Welcome back to the blog readers. If you are looking for insane quality television, then The Penguin is the show for you. I am loving every minute that I am spending time with Oswald Cobb and Victor Aguilar and Sofia Falcone/Gigante and all of these other characters because their journey is so engaging and so brilliantly told. By this time next year, this show will have a shit ton of Emmy nominations (and potentially some wins). Now that we are three quarters of the way through this show, are we going to continue the upward trend of this show? Stick around to find out as I review this episode, titled "Gold Summit," written by Nick Towne, and directed by Kevin Bray.
NOTE: I will be using spoilers for my thoughts, so DO NOT read ahead if you have not seen the episode.
In case you could not tell by the blurb that I started this review with, this is the best show on television right now, and there is no comparison. Agatha All Along (2024) was fun and great for what it was and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-) was an improvement but nowhere near House of the Dragon. I had seen some reviews stating this episode was not as good as last week's episode, but I would have to disagree with those people. I thought this episode was absolutely fascinating to watch, especially the performance of Rhenzy Feliz and that ending.
I honestly don't think I will ever get tired of watching Rhenzy Feliz play Victor Aguilar, and I will go one step further by saying that I believe he is the heart and soul of this series. I mentioned in a previous episode that I really gravitated toward Aguilar, but an incredibly visceral performance from Feliz in this episode confirms my suspicions. He gets more to do this episode, and we get to see a different side to him this time around. This time, we see a darker side to Aguilar that we have not seen before, and I will go into further details as to what this could mean at the end of the review. I love how morally complex each character has been and Aguilar is just the next domino to fall thanks to a brilliant performance from Feliz.
I think we got the best story of the season so far in this episode, because there is so much depth and so many layers. We start with a time jump from last episode, in which Oz and Victor have successfully started up their Bliss business with major gangs signing up to sell and distribute it. While this is happening, Victor worries that this base of operations will be discovered, but Oz quells his fears. Oz's mother Frances' dementia is worsening and she begs her son not to let her condition get too severe by assisting in killing her, which he reluctantly agrees to. He also forces a councilman to restore the power to Crown Heights. Victor meets an old friend named Squid that knows he is working with Oz and wants in to the business. He later tries to buy Squid's silence but that is not good enough for him, which leads to Victor basically executing Squid in cold blood, point blank. He expresses his discontent with his actions but Oz assures him he was protecting the people he cares about.
Meanwhile, Sofia has invited Salvatore Maroni, who recently broke out of Blackgate after the assassination attempt last episode, to live with her at the Falcone mansion. There, the two resolve to take down Oz and take back what's theirs. They start by breaking into Oz's apartment to find family they can capture, but they find nothing as his brothers are dead, his father is MIA, and his mother apparently is presumed to be dead. When that doesn't work, Sofia deduces that Oz is with a prostitute and is able to get Eve's location. Sofia goes to Eve and tries to kill her, but she sympathizes with Eve when she realizes Oz has not been truthful to her. Eve sells him out to Sofia and Sofia spares her life when she finds out Eve never knew Oz assisted Carmine in killing her friends. Meanwhile, Oz prepares a meeting with the gang leaders of Gotham, a meeting he calls the "Gold Summit," as the leaders are hesitant to work with Oz because of his backstabbing nature. He is able to win them over by revealing he killed Alberto Falcone and their control of the city will affect the rich. They all drink to their future opportunities.
To end the episode, power is restored to Crown Point, with this alarming Frances. Victor is able to console her by dancing with her, as the two are completely unaware Sofia is standing in the apartment with a crowbar. This ending left my jaw on the floor because who knows what dastardly acts Sofia plans to perform on Frances and Victor, and if they will even break for her. If Sofia kills Frances, everything that is coming for her from Oz will be completely justified. Talking about the rest of the episode, we are finally getting somewhere with Oz's attempted takeover of Gotham and his plan is being put into motion by getting the gang leaders on board with him. Meanwhile, the partnership between Sofia and Sal may get the two either exactly what they want or exactly what they do now, and I definitely am on the side of believing that one or both of them will die by series end.
Before I end this review, I do want to talk about something I glistened over earlier in the review. When talking about Victor Aguilar, I mentioned something that other people had believed about the character. This is not Theory Time, but I wanted to talk quickly about the possibility of Victor being Victor Zsasz. There was a part of me that shrugged that rumor off, but after this episode, I am starting to believe it. Especially when he makes his first kill in the episode and the speech that Oz gives him after, I think there is a chance that he is going to wind up liking the feeling of killing people and get addicted to it. Just a possibility if that is presented in one (or both) of the final two episodes.
The Penguin is head and shoulders the best show on television right now, and everything about it is stellar in every way. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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