'The Penguin's Best Face-Off Isn't Between Who You're Thinking Of

The Penguin's latest episode, "Gold Summit", gave us a great cat-and-mouse game as Sofia Gigante (Cristin Milioti) and Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown) hunted down Oz (Colin Farrell) and searched for anyone he cared about to use against him. Eventually, after believing her to be dead, Sofia finds Oz's mother, Francis (Deidre O'Connell), in perhaps the scariest moment of the entire episode. However, before that, Oz's closest thing to a girlfriend, Eve (Carmen Ejogo), and Sofia gave the best stand-off of The Penguin so far. In a show full of confrontation between Oz, Sal, Sofia, Nadia Maroni (Shohreh Aghdashloo), and many more, this battle of wits came complete with conflicting yet agreeable characterization and a fascinating look into the themes surrounding the protection of the ones we love that is prevalent throughout the show.

Eve and Sofia Battle With Words Not Actions in 'The Penguin'

Image via DC Studios

Eve and Sofia have a fantastic sparring match throughout the scene, as Eve appears to be one of the few characters in the entire series who has actually been able to offset Sofia, post her days in Arkham. The way Eve challenges Sofia about the women Eve believes she killed as The Hangman, as well as how openly she accepts her potential death, both show a lack of fear, dismissal, or hatred that Sofia hasn’t seen yet this season. Much of Sofia's power comes from flipping the tables on men who see her as beneath them, yet Eve treats her with respect from the beginning. Similarly, the way Sofia is able to tear down Eve’s somewhat glorified perspective of Oz was great writing, able to flip the power dynamic with one line.

In previous stand-offs in The Penguin, like ones between Oz and Sal, Oz and Sofia, or Sofia and Sal, the battles feel rather one-sided in terms of who is pressuring who and who is in the power position. Oz makes Sal desperate when he speaks of having his son. Sofia cannot help but be overwhelmed into believing Oz outside the nightclub in the episode "Bliss", and Sofia treats Sal like a wounded dog she could put down at any time in last week's episode, "Homecoming." These scenes are still well written, but seeing a back and forth that is truly back and forth adds a level of unpredictability and tension to the scene I just can't get enough of.

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Eve and Sofia's Standoff Explored 'The Penguin's Themes Around Protection in a New Way

The way the standoff also related to the wider themes was fascinating, as it gave us a new argument about how we should protect the ones we care about. Throughout the series, everyone has argued that they do what they do to protect someone, and this often comes in the form of intense violence. Whether Oz protecting his mother/business by murdering Falcones and Maronis, or Vic (Rhenzy Feliz) murdering Squid (Jared Abrahamson) to protect Oz and Francis, or Sal Maroni looking to hurt anyone that Oz loves to avenge his failure to protect his family, everyone’s first instinct is violence. Instead, Eve protects who she cares about by giving herself up to Sofia, and only gives Sofia Oz’s location as a courtesy. There's a fairness to the scene, rather than personal vendettas ruling character actions, that makes Eve's decision not feel like a betrayal, but a leveling of the playing field. In the end, it may be the most effective way to end the cycle of violence and actually protect Eve and her girls, though that will wait to be seen.

Overall, that standoff had everything we could ask for. Strong characters, dynamic conflict, and fascinating thematic explorations. It also comes from an unexpected situation, as one would normally expect a mob boss to completely trounce someone we would consider a civilian in this conflict. But this just shows what a good job The Penguin is doing to not just nail the mob genre, but also bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the genre which means every scene promises tense and unpredictable encounters, with Eve and Sofia delivering the best one-on-one yet.

The Penguin is currently streaming new episodes weekly on Max in the U.S.

It follows the transformation of Oswald Cobblepot from a disfigured nobody to a noted Gotham gangster.

Release Date September 19, 2024

Cast Colin Farrell , Cristin Milioti , Rhenzy Feliz , Michael Kelly , Shohreh Aghdashloo , Deirdre O'Connell , Clancy Brown , James Madio , Scott Cohen , Michael Zegen , Carmen Ejogo , Theo Rossi

Story By Bill Finger, Bob Kane

Showrunner Lauren LeFranc

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