. It’s time to learn who was really behind the hangings and how Sofia was set up to take the fall.
The Penguin episode 4 review: "Cent'anni"
From the start, we’ve believed that Sofia’s mom died by suicide. She was found hanging in her room, and we learn in this episode that finding her body has haunted Sofia ever since. It’s no wonder she struggles with her mental health. Seeing your mother hanging at the age of 9 is going to leave a lasting impression. Only Sofia can’t talk about it. Her father Carmine refuses to speak about that tragedy because it’s painful for him.
Carmine gives us a great look at how gaslighting works. There’s a moment in the episode where Sofia tells her dad things that she remembers after her mom’s death. She remembers scratches on his hands. Carmine doesn’t answer, but rather turns the tables on how she’s feeling.
When a reporter, Summer Gleeson, goes to see Sofia after a charity luncheon, Sofia’s doubts about what really happened to her mother intensify. We learn that she always knew there was something strange about her mom’s death. Now with the revelation that there were other women who have "killed themselves" in the same way as her mother, all of whom have links to Carmine’s club, Sofia decides she needs to hear more.
We’d learned in the previous episode that Oz was the one who said something about Sofia to her dad; I'd presumed it was about her mental health. It wasn’t that at all. It was about meeting with a reporter. It’s not surprising to hear that Summer Gleeson is found dead—yes, in the same way as the other women—and Sofia is arrested for it.
How Sofia survives in Arkham
Carmine wastes no time in taking out a threat to his own freedom. He has the perfect person to pin the blame of the murders on. Despite saying earlier in the episode that Sofia would one day take over the family, everything changes in a blink of an eye, and suddenly she becomes a problem Carmine has to deal with.
Carmine has members of the family write affidavits saying that Sofia is mentally unstable, part of his plan to get her committed. One of the family members who betray Sofia is Carla Viti, who you may remember from the family party scene a couple episodes ago. Carla was clearly awkward around Sofia, and now we understand why. She knows she did the wrong thing, and now Sofia is in a position to move against her.
With everything stacked against her, Sofia learns that she’s being sentenced to six months in Arkham Asylum before trial. She needs to be mentally evaluated. Of course, putting someone in mental asylums is a sure-fire way to make patients even worse than they already are. Even the most sane people go insane in these places.
Sofia knows that she won’t survive Arkham, and she kind of doesn't. A part of her dies. She’s drugged up, beaten, and tortured as a way to evaluate her and “treat” her.
As we watch her time in Arkham, we see how the psychiatrist manipulates her words. He wants her to make herself sound crazy. He’s looking for a way to cause her to lash out, even if it's in self defense. She’s put in situations where murder can be blamed on her, allowing doctors to torture her with electroshock therapy.
There is one moment where one of the psychiatrists questions whether she’s telling the truth. The other one says, “careful doctor,” making it clear that it doesn’t matter if she’s guilty or not. Carmine has ordered this, and they will do as he says.
At first, Sofia isn’t allowed to see anyone on the outside. Of course, the only person who would come to see her would be her brother Alberto. But he doesn't have any good news. Carmine is still working his magic.
Alberto tells Sofia that she won’t stand trial. She’s deemed not mentally stable enough, which means she’s locked up in Arkham for the foreseeable future. When someone has lost everything, they snap. Cristin Milioti shows off her acting abilities in this scene. You watch Milioti’s demeanor completely change as she shuts down. There’s nothing worth fighting for anymore, and she completely crosses over by beating her cell neighbor, Magpie, with a tray.
Sofia makes her move
The episode starts with a flash of the ending to The Penguin Episode 3. We watch as Sofia learns that Oz killed her brother and narrowly survive Vic running a Maroni down with a car. Sofia is able to make a call before she passes out.
It turns out she called one of the psychiatrists from Arkham. This guy was on her side and quit shortly after Sofia learned there was no way out of Arkham. He couldn’t work there anymore, and he decided to work with Alberto instead. He helped get Sofia out of Arkham, and now he wants to help Sofia. It took him and Alberto 10 years to get Sofia out of that place.
He thinks Sofia should get on a plane to Sicily and get a fresh start. Instead, she decides to stay and take power back. Most of her living family members, and all the top men who worked for her father, have lied to her and used her time and time again. She calls them out at a family dinner, and I adore that she speaks the names of all the Hangman's victims. These women were killed by her father and pinned on her, and their names deserve to be said. It’s something that needs to happen when it comes to any murder. Speak the names of the victims and not the killer.
I honestly thought she was going to make her first kills at the dinner table. There were seven people there (after Carla's daughter Gia left the table), and it would have been rather poetic for Sofia to kill seven people for the seven victims of The Hangman. I enjoyed the twist in the end, though.
Knowing Gia was innocent in the whole thing, Sofia wakes her up and takes her to a greenhouse to eat cake and enjoy a slumber party. Sofia sees a lot of her younger self in Gia, and she wants to do everything she can to protect her. It’s also to get her out of the way as Sofia’s plan is put in motion. The next morning, Sofia goes into the house with a gas mask on. Sure enough, she killed the Falcones by gassing them in the house the night prior. With everyone dead, she opens the windows and doors to get the gas out, allowing her to get away with murder.
There’s only one who got to remain alive: Sofia made sure Johnny’s window was open, and we end with her walking into his room and waking him up. They need to talk.
The Penguin did an excellent job in catching us up to speed with Sofia’s mental state and giving us a look at taking back control. Am I wrong for wanting to see her win in the whole gang war?
The Penguin airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.
Episode Grade: A-
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