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This article from the HBO and Max miniseries The Penguin Season 1 Episode 2 contains significant spoilers.
The Penguin’ssecond episode is all about the great Cristin Milioti, who performs phenomenally as Sofia Falcone. In the episode “Inside Man,” Sofia is in a therapy session with her physician, Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi). Our lead critic, Joshua Ryan, called Milioti’s performance “perfection.”
Sofia is in a deep meditative state. Dr. Rush seems to be using pulsating red light therapy on her. This appears to be “Photobiomodulation for PTSD.” This experimental treatment is used to penetrate deep into tissues, including the brain, to help with anxiety, depression, and cognitive function.
Perhaps it is most beneficial for promoting cognitive function and trauma-impaired memory. Will this be something the episode will explore through flashbacks? This will not happen this week, but considering this comes from Matt Reeves’s The Batman, it will be psychologically mindblowing.
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Max’sThe PenguinSeason 1 Episode 2: Why Does Sal Go Along with Oz’s Plan?
Oz appears again at the local Gotham Blackgate prison to meet Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown), the rival gangster to the Falcone family. In the last episode, Oz reached out with a proposition to take over the Falcone drug drop-offs. Sal is now with his son and wife, Nadia (Shohreh Aghdashloo).
Sal tells Oz he should kill him now, tell the Falcone family about the plan, and save himself the headache. However, Oz convinces him with his unpolished logic and everyman charm, especially regarding money. In Italian, Nadia also tells her husband that Oz is a dog, but one like Cobb can be made submissive.
However, it all goes to hell. Oz tells Sal about the truck carrying all the drugs. He says he will be in the trailing car, so they should leave that one alone but kill everyone else. Yet, when they are ready to go, Johnny Vitti (Michael Kelly) shows up—it’s his operation. He must be in the product vehicle.
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Now, Oz has to think on his feet. He positions himself near the thickest wall of the truck, avoiding the bullets. The driver is shot, and Oz then shoots Falcone’s muscle with his machine gun. As the Falcone associate Ervad Hakimi enters, the still-alive driver fires at Cobb but hits Ervad instead.
Oz now has to deal with the fallout. Vitti blames Oz, and vice versa. Sofia’s uncle, Luca (Scott Cohen), who has taken over for Carmine (Mark Strong), sits back patiently. She detests that Vitti only cares about money and not finding Alberto’s (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’sMichael Zegen) killer.
To his credit, Luca reprimands Vitti for telling Sofia she doesn’t run the family. Her uncle holds Sofia back. He says that she has a strong sense of when someone is lying, but he will be the one to find the mole who sold out the truck. However, she knows that person is responsible for Alberto’s death.
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What Does Oz Have Over Johnny Vitti?
Oz has Eve Karlo (True Detective’sCarmen Ejogo) over for a little party. They enjoy themselves along with Vincent and some other women of the night. However, Eve is upset because she didn’t know until now that the alibi she vouched for him was because he murdered Alberto.
Oz reassures her that everything will be alright. Why? That’s because he has a file on Vitti, the Falcone underboss, that will be his insurance. He promises his lady friend when he becomes the new underboss, Eve will run a lounge and have jobs for her girls to work.
Of course, the other woman in Oz’s life, his mother (Outer Range’s Deirdre O’Connell), is just as unhealthy. He must pay his landlord extra money to watch her as she wanders from the home. I’m starting to think this codependent attachment is from a childhood enmeshment between them.
Who Does Oz Kill?
Oz (Colin Farrell) kills Ervad, who was brought to Sofia’s home in the wake. Oz attempts to break him out of the basement but sees no choice because Vitti is about to question him. The Falcone underboss was supposed to be framed because Oz asked Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) to plant the jewels in his car.
However, Victor was caught by Falcone security. He ran off but let Oz know. Luca and Sofia line up the entire party against a wall. Oz pretends to pick a fight with Vitti but slips a knife, the one he stabbed Ervad with, in Sofia’s loyal bodyman’s pocket. Sofia demands a gun, but Luca shoots him dead.
It appears the Falcone then asks Oz to bury the two dead bodies. (How great would it have been the Pine Barrens from The Sopranos lore?). Cobb uses this as a teachable moment for Victor, knowing that this is his future if he is not more careful.
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The Penguin’sSeason 1 Episode 2 Ending Explained: Why Does Sofia Trust Oz with a Partnership?
We do not know why Sofia now trusts Oz to be her partner. However, the second episode ofThe Penguinends with Sofia calling Oz to the Falcone mausoleum. There, we see the engravings of Carmine, Alberto, and Sofia’s late mother, Isabella.
Sofia shows Oz the jewels, which are not in her possession. This is what Alberto was after in Carmine’s office that night. It was meant to be startup cash to push their new drug. She tells Cobb she will bring these old Falcone men to their knees. She even asks Oz if he wants in. His response?
“Let’s dance,” he replies.
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You can stream only the new limited series The Penguin on HBO and Max, with new episodes dropping weekly.
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M.N. Miller
Film & Television Critic
Articles Published :336
M.N. Miller is a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Mansfield University and a Master’s from Chamberlain University. However, he still puts on his pants one leg at a time, and that’s when he usually stumbles over. When not writing about film or television, he patiently waits for the next Pearl Jam album and chooses to pass the time by scratching his wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. M.N. Miller was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs but chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find his work on Hidden Remote, InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Geek Vibes Nation, and Nerd Alert.
