The Penguin Season 1 Episode 8 Review: A Great or Little Thing

All roads lead to Oz (or in this case, Oz Cobb.) The road that The Penguin paved is nearing its end in “A Great or Little Thing”, which is an overwhelmingly violent conclusion. While previous episodes of The Penguin were physically so, this finale is psychologically and emotionally pushing those bounds.

Given Francis’s breakdown in “Top Hat”, those limits are exceeded within the first few moments. In these beginning scenes, it’s confirmed that Francis does know about Oz’s actions against his brothers. However, she decided to make peace with it as to not let whatever’s left of her relationship with Oz fall apart.

This way of psychologic storytelling has this edge of surrealism to it that works. The older Francis is putting herself in the shoes of her younger self as she’s both reflecting and being hypnotized by Sofia Gigante and Dr. Rush. She’s in a vulnerable state and having those visual flares really play on Francis’s choice to keep or kill Oz in her memory.

Francis believes there’s still some good in Oz and she wants to keep that part of him. Unfortunately, Oz’s neediness for approval and attention, both in his youth and old age, overtakes what emotional purity he had.

This comes out when Oz is captured by Sofia and her cronies, who’ve put him and Francis together for this confrontation. It’s not your usual villain-hero capture scene as it’s clear Oz and Sofia are both villains. There’s nothing that can redeem them and what sympathy they had previously has been washed away by a need for vengeance.

That is apparent when Sofia tries, through Dr. Rush, to cut Francis’s finger off as payback for Alberto back in “After Hours”. Sofia remains desperate for Oz to come clean and the mental facade Francis has created starts to peel off.

Looking back on The Penguin, it’s even more clear that Francis was trying to keep herself tempered. For example, in “Homecoming”, she kept trying to call for Oz’s brothers, which confused Victor. Perhaps Francis’s condition is what made her memory of her sons’ deaths hidden, only revealing itself in times of worry.

However, when the arguing between Oz, Sofia, and Francis climaxes, it results in ultimate heartbreak. With Francis making it clear she knew all along and stabbing him with a broken bottle, it delivers on that shock factor perfectly.

Yet, Oz is still wrapped up in being this “guardian angel” for his mother. She’s his eternal lifeline; without her, Oz would inevitably degrade himself to the lowest of Gotham’s low.

Fortunately, he still has those around, like Victor, to help him. Victor’s been gradually coming into his own, even gaining his own sense of confidence when trying to rally Oz’s allies. However, he’s still considered an underdog by the rest of Gotham’s gangs.

Despite Victor getting into his own since “Gold Summit”, he’s still under Oz’s shadow. There’s been no clean way out for Victor, whether it would’ve been confronting Oz at the club or otherwise. Victor has had to fill that void for Oz because not only is Oz the only “family” he has, but he’s too far in to get out.

That comes full circle when Oz manages to catch Sofia into a little trap when she’s about to board her plane. With the montage of showing all the gangster underlings taking charge (in bloody fashion) perfectly encapsulates that feeling of empowerment. Just like how Sofia and Oz overthrew the Falcones in their own way, those working under their bosses rise up in this vicious way.

All of this leads to an ultimate personal confrontation between Oz and Sofia, where the sides are switched. With Oz having all the power now, it’s satisfying, yet peculiar, to see what he’s going to do. You’d expect Oz to take the shot, but this red herring moment surprisingly subverted those expectations.

Then, you realize it: Oz has to play by some rules in order to really get what he wants. His neediness does have limits and its this trait that draws him to do what’s morally right. At least, in the sense that someone like “The Penguin” actually can be.

The last few moments of this episode were absolutely gut-wrenching because there was a very unlikely chance that a happy ending would come. Francis suffering a critical stroke that left her in a catatonic state was perhaps the most heart-breaking moment of it all.

Throughout the entirety of The Penguin, Oz has been seeking approval from his mother. However, with these emotional revelations coming out, it’s left Oz as a husk of his former self. In fact, Francis’s new circumstance pushes Oz over the edge, fully embodying the personality of the villainous character.

He does so in the most depressing moment ever: he decides to kill off Victor, which was expected. Yet, when Oz chokes Victor out, there’s this graciousness with an undertone of sympathy that Oz shows. He knows of the sacrifices Victor had to make for him, but Oz has to move on for the better.

With Oz finally accomplishing his dream for himself and Francis, it’s only a matter of time when he’ll strike back against his new nemesis: Batman. Ending with Oz’s high note, The Penguin concludes with a tremendous impact for things to come while leaving a fulfilling sendoff for this series.

Stray Thoughts:

• I absolutely had a gut feeling that Oz would take out Victor in the end, but the way he does it is just incredibly brutal. The camera’s focus being placed on Oz’s overbearing attack really sells how painful it is. 
• When Francis finally lets out the truth about her knowing to Oz, Deirdre O’Connell just gives a really scary outburst. That got me good when I was watching before and actually made me a bit frightened!
• Sofia burning down the Falcone family mansion as a visual reflection of Oz burning his old car is pretty interesting. In a way, it’s like they’re putting their old lives behind themselves in order to become the monsters the world made them to be.
• The prosthetic work on Oz’s injury is absolutely disgusting in a good way and the details are incredibly well-put together.
• Sofia ending up back in Arkham is truly a full circle moment for her character. Though I don’t think she’ll be there for long thanks to that tease, I hope there’s context for what she’ll be up to.

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