‘The Penguin’ Director Reveals Shocking Character Death in Episode 1 “Was Always Planned”
‘The Penguin’ recently debuted with its first episode, receiving positive reviews from critics, and fans were quick to join the praise, with some even calling it the best pilot episode ever.
The series picks up shortly after the events of ‘The Batman Part I,’ showing the aftermath of the Riddler’s destruction of the Seawall and the fallout from Carmine Falcone’s death.
The city is in chaos—drugs are scarce, and the Falcone family is now under the control of Alberto Falcone, a troubled junkie. Early in the episode, Alberto catches Oz stealing, but instead of resorting to violence, Oz manages to charm him into drinking and celebrating his new leadership.
As they drink, Oz begins to open up, unintentionally revealing his ambitions, inspired by a local mobster who “looked after” the neighborhood. Alberto mocks him, calling him weak and bursting into laughter.
In a split-second decision, Oz shoots Alberto, killing him instantly. The Falcone family is once again left without a leader, just days after Alberto took control.
This shocking death of such a key character is an unconventional way to kick off the show. However, director Craig Zobel explained to Screenrant that Alberto’s early demise was always part of the plan.
It was always the plan for Alberto to die. It was an addition, I would say, to Colin’s Penguin. With Oz in the movie, you don’t see this as much just because there’s not as much time, but here we get to see him in a [new] scenario.
In my mind, the thing that’s interesting is that Oz is a guy who, in order to try to win people over and do things, puts his foot in his mouth a lot. Some part of his brain makes a rash decision that pushes him into action. That can mean a lot of things, but in this case, the thing that pushes him into action is that he makes a terrible decision of maybe shooting the head of the crime family and then is like, “Now I have to solve this. Now I’ve got a problem to solve.”
But what is fun about the show and what’s attractive is that you like to see him make a mistake, and then you’d like to see him problem-solve his way out of the mistake. Both are kind of charming in a way. Considering he is a narcissist and a bad human, you still want enough charm to stick with the character and watch him for eight hours.
As you can see, Penguin’s impulsive actions led to an unexpected complication—Victor Aguilar as an “extra witness”—which gave Sofia Falcone the chance to piece together her brother’s fate within just a few hours.
Nevertheless, it’s clear we’re in for a thrilling journey, with Oz always finding a way to talk himself out of trouble. What are your thoughts on the show so far? Share them in the comments below!
