HBO has created many of the greatest dramas of all time, and they're not done. This year's The Penguin was a fantastic miniseries, showcasing remarkable turns by Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobb (aka The Penguin) and Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone—which makes the show's engaging plot twists hit even harder. Although it's only one season long (and should probably stay that way), this show packs a ton of story, backstory, and disturbing insights into the human condition. The story works so well that it's rather easy to forget that it's loosely based on comic book material. The only time we really feel the existence of a superhero is in the final scene, when the Bat signal shows in the distance. The Penguin is a superb spinoff, and largely because it works so well as a grounded crime-thriller that fans don't need to watch 2022's The Batman to appreciate it.
Many things stand out about this series, including Colin Farrell's unrecognizable appearance (and voice), the way this show balances his story with Sofia's and Victor's (Rhenzy Feliz), the directing, the lighting, the dialogue, and more. The plot twists might be the best parts of the story, though, as they keep the viewers on their toes and make such astonishing performances from its cast so necessary in the first place. There are many favorites to choose from, but the very best twists tend to be the most smoothly executed, the most significant to the plot, the most telling for character development, and—of course—the most shocking.
Oz has got to be one of Colin Farrell's best performances, which is particularly clear when another character has a gun to his head. In this case, it's Sofia Falcone. She suspects that Oz is the one who killed her brother, so she has the guy naked and tied up in one of the Falcone family rooms. There's a teenager who claims to have seen him at a certain time and place that implicates him in the murder.
Things aren't looking good for Oswald, who claims that the Maronis are responsible. He lies about where he was, which buys him enough time (and also leads to that kid getting shot) for Vic to have a car show up with Alberto Falcone's body in it. As it's staged as revenge by the competing mafia family, Sofia lets Mr. Cobb go. This may not be the most shocking installment in the show, as it happens in just the first episode, and we know that Oz can't die this soon, but it's a thrilling way to end the premiere. Vic proves himself as an accomplice, and the theme of Oz barely escaping death is clearly established.
9 Sofia Kills John Viti
Episode 5, "Homecoming"
Image via HBO
Sofia is easily one of the strongest and most complex characters in The Penguin, and part of the reason why is her calculated unpredictability. Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly) is the only adult in her family that she spared in the previous episode, so the audience has good reason to think that she's going to keep using him as she takes over the Falcone family. Well, guess again. In the very first meeting that she has with the remaining higher-ups in the family, she shoots Viti in the head.
It's interesting that Viti disagrees with her about changing the family name before he meets his maker. It makes you wonder if she would have let him live otherwise, but it also demonstrates to both her and her peers that she is not the kind of boss to screw with. Sofia also uses this murder to show that she's offering them a total rebranding of the Falcone family, leaving very few of the old bosses left. It's a nice touch, showing how she's truly grown into the role of crime boss.
8 Sofia Bombs the Sewer
Episode 7, "Top Hat"
Image via HBO
At this point in the show, Oz has a good business going in the sewer. Unfortunately for him, Sofia has kidnapped his mother and wants to make a deal with him. They've set up a meeting in the sewer, and The Penguin anxiously awaits the other party to show up. When a vehicle arrives, the driver runs away, and he gets a call from Sofia. We can tell she's probably in a different vehicle, but the real surprise is when Oz discovers a bomb with only 20 seconds left before detonation.
For a guy with a bum foot, he runs away fast. Sofia is playing hardball, and essentially wipes out Oswald's sewer crew just like that. Another thing that's particularly interesting is that the guy doesn't even warn the rest of his people. He doesn't give them the chance to run for the special door; in pure Penguin fashion, he only thinks about his own survival and jumps down to safety (there's no time to climb the ladder). It's a great twist that helps set up Oswald's desperate position in the finale.
7 Vic Runs Over the Maronis At the Last Second
Episode 3, "Bliss"
Image via HBO
After talking to the Penguin in the club, Victor seemed to make the decision to walk away from this life of crime and big money for something more wholesome. As he steals his former boss's car to meet his girlfriend at the bus stop, Oz and Sofia get cornered by a few people in the Maroni family. The Maronis are mad that Oz betrayed them regarding their new drug, and it looks like this duo is finished.
But then Vic hits someone with Oz's car, allowing his boss to get away, while Sofia is left to figure out how to get away on her own. The episode has been building to this the entire time. Victor wanted to leave Gotham, but the viewers have been shown that Vic has always had a spark of ambition to get out of the economic circumstances he grew up with. Given all the money he's been making with Mr. Cobb, he decides he has it in him to be a criminal after all. He definitely proves himself here, marking a significant point in his character arc.
6 Oz Kills Alberto Falcone
Episode 1, "After Hours"
Image via HBO
The inciting incident to The Penguin is the series' first shock, and it's a great one. Oz is caught stealing from the Falcones, and caught by none other than Alberto himself. The two of them talk, and Oz tries to convince the man that they can work together. But then Oz goes further than that; he starts to talk about his past, about how he looked up to a local gangster and that he wanted to be just like that guy when he grew up. Alberto laughs at him, calls his dream pathetic, and gets shot in the head for it.
This sets up several significant things about The Penguin's character. It sets the plot into motion; he needs to hide the body and make sure that no one ever ties this murder back to him, which proves very difficult. It also shows the audience that this show's protagonist is impulsive, and doesn't always do the smartest thing in the world. We also learn that he took that insult very personally, book marking this a point in his backstory that we should remember for later. Along with employing a Pulp Fiction-y sense of dark humor, this proves one of the best twists in the story.
5 Sofia Wasn't the Hangman
Episode 4, "Cent'Anni"
Image via Max
Sofia was in Arkham for 10 years, and everybody's responses to her release show that they all think that she's a serial killer referred to as "The Hangman." Thanks to Cristin Milioti's mesmerizing and ambiguous performance, it's not clear whether she's the monster that everybody takes her for. In episode 4, we learn that it was in fact Sofia's father who was killing all of those women, including his own wife (and Sofia's mother).
Suddenly, Sofia becomes a tragic character, rather than an outright antagonist to Oswald. In fact, this plot point is dark but grounded execution fundamentally changes how the audience interacts with the show. Suddenly we want vengeance for Sofia more than anything else. The discovery of her innocence helps make this possibly the best episode of the series. It is a masterpiece of television, showing just how nuanced, sympathetic, and fascinating a character can become with one twist.
4 Sofia Gasses Her Family
Episode 4, "Cent'Anni"
Image via HBO
How deeply satisfying it is to watch Sofia, who was kept in Arkham for a decade as punishment for crimes that she didn't commit, exact vengeance upon the people who enabled her father's conspiracy to villainize his daughter. At the end of the episode, Sofia tells off her family at a fancy dinner in their mansion. No one has treated her with respect since she has returned, and she also learns that Oz did, in fact, kill her brother (the only one who believed she was innocent). It's clear that she can't trust anyone anymore.
Tired of getting treated like a criminal, she decides to kill her family members first. By manipulating the pipes, she makes sure that (almost) everyone dies of carbon monoxide in their sleep. The episode is structured in a way that we can understand the rage that Sofia has been feeling since her return, and it seems like she has finally snapped into justifying murder. This is perfectly realized, developing her character in a realistic fashion that is extremely dark yet has the audience rooting for her.
3 Oz Kills Vic
Episode 8, "A Great or Little Thing"
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After defeating Sofia and effectively becoming the biggest crime boss in Gotham, The Penguin has a chat with his protégé on a bench in the park. The audience has grown so fond of Victor throughout these eight episodes, but when he stutters that Oz is family to him, there is a creeping feeling that he's not going to live through the conversation. Sure enough, Oz strangles him to death right there. It's devastating to watch, as the kid had proved his loyalty enough to make us believe that The Penguin would think he's not a threat.
Then we think about how his mother's brain damage affected him, and that he probably doesn't want to grow emotionally close to another person ever again. We also think about how he has betrayed every single person who decided to trust him throughout the season. The Penguin has been preparing us for this moment without telegraphing it, making this one of the best twists in one of the best shows currently on a streaming service.
2 Oz Effectively Killed His Brothers
Episode 7, "Top Hat"
Image via DC Studios
For the majority of the show, fans thought of Oswald Cobb as a mobster who always dreamed of climbing his way to the top by any means necessary. They thought of him as a low-level mobster who had a rough childhood and wanted to be one of the big shots. Fans could at least relate to him for losing his brothers as a child, wanting to make enough money to give his mother (Deirdre O'Connell) a better life, and trying to feel important the only way he knew how. Well, that changes in episode 7's "Top Hat."
It turns out he has an Oedipal complex. He was always greedy for his mother's attention, and he killed his brothers to gain more of it. It's shocking to watch, but the show gradually builds up to it in a way that makes this twist fit in with everything we've learned about The Penguin thus far. He impulsively locked them in the sewer during a flood, and didn't go back to save them. It's a mind-blowing twist that shows how sick and delusional his psychology really is (and has always been), not to mention how well he hides it.
1 Oz's Mother Knew What He Did to His Brothers
Episode 8, "A Great or Little Thing"
Image via HBO
What's more shocking than the revelation that Oswald Cobb is basically a psychopathic man-child who just wants to be called a good boy? The fact that his mother had always known that he killed his brothers and pretended that she didn't. After she realized it, she met with the local mob boss that Oz considered a role model and asked what she could do. As if we weren't stunned enough, we learn that she almost had her surviving son killed. But then she decided against it, and tried to move on as such.
The audience could see that her relationship with Oz isn't great, but this shows just how messed up their lives have been over the past several decades. Suddenly, she becomes an incredibly tragic figure torn between maternal obligation and suppressed rage. The emotional turmoil of her decision helps us understand how her mental state has gradually degraded, and it disturbs the audience the more that they think about it. More than any other twist, this makes The Penguin one of the best TV spinoffs ever made.
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