The eighth and final episode of Season 1 of “The Penguin” will be released Sunday night.
Starring Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti, the show serves as a follow-up to the 2022 film “The Batman.” The finale, titled “Great or Little Thing,” has a multitude of questions to answer and storylines to resolve that have been built up throughout the show.
The penultimate episode, titled “Top Hat,” ended with Sofia Gigante, played by Milioti, drawing Farrell’s Oz out of hiding, blowing up his drug manufacturing facility and destroying his product supply. It was then that one of her men kidnapped Oz and brought him to an abandoned building, setting up a final showdown between him and Sofia.
From Oz navigating his relationship with both his mother and Sofia, to whether or not the caped crusader himself will make an appearance, what are some possible expectations for the season finale.
Oz kills his mother
The biggest reveal of the show thus far came in Episode 7. The opening scene took the audience back to Oz’s childhood, showing life in Crown Point with Oz, Gloria and Oz’s two brothers, Jack and Benny, living in a small apartment together. This opening scene revealed that in a sadistic fit of rage, Oz locked his brothers in a small sewer pipe shaft and left them as rainwater filled it.
Hearing the brothers’ cries for help turn first to gurgled gibberish and then to complete silence was perhaps the most shocking moment of the season up to this point.
What made it so visceral was the prior knowledge the audience had of Jack and Benny. The only thing they knew was that the brothers went missing at a young age and that Oz and Gloria still mourn together, shown consistently throughout the entire season. Knowing that Oz has been hiding such a huge secret from his mother for decades casts a shadow over not only the scenes in which they reminisce about the brothers but Gloria and Oz’s relationship as a whole.
Episode 7 also shows how Sofia took Gloria hostage, using her as a motive to bring Oz out of hiding. Sofia stated that all she wants to do is make him suffer, and perhaps there is more suffering to be had for Oz not from Sofia killing his mother, but from Sofia revealing his secret to make his mother hate him.
On top of this, there was a conversation earlier in the season in which Gloria asked Oz to kill her if she becomes too affected by her mental condition to be herself, which he reluctantly agreed to. Even though the motivation would be different, it wouldn’t be surprising if Oz used that promise as justification to save himself from facing his mother’s hatred.
Victor saves the day, not Oz
One of the biggest questions at the end of Episode 7 was the whereabouts of Victor, Oz’s young assistant and driver. After being attacked by Sofia during Gloria’s abduction, Oz sent Victor to assemble the various crime families around Gotham. After that, however, he was nowhere to be found.
It can be presumed that at some point in the final episode, Victor will show up with a cavalry of crime bosses ready to defend Oz. The strongest evidence of this is that after having his facility and all of his men blown up by Sofia, Oz is left with virtually no support or ground to stand on to face Sofia.
Due to the fact that Farrell has already been confirmed for a return in “The Batman: Part II” in 2026, Oz is essentially required to survive the finale. This means that Victor’s arrival will most likely be what saves Oz, giving him an army to use against Sofia and his only avenue of escape.
Batman doesn’t appear, but another well-known character does
One of the biggest talking points throughout the season has been if Robert Pattinson’s Batman will appear.
Show creator Matt Reeves has effectively shut the idea down, saying “We did talk about doing it, but the thing is it needed to be earned … Batman is such a powerful figure that if he comes in, he could mess the narrative in a way. It would suddenly, in a sense, be taken over.
While this highly reduces the chances of the dark knight making a cameo, there have been prior instances in which the cast and crew of films have misled audiences about certain characters’ presence. Whether or not that turns out to be the case in “The Penguin” will be seen on Sunday night, but there is another character that seems more likely to appear.
Jeffrey Wright’s Jim Gordon was one of the main characters in the 2022 film, even investigating and interrogating Oz himself. Gordon’s boss and police chief Mackenzie Bock, played by Con O’Neill, already appeared in Episode 5, investigating Sofia for her role in her family’s death. This makes it even more probable that Gordon could show up, especially given the likely police presence in the episode due to Oz and Sofia’s large-scale battle.
Even though Batman may not show up personally, that doesn’t mean that the episode won’t reference him. Especially if Gordon does make an appearance, as his personal relationship with the superhero could result in a mention or even a possible use of the famous Bat-Signal.
Despite it only being speculation, these seem to be outcomes of the episode that are very much on the table. However, if there’s anything the show does well, it’s creating surprises and subverting expectations, so it wouldn’t be a shock if Sunday’s finale holds true to that trend.
