HBO's The Penguin limited series concluded (though there is talk of a second season) last night with a shocking finale that saw Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) establish himself as the new kingpin of Gotham's criminal underworld - but at great cost to those around him and whatever hope of redemption he may have had left.
After first getting Sofia Falcone Gigante (Cristin Milioti) out of his way by arranging for her to be arrested and sent back to Arkham, Oz decided that he couldn't leave any more room for vulnerability and risk his enemies exploiting a weakness, murdering his young protégé Victor (Rhenzy Feliz) in chillingly brutal fashion.
While speaking to Collider, Feliz revealed that he was told about his character's fate right from the very beginning.
"Honestly, from the moment that I heard it, I just found it awesome. I would hope that it’s such a twist for people that it’s surprising. It’s a limited series, so you might as well have the biggest splash you can. [Lauren] explained to me, story wise, why she felt like it needed to happen. There is a turn that needs to be had with Oz. As an audience member, you’re rooting for him the entire time. At least, I found myself rooting for him when I was reading the script. And then, to see him, in the last 20 minutes of the show, make all these decisions where he makes a villain out of himself, as a story device, it works, but it’s also an emotional thing that you can give to an audience. It’s that shock factor of, 'Wow, my goodness.' You keep people excited and keep people on their toes. Nobody’s safe, which is exciting too."
In a separate interview with The Wrap, showrunner Lauren LeFranc discussed Oz's mindset prior to his evil act and explained why she felt Victor needed to die.
"None of our characters are particularly great people. I think Victor is the most innocent and the one that we can more emotionally connect with without being worried for our own selves. I always knew he needed to die and I always knew he needed to die by Oz’s hand. That’s because, really, this is an examination of Oz Cobb, and for you to understand him — and to sort of understand the darkness within him — it felt necessary that he take Victor’s life. I say that meaning that Oz didn’t need to do that like it wasn’t actually necessary. In that moment, Victor did not betray him. He did nothing wrong. In fact, the thing that he did “wrong” in Oz’s eyes is that he loves him and that he cares about him and Oz actually cares about Victor.
I think by the end Oz sees that as a really big problem because he loves his mother so deeply and Sofia took advantage of that love, and then it became sort of a weakness in his eyes. Victor saw him at his most vulnerable and for Oz to achieve the power that he thinks he needs, he can’t have that level of humanity. He can’t have that heart with him anymore. So he stifles his own heart. He kills it."
Max has released a rather heartbreaking new poster, which you can check out below.
The Penguin stars Colin Farrell (Oz Cobb), Cristin Milioti (Sofia Falcone), Rhenzy Feliz (Victor Aguilar), Michael Kelly (Johnny Viti), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Nadia Maroni), Deirdre O’Connell (Francis Cobb), Clancy Brown (Salvatore Maroni), James Madio (Milos Grapa), Scott Cohen (Luca Falcone), Michael Zegen (Alberto Falcone), Carmen Ejogo (Eve Karlo), and Theo Rossi (Dr. Julian Rush).
The eight-episode DC Studios drama series continues The Batman epic crime saga that filmmaker Matt Reeves began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster The Batman, and centers on the character played by Farrell in the film.
The series is executive produced by Matt Reeves, Dylan Clark, Colin Farrell, Lauren LeFranc, who writes and serves as showrunner, Craig Zobel, who directs the first three episodes, and Bill Carraro. Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, the show is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. Daniel Pipski also serves as executive producer.