Warning: This article contains spoilers for Episode 4 of The Penguin.
Summary
Sometimes the best episodes of a TV show aren’t about the main character.The Penguin’sfourth episode proved that point when it presented a backstory-heavy episode focused about Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone, which turned out to be a standout for the HBO series and set the bar high for character-focused episodes on television.
The Penguinis the firstspin-off set in Matt Reeves' world ofThe Batman. Colin Farrell leads the series, reprising his role of Oswald Cobblepot (aka the Penguin), long before he became the notorious Gotham crime boss. Surrounding Oz is an ensemble of interesting characters, including his new ally Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), as well as many enemies including the Falcone and Maroni families. WhileThe Penguin’smain focus is on Oz’s rise to become the notable villain from the DC comics, Episode 4 of the HBO series saw a different central character emerge.
The Penguin’s Fourth Episode Breaks Away From the Main Character
Cast
Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz, Clancy Brown, Theo Rossi, Mark Strong
8
Streaming on
Max
The PenguinEpisode 4, titled “Cent’anni"is officially the mid-point of the miniseries, marking only four more episodes to go until the show concludes in November. Up until Episode 4, the majority ofThe Penguin’sepisodes had been focused on the titular character, with a breakaway to Victor’s story in Episode 3. In Episode 4 ofThe Penguin, the time comes to tell the story ofSofia Falcone, a character who was dubbed “the Hangman"who had recently returned from a decade-long stint in Arkham Asylum for the murder of several women.
The episode turned out to be an enlightening one for Sofia’s character, revealing that she did not, in fact, murder any women, but was framed by her father, Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong), after she revealed her suspicions that he had a hand in killing her mother. For her sin of seeking the truth, Sofia was condemned to a decade in Arkham Asylum, which eventually twisted her into the murderer she was branded as. All of this bleeds back into the present timeline, where Sofia enacts revenge upon her family for supporting her father’s lies, by poisoning them with toxic gas while they slept.
Oswald Cobblepot does appear in Episode 4 ofThe Penguin, albeit briefly, where his history with Sofia is revealed. While Oz was Sofia’s driver he had a hand in Sofia’s conviction as he revealed to her father that she was speaking to a journalist about her mother’s death, which led Carmine to pin his crimes on her. This grudge follows Oz back to the modern day, where Sofia no longer trusts him, and even less so after discovering he murdered her brother.
Episode 4 Is A Series Standout
The Penguin’s fourth episode has proven itself to be a standout of the series. Key metrics for the HBO show have shown thatThe PenguinEpisode 4 outranks all the other episodesreleased so far, in both viewership numbers and IMDb scores. The episode was also praised online by fans and critics as one of the series' best. The interesting thing about the success ofThe PenguinEpisode 4 is that, while Oz is in the episode, the focus shifts away from him as a main character. This trend isn’t new and only adds to the evidence that sometimes the supporting characters have more interesting stories than the central protagonist.
Supporting Characters Steal the Spotlight
The Penguin’sfourth episode about Sofia Falcone is just one in a trend of great episodes on TV right now that happen to not focus on the titular character. Some other recent examples of this includeThe Last of Us’widely acclaimed Episode 3 “Long, Long Time"which took time away from the story of Joel and Ellie to instead tell the sweet love story between Bill and Frank. A similar tactic was employed byThe Bearin the episode “Forks” which follows Richie’s internship at a high-class restaurant. Both episodes saw their respective lead actors win an Emmy for their performances, which just proves that sometimes it’s worth giving supporting characters a time to shine in the spotlight.
Ted Lassotried a similar thing in Season 2 with its ninth episode titled “Beard After Hours”. The bottle episode was focused entirely on Ted Lasso’s assistant coach, Beard (Brendan Hunt), on a night out that got progressively weirder. The episode was a complete departure from the series' main story, but provided a window into the often stoic Beard, finally giving the audience a chance to understand him more as a character.
These character-focused episodes have proven to be popular with audiences and critics, but they still gain some criticism, often for slowing the show’s pacing or straying too far from the genre the series is known for. But it’s for these reasons these episodes can be an asset as well.Character-focused episodes can providea boost of creativity in a show, as the series can move away from its typical structure and explore a new corner of its world that may not have been explored otherwise. While these episodes can potentially turn an audience off if they are only showing up for the main story, they also can be surprising in the best ways. What is clear inThe Penguin’scase, as with the other examples, is that sometimes the greatest episodes aren’t about the main character, and they’re all the better for that.
The PenguinEpisodes 1-4 are available to stream on Max. New episodes are released weekly on Sundays at 9 pm.
The Penguin
Created by Lauren LeFranc and starring Colin Farrell, The Penguin builds on 2022’s The Batman. The Max series chronicles the eponymous villain’s attempt to reach Gotham’s criminal peak, rising through the underworld in the middle of a power struggle.
