In Episode 1 of The Penguin, we dive headfirst into the gritty aftermath of Gotham’s criminal chaos. Following the death of Carmine Falcone and the city’s flooding by the Riddler, Gotham has become a breeding ground for opportunistic villains. At the heart of this mess is Oz Cobb, a.k.a. the Penguin. Once Falcone’s right-hand man, he now sees a golden opportunity to rise through the underworld ranks. But Episode 1 doesn’t just introduce us to Oz’s hunger for power; it also showcases his tangled relationships with key players like Victor Aguilar and Sofia Falcone, setting the stage for a thrilling crime drama.
Oz Cobb Forges a Bond With Victor Aguilar
In the opening moments of The Penguin, we see the aftermath of the Riddler’s flood, which has devastated the poorer areas of Gotham while leaving the wealthier suburbs relatively untouched. The city’s law enforcement and government officials are so busy with rehabilitation efforts that the criminal underworld sees this as the perfect time to make their moves. At the center of it all is Oz Cobb, walking through the wreckage of the Iceberg Lounge like a king surveying his kingdom.
Despite the destruction, Oz retrieves a folder filled with incriminating information about Gotham’s elite. Armed with this dirty laundry, he can manipulate some of the city’s most powerful figures. However, before he can use it to his advantage, Carmine Falcone’s son, Alberto, catches him. Instead of blowing up the situation, Oz plays it cool and gets Alberto drunk and high. They bond over drug talk, with Alberto boasting about his plan to revolutionize Gotham’s drop game (a highly addictive drug). This newfound camaraderie doesn’t last long, though, as Oz quickly becomes irritated by Alberto’s arrogance. Without thinking twice, Oz shoots Alberto dead.
Realizing the gravity of his mistake, Oz scrambles to cover his tracks. When a group of kids attempts to rob his car, Oz fires warning shots to scare them off. But one unlucky kid, Victor Aguilar, fails to get away. Desperate for help, Oz forces Victor to help him dispose of Alberto’s body. They burn his belongings and stash his body in an abandoned car’s trunk, ensuring no one will trace the crime back to Oz. At this moment, Oz contemplates killing Victor to eliminate any witnesses, but Victor convinces him otherwise. The two strike an unlikely partnership, sealing the deal with a sunrise view of Gotham and a shared cigar. Oz even steals a valuable ring from Alberto’s corpse, which once belonged to crime boss Salvatore Maroni.
Oz Cobb Gets a Call From “The Family”
With Alberto’s murder tucked away, Oz returns to his base and begins leveraging his newfound power. He orders one of his workers, Nick, to deliver an envelope filled with evidence to Councilman Hady. This will allow Oz to manipulate the councilman when the time is right. Meanwhile, his right-hand man, Doc, informs him that they’ve recovered 30 percent of their drug product—tainted by floodwater but still sellable. Despite the contamination, Oz commands Doc to start distributing the drops to keep the money flowing.
However, trouble looms on the horizon. The Odessa Mob, a rising criminal faction, has stolen a large portion of his stash. Before he can retaliate, Oz receives a call from “The Family,” specifically Milos Grapa and Johnny Vitti, two members of the Falcone crime family. Oz heads over to meet them, expecting a straightforward business conversation, but instead, he’s hit with bad news: Grapa plans to shut down the drop plant in Gotham and move operations to Robbinsville. This news throws a wrench in Oz’s plans to take over Gotham’s drug trade.
Despite his best efforts to convince Grapa otherwise, nothing seems to work. Oz tries to salvage the meeting by floating the idea of a shipment Alberto had mentioned earlier, but things go from bad to worse when Sofia Falcone, Carmine’s daughter, enters the scene. Fresh out of Arkham Asylum, Sofia wastes no time grilling Oz about her brother’s whereabouts. Oz manages to keep his cool and stick to his story—that Alberto is off on a bender somewhere. However, Sofia isn’t convinced, and her skepticism hangs in the air as they part ways.
Sofia Falcone Tightens the Noose
Feeling the pressure, Oz heads to his mother’s house for a bit of solace. He confesses to her that he killed Alberto and that Sofia likely suspects him. While Oz’s guilt begins to show, his mother reassures him that everything he’s done is justified. Her advice is simple: follow your instincts if you want to rule Gotham.
Buoyed by his mother’s words, Oz returns to business with renewed determination. Alongside Victor, who’s now fully integrated into Oz’s operations, he continues to navigate the underworld. But there’s still a major obstacle in his path—Sofia Falcone.
To throw the Falcones off his trail, Oz concocts a bold plan. He meets with Salvatore Maroni in jail, proposing a deal that would undermine the Falcone crime family. He wants Maroni’s men to hit a shipment meant for the Falcones, splitting the profits between themselves. Initially, Maroni is hesitant, sensing that working with Oz might bring more trouble than it’s worth. But Oz sweetens the deal by returning the ring he stole from Alberto’s body—a ring that originally belonged to Maroni. This gesture wins Maroni’s trust, setting the stage for a potential alliance between the two crime lords.
Sofia Falcone’s Next Move
As Episode 1 of The Penguin reaches its climax, Oz returns to the red light district to solidify his alibi. However, Sofia and her men are waiting for him. Realizing he’s been cornered, Oz tries to flee but is quickly captured and taken to the Falcone estate. Sofia confronts him, revealing that one of the kids Oz shot at during his botched cover-up has survived and is now in her custody. This destroys his alibi, making him the prime suspect in Alberto’s murder.
Despite the mounting evidence against him, Oz doubles down on his lies. To protect himself, he orders Victor to stage a macabre spectacle. A driverless car, carrying Alberto’s mutilated body, crashes into the Falcone estate with the word “payback” scrawled in the trunk. This clever move shifts the blame away from Oz, as it now appears that someone else has killed Alberto and is sending a message to the Falcone family.
With Sofia temporarily off his back, Oz turns his attention to the future. He tells Victor that their next objective is to deal with the upcoming shipment and cement their foothold in Gotham’s criminal underworld. Their partnership, born out of a shared ambition to defy their humble beginnings, seems poised to shake up Gotham’s power structure.
What’s Next for Oz Cobb?
The first episode of The Penguin brilliantly sets the stage for a high-stakes power struggle in Gotham’s criminal underworld. Oz’s rise from Carmine Falcone’s lackey to a potential kingpin is fraught with danger, deception, and betrayal. His bond with Victor Aguilar is one of necessity, but it could evolve into a powerful alliance if they play their cards right. Meanwhile, Sofia Falcone looms as a formidable opponent, and it’s clear that she won’t rest until she finds out the truth about her brother’s murder.
Looking ahead, Episode 2 is likely to delve deeper into Oz’s plan to disrupt the Falcone family’s drug trade. His tentative alliance with Salvatore Maroni could provide the firepower he needs to pull off his scheme, but it’s still uncertain whether Maroni will fully commit to working with him. Moreover, the Odessa Mob’s theft of his stash adds another layer of complexity to Oz’s growing list of problems.
Will Oz successfully outmaneuver Sofia and the Falcones? Will his partnership with Victor prove to be his greatest strength or a fatal liability? The answers lie in the murky waters of Gotham’s underworld, and as The Penguin progresses, one thing is clear: Oz Cobb is a man on a mission, and he won’t stop until he rules over Gotham.
