The Penguin Season 1 Episode 4 Review: Cent’anni

The Penguin Season 1 Episode 4, “Cent’anni”, might be the show’s most captivating episodes yet by placing its focus on Sofia Falcone and her transformation into the cold mastermind she is.

Similarly to The Penguin Season 1 Episode 3, “Bliss”, it’s clear that the show is taking its time to give more depth to these character. Just like how it explored Victor’s heart-breaking backstory and its present impacts, this episode does the same through Sofia’s perspective.

The result of this episode not only makes Sofia a more terrifying character (and probably antagonist), but also makes her someone you can sympathize with.

This really begins in its opening sequence, in the aftermath of the deadly shoot-out between Oz and Nadia Maroni. Here, Oz lets his true colors shine by trying to appease Nadia’s interest and blaming Sofia for their own faults. Just like in “Bliss”, Oz goes with Victor, leaving Sofia behind to Nadia and her henchmen.

This moment is a catalyst for Sofia to finally understand the full picture as she’s been put into this situation before. At this point, she knows that everyone will betray her not only because she has the keys to the Falcone “throne”, but also because of her self-made status. Oz’s turn just finally pushed her over the edge, which is perfectly displayed through Milioti’s expressionism.

How was this the final nudge for Sofia to take? The episode answers this by looking back on Sofia’s past through a bleak perspective on feminism and familial toxicity. This is highlighted in the scenes between Sofia and her father, Carmine, who is hinted to be hiding something more sinister.

Throughout these scenes, it keeps dropping the “fact” that Carmine’s lovers had committed suicide around the Falcone clubs. Yet, there’s a few teases to suggest otherwise, like when Sofia tries to confront Carmine about her mother’s death.

Sofia knows the truth, yet she’s too restrained by her father to share the truth when a press reporter tries to confront Sofia later on. She doesn’t want to step out of line, but she wants to do the right thing to make their family better. This is heavily emphasized through Sofia’s facial displays of confliction, which are kept nicely subtle until she finally steps up to Carmine.

This scene really adds onto the gloomy undertones of Sofia’s present attitude as Carmine decides to place her under arrest. He absolutely does so with Gotham’s corruption at an all time high, sending her off to Arkham. What tops it off is the reveal that this is where Sofia earns her moniker “Hangman” after Carmine pinned everything on her in the end.

Yet, somehow, there’s still a spark of hope that tells her that everything’s going to be okay. The first sign comes in the form of Julian Rush, who initially took Sofia for granted after Carmine paid him off. However, as the story continues, you can begin to see a good side to him finally revealing itself.

This helps cement his character from The Penguin Season 1 Episode 2, “Inside Man”, where Julian felt somewhat barebones. It’s clear that he wanted to help, but this episode provides that slow, yet necessary, development needed to understand why he was like that.

The second sign comes in the form of Magpie, an Arkham inmate who fans might recall from Beware the Batman. However, in The Penguin, she’s portrayed more like a deranged version of Batman: The Animated Series‘ Harley Quinn. 

As such, the episode tries to use her as a rehabilitative device for Sofia to play with. However, Sofia gets intriguingly sympathetic to Magpie because of how society’s treated the both of them. Their relationship remains rocky, yet they still look out for each other (or so it seems.)

All of this provides an interesting approach to the larger theme of this episode. Essentially, it’s trying to showcase the hardships of women versus the patriarchal norms in a very convincing way. Sofia is The Penguin‘s way of presenting that idea and it really nails it in when she ends Magpie’s life for pushing her over for the first time.

It’s a harrowing realization that Sofia comes to, but one that she decides to take advantage of. In fact, she’s able to do this once she returns to her uncle Luca and the rest of the family.

By the final third of “Cent’anni”,  Sofia takes things into her own hand by confronting Luca and her family for not standing up against Carmine. She knew that they knew what he was doing, yet they were too corrupted by Carmine’s influence to do anything.

With an impactful speech written by John McCutcheon, Cristin Milioti capitalizes on giving Sofia the confidence she needs to do what needs to be done. It’s a menacingly beautiful moment with the close-ups on Sofia and the cuts between everyone else concerned for their own safety.

To top this episode off, Sofia does indeed do what she believes is right. However, there’s something so “antihero” about it that makes you think she’s not necessarily a villain.

The camera plays up Sofia’s revenge in a way that feels like it’s blending The Sopranos and Breaking Bad together with distant shots of her enacting her plan. It’s not explosive or anything of the sort. Rather, it’s a gradual build-up that shows the result of what she did.

The bodies of the Falcones are strewn about the mansion as Sofia makes her escape. It really highlights how bad she can be, yet there’s one particular scene that shows she’s still empathetic to the innocent.

Sofia has this conversation with the daughter of her friend and tries to protect her from witnessing these deaths. It’s a really heartfelt moment as it completely wraps around its thematic idea about femininity wonderfully. It makes you think that Sofia wants to take a matriarchal approach, which is teased when she decides to drop her last name for her mom’s: Gigante. 

Overall, this episode of The Penguin truly does a great job in forming Sofia’s motivations as well as her personality, which has definitely grown since then.

Stray Thoughts:

• Honestly, I’m surprised that they introduced (and killed off) Magpie in this episode. That laugh in “Bliss” really reminded me of Harley Quinn and that’s why I thought of her at first. However, this episode mostly made good use of her character, if for a short while.
• That whole ending montage with Sofia gassing up the Falcone mansion is honestly Game of Thrones-level of awesome. You cannot tell me that Sofia isn’t a badass after this episode!

What did you think of this episode of The Penguin? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Penguin airs Sundays at 9 PM ET on Max.

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