[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Penguin Season 1, Episodes 1, “After Hours.”]
Gotham is still in chaos, two years after The Batman graced movie screens, but in Matt Reeves‘ Gotham City, it’s been mere days since the flood caused by Paul Dano‘s Riddler inundated the streets, pushing citizens inland. When The Penguin picks up where fans left off, it’s also only been a week since mob boss Carmine Falcone (played by John Turturro in the film and Mark Strong in this series) was murdered.
With Oz Cobb’s (Colin Farrell) Iceberg Lounge in disrepair following the disaster, Carmine’s underling is quick to grab at the scraps left behind by his employer, particularly a valuable envelope of blackmail and jewels stashed in a safe behind Carmine’s office walls. But as he rummages through the items, Oz is caught by Carmine’s son, Alberto (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel‘s Michael Zegen).
Revealed to be an addict in the episode’s opening news reports, Alberto is poised to take his dad’s gig, but as he chats one-on-one with Oz, their dynamic takes several twists and turns. Initially, Oz covers up his actions, inviting Alberto to have a drink and sit, reminiscing about Carmine and talking about the future.
HBO
As Oz paints an idealistic picture of the mobsters he knew growing up, Alberto makes a fatal error of making a joke out of Oz’s dream, laughing in the man’s face. In a reactionary moment, Oz shoots Alberto dead, and it’s roughly three seconds later that it sets in he’s made a mistake, setting him off on a risky adventure to assume the powers Alberto laughed at Oz about.
“It was pretty amazing. I’m not going to lie,” Zegen tells TV Insider. “Getting to do a scene with Colin Farrell as the Penguin,” he elaborates, adding, “[as if] it wasn’t great enough that it’s Colin Farrell and he’s the Penguin. I can die happy now.”
“But it was incredible. you know,” Zegen continues, noting, “Obviously I wish it had a different ending [for my character], but other than that, it was a dream.” As fans who tuned into the episode saw, Alberto’s body was used as a way to try and manipulate his sister, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) into believing their foes, the Maroni family, were responsible for the hit, allowing Oz to get away with the murder and also benefit from the insider knowledge Alberto imparted on him regarding a new drug enterprise.
HBO
Recently released from Arkham Asylum, Sofia is certainly someone to keep an eye on as she seethes over the loss of her brother, one of the only people she’s deeply close with in her life, or at least that’s what she conveys throughout the premiere. While Alberto is very much dead by the end of this episode, Zegen teases his return in moments yet to be revealed this season, noting the scenes that depict Alberto and Sofia’s sibling relationship.
“They grew up in the Falcone family, it was probably not very easy to grow up in that family,” Zegen acknowledges. “Their father is the mob boss of Gotham. They’re surrounded by crime and death and all of that good stuff. So, at least they had each other. And I think that shows through in the scenes that Cristin and I did together,” Zegen shares. “As dark as those scenes are,” he teases, “we had so much fun. I loved working with her. You have to make light of the situation [when you’re] in Arkham Asylum and, you know?”
As for what Alberto’s death will do to Sofia moving forward, Zegen teases, “I think that really pushed her over the edge and leads to what she becomes. They had such a close relationship and I feel like he was her rock and, vice versa, where does she go from here? She has nobody now.”
Stay tuned to see how Sofia proceeds in the world without her brother and what Oz will do next now that he’s veering off course from what’s expected of him.
The Penguin, Sundays, 9/8c, HBO and Max