Something has been clear to me since the first episode of The Penguin, and it’s that the spinoff series of The Batman is headed for a depressing end. Very quickly in the first episode of The Penguin, Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb starts making moves to climb the ladder of Gotham’s underworld. This was telegraphed in the final minutes of The Batman itself, but what we saw in The Penguin’s first episode was that he didn’t really have a great plan. Enter Vic, played expertly by Rhenzy Feliz, who offered Oz something he didn’t realize he needed, a friend and confidant. Now six episodes later, with one episode of The Penguin left, I’m certain Vic is going to die and I think Oz will be the one that takes him out.
The Penguin theory: Oz Will Kill Vic in the finale
Since Oz and Vic met each other in the first episode of The Penguin it was clear that Oz was putting on a font, trying to appear like he’s on the same level with his memories of Rex Calabrese from his youth. The threats however that Oz sends Vic’s way don’t carry weight from our perspective, though they clearly scare Vic well enough. But one line that Oz delivers has stuck with me, especially as both characters have made their way up in the world.
Oz Cobb: “You’re gonna do whatever I say or else I’m, uh… gonna murder you and anyone you care about…”
Across the other six episodes of The Penguin, Oz has not only become a major gangster in his own right, but Vic has also clearly become his right hand man with larger ambitions. At the top of episode 5 of The Penguin when Vic returns and helps Oz escape the Maronis, the partnership between the two is made clear. Not only in terms of the fact that they have each other’s backs but that they’re both fully committed.
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Vic: “I only got one shot at this, I see that now.
Oz: “You came back, Vic. Put your ass on the line for me. A hundred Maseratis couldn’t replace that. It’s you and me now kid, til the end.”
Things get taken a step further in the next episode two, giving their partnership a more personal flair. When Vic confesses to Oz that he killed Squid it becomes a tender moment between the two, like a father and son sharing an embrace after a tough decision. Oz even offers some imparting wisdom, telling Vic that he’s both “strong” and adding “(killing) gets easier.” This is the scene when the two have clearly realized that their partnership is rock solid; but it’s also where I can see the heartbreak of the finale already forming. Combining the close bond that Oz and Vic have formed over the series with the origin story elements of Oz’s life that we’ve seen, I know we’re headed for something depressing.
Vic’s story in The Penguin has purposefully been somewhat of a mirror to the rise that Oz himself had when coming up in the underworld, and Oz is going to realize that himself. I don’t know what will happen, but Oz will see something in Vic, or see Vic do something, which will trigger an alarm in his mind. Oz will realize that Vic is just like him, someone with the ability to handle himself in this world.
In the same way that Oz has eliminated all of his competition and anyone that was a level above him he will see that Vic has the same ambitions, and acknowledge that this makes him a threat. Knowing full well that one day Vic will be in the same place as him and may try to usurp him…Oz is absolutely going to kill Vic. He’s going to try and justify it too, he “has to,” in his own mind, knowing that the day will come when the table would turned the other way. He may not even really believe that, but it’s a risk he can’t let linger for the sake of his own future.
To be clear, this outcome feels like where the show has been heading the entire time, not some random surprise ending meant to stun audiences. The Penguin series has done well to humanize Oz as a character, but in the end this is a DC comics villain, one who will have a similar standing when The Batman Part II eventually comes out. Despite giving us an even fuller picture of who Oz is as a character, the series still has to stick the landing with the fact that its lead character is a “bad guy.” Ending the series with this horrific moment will not only complete the image of Oz as The Penguin, a ruthless gangster, but it will put the human side of him in an even more tragic light. Oz will not only become a man that has to maintain a reputation for ruthlessness, but will also keep everyone at arm’s length to maintain his own standing in the world. He’s made a bed of isolation, and he will have to lie in it.
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