The Penguin Episode 4 “Cent’Anni” just hit viewers with a game-changing twist, in one of The Batman spinoff show’s darkest moments yet. All season long The Penguin has been building the tension between members of the Falcone family and/or crime organization, as they compete to claim leadership after Carmine Falcone’s death. While Sofia Falcone’s (Cristin Milioti) focus has been on Oz Cobb/Penguin (Colin Farrell), her own family finally proved to be just as big of a threat to her future – and something had to be done about it.
(MAJOR SPOILERS)
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The Penguin Episode 4 spends a lot of time revealing the backstory of Sofia’s time in Arkham Asylum. It’s revealed that her father, Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong taking over the role from The Batman actor John Turturro), was the Hangman Killer who strangled dozens of women over the years (including Selina Kyle’s mom). When Gotham reporter Summer Gleeson began approaching Sofia about Carmine’s possible crimes as The Hangman, it triggered memories of Sofia’s mother’s death, and the scratches on Carmine’s face the night she was found hanging in their home. Oz snitches to Carmine about Sofia’s meetings with Gleeson; to keep himself in the clear, Carmine kills the reporter and frames Sofia as The Hangman – with her own family writing damning statements as character witnesses against her.
Things come full circle for Sofia when her uncle Luca (Scott Cohen) and underboss Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly) lay down the ultimatum that Sofia leave town, after her partnership with Oz and goes sideways, igniting a whole new round of conflict with the Maroni’s. Sofia plays coy, attending a family dinner in seeming support of her uncle, before she gives a speech about how her family (except for her brother Alberto) betrayed her – the only truly innocent one in the group. Sofia concedes that she doesn’t belong in the family and pledges that she’s starting a new life, ending the meal in a solemn toast.
Well, Sofia Falcone’s ideas of catharsis and rebirth have pretty dark and twisted meanings. That night, as her family sleeps, Sofia lures her niece Gia out for a sleepover in the greenhouse with the promise of the chocolate cake she was denied earlier. When Gia is sleeping, Sofia reroutes natural gas line for the mansion into the air vents, poisoning the air in the entire house, and killing off Luca, his wife Tina (Tess Soltau), cousin Carla (Aleksa Palladino), and a dozen Falcone soldiers. The only survivor is Johnny Viti – and only because Sofia left the window to his bedroom cracked open, by design. Viti wakes to his new nightmare to find Sofia holding him at gunpoint, demanding a parle.
Sofia Falcone has officially made her power move as the Queenpin of Gotham – and Penguin just got a whole lot more to worry about, as the powers of the underworld could quickly consolidate against him.
The Penguin airs new episodes Sunday Nights on HBO.