‘The Penguin’ ending explained: How the bombshell finale sets up ‘The Batman’ 2

It’s all over. HBO’s The Penguin comic book TV series followed the titular Batman villain and his rise in Gotham City’s dark and treacherous underworld. The finale delivered an explosive, shocking denouement to the tale of Oz that makes me even more excited about The Batman: Part II. This is saying something, as I was already pretty pumped to see Robert Pattinson don the cape and the cowl again. Let’s go through the ending of The Penguin series in some detail, as well as look at the cast, release date, where to watch its episodes and a brief review.

To those who do not know, The Penguin series, which ran for 8 gripping episodes, was a spinoff of 2022’s The Batman. Its weekly release schedule greatly helped it build a distinctive fan base that put forward theories about their favourite characters’ eventual fates on social media and other online forums. It created a buzz. Episode 8, titled “Great or Little Thing”, wraps up Oz’s rise to the very top of Gotham’s underworld and paves the way for a larger conflict in the second Batman movie.

A gritty and grounded crime drama, the show has rightly drawn comparisons to shows like The Sopranos or a Martin Scorsese mob movie for its exploration of Oz (played by Colin Farrell) as a complex and even often sympathetic antihero whose moral, though skewed, set him apart in the criminal underbelly of Gotham. Yet in the final moments, Oz’s actions drive home a harsh truth: he is a villain, through and through, a monster as Sofia Falcone (played by Cristin Milioti) put it succinctly.

Spoilers alert!

The Penguin ending explained: Oz’s dark transformation and what it means for Gotham

Oz Cobb’s journey was described by The Batman‘s (and its upcoming sequel’s) director Matt Reeves as a twisted take on the American Dream (I am paraphrasing). And after watching the whole season (and probably the show; it likely will not get a second season), I could not agree more. This is indeed the American Dream, only forged in the harsh realities of Gotham’s criminal underworld. Early in the finale, there is another flashback to Oz’s childhood soon after the death of his brothers. It focuses on his strained relationship with his mother Francis Cobb (Deirdre O’Connell) and the trauma that fuelled his ambition. Mocked and underestimated throughout his life, Oz becomes a master manipulator who can fool even himself into believing that he is, in fact, not a monster. He uses the ruthless wisdom passed down from gangsters like Rex Calabrese, who taught him to kill or be killed.

The series repeatedly draws on the idea that ambition and sociopathy are often rewarded in Gotham. As Oz builds his empire, he operates with a ruthless pragmatism that sees him betray friends, family, and anyone in his way. That leads him to murder Victor “Vic” Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), a young boy he took under his wing but got too attached to for his liking. In the end, he sees a connection to his past, his shameful past he wishes to leave behind.

What happens in The Penguin’s finale?

The finale of The Penguin sees Oswald “Oz” Cobb complete his brutal rise to Gotham’s criminal throne in an explosive showdown with his chief rival, Sofia Falcone. Sofia ambushes him and sets up a trial that forces Oz to confront his crimes (of killing his brothers or at least letting them die) in front of his mother. Sofia narrates a weakling baby bird killing its sibling to survive and serves as a not-so-subtle dig at Oz himself. However, Oz is unfazed and refuses to break under her taunts even though his mother admits she has known him all along. He manages to free his mother and breaks free and takes her to a hospital.

A turning point in Gotham’s underworld

Sofia makes a final bid to kill Oz by calling her former allies but Oz uses her network’s weaknesses against her. He sows division. He drives her to a dock and appears to kill her. But no, he is even crueller than that. Instead of the quick release of death, Sofia will once again have to inhabit the confines of Arkham Asylum. Now, Oz is the unchallenged criminal crime lord of Gotham, having triumphed through sheer manipulation and cunning.

But his victory is bitter as he finds his world shifting once more. Turns out, his mother is catatonic from a stroke. His triumph is hollow. The validation that he always sought from his mother, which also caused him to murder his own brothers, is rendered meaningless as she cannot witness it. Though he’s reached the very pinnacle of power, Oz is left with an emptiness. His mother’s final words before her collapse now haunts him. “You’re a disappointment. You’re a waste of space. I wake up every goddamn day sick that I’m your mother,” she had said. However, he is still the Gotham’s kingpin.

The breaking of a bond: Oz’s last shred of humanity

The series repeatedly draws on the idea that ambition and sociopathy are often rewarded in Gotham. As Oz builds his empire, he operates with a ruthless pragmatism that sees him betray friends, family, and anyone in his way. And that eventually leads him to murder Victor “Vic” Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz), a young boy he took under his wing but got too attached to for his liking. In the end, he sees a connection to his past, his shameful past he wishes to leave behind.

Gotham awaits: The bat signal lights up the sky

Though Robert Pattinson’s Batman doesn’t appear in The Penguin episodes (bummer), his presence is teased in the very last shot of the show. As the camera pans across the Gotham skyline, the Bat Signal lights up the night, a warning for those who dare to disturb the city’s fragile order. Oz has solidified his role as Gotham’s newest kingpin, and this quiet acknowledgement of Batman’s presence suggests that their paths will inevitably cross in The Batman: Part II (it makes the wait for the DC movie even more painful). The Penguin episodes also cast a new light on the underbelly of Gotham, proving the origin of villains is birthed from trauma, ambition, and tough realities within corrupt city walls.

The Penguin series’ brief review

HBO’s The Penguin is a gritty, sprawling dip into the seedy depths of Gotham. Blending crime drama with comic-book darkness in a way that feels freshly sinister, this is as dark a tale as you can get. Colin Farrell gives a tour de force performance as Oswald Cobb, a character as tragic as he is terrifying, shifting from a scrappy underdog to a calculating kingpin. However, as good as he is, Cristin Milioti somehow outdoes him in his own show, bringing a fierce, magnetic and layered intensity to Sofia Falcone that’s hard to shake. She makes Sofia almost a Shakespearean figure — wounded yet relentless, vulnerable yet vengeful.

The Penguin spins a villain’s origin story that feels raw and real as the grimy streets of Gotham, largely through twisted family dynamics and power plays, with a shockingly sympathetic antihero arc. This is a rare comic book spinoff that felt more like The Sopranos than Super Friends: dark, compelling, and trading capes and crusaders for crooked deals and ruthless ambition. Also, this series feels very much like an addition that fits nicely into the wider Batman movie franchise. The best part is, The Penguin is superb throughout, and none of the episodes fall short.

The Penguin series cast

Apart from Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti, The Penguin series also features Rhenzy Feliz, Deirdre O’Connell, Clancy Brown, Carmen Ejogo, Michael Zegen, Michael Kelly, Mark Strong and more in the cast.

What was the release date of The Penguin?

The release date of The Penguin was 19 September in the US (20 September in Hong Kong).

Where to watch The Penguin?

While in the US, where it’s available to watch on The Penguin, in India, its home is HBO.

(Hero and featured image: Courtesy of IMDb)