The penultimate episode of a show, when everything falls into place for the finale to come and end it all with a bang.
For a pen ultimate episode, this one definitely serves its purpose, but for an episode that fits the definition mentioned above, it has a very calm and sentimental opening, basically just a normal day(it appears to be) in the life of young Oswald and his still alive brothers alongside his much younger mother.
A flashback in the penultimate episode can be both the most amazing and the most destructive thing ever.
As I stated above, this episode needs to set everything up for the finale, so going backwards and halting the current story is the last thing you want to do, but also, if there is a mystery, or a missing puzzle piece you have been teasing or waiting to reveal, now is the time to do it.
So what to do?
Well you could do what Wanda-vision did and just make the entire episode a concentrated flashback, which makes it so the last episode has to tie up so many loose ends that there is no way everyone will be satisfied, you could do what the rings of power season 2 did and continue the story while completely ignoring the need for a flashback, and therefore leave the audience unsatisfied, or you could be just, not well written like Acolyte, I mean there is a lot I like about the show and I would hate to align with some of the... sexist types, but it would be wrong of me to not say that it wasn't one of the best for either of those reason and I am going to stop now.
The main thing to notice here, is like in the case of Wanda Vision, the episode itself was really good, but the finale itself didn't live up to the hype, so this episode could be the best thing ever and still the finale could mess up.
So what is the episode about.
Right, someone did shape him, now before I go too hard on Francis, trying to protect your kid's innocence is something every parent wants and should want, but to a limited extent, like anything else, when taken too far it becomes well, toxic, for the lack of a better word.
the beginning of the episode is what everything hinges on, it focuses on a early time in the Penguins life, and how in his early years him having a bad leg made him behave in, not so great ways.
His mother seemed to love everyone equally, and the boys seem to at least initially have a really good relationship, however, it would seem that from a very young age, Oswald resented his siblings.
We see how he looks at his brothers' Shenanigan's and sees his mother's healthy interaction with them as an act of taking her away from him, who he is very possessive of.
And I may be looking into things too far but it seems very likely that he resents his brother's shenanigans because he can't participate in them, oh what? There is a scene of him literally saying that?
NO WAY!
And he closes the door on them, in an underground tunnel in the middle of a rainstorm while it is filling up with water?
I wonder what's gonna happen?
And yes, this was a moment of spurious anger for him, a childish act of revenge.
He probably didn't think much of it, and then he finally gets to spend time alone with his mom, isn't that great! And then, his siblings die, of drowning, what a horrific way to go.
And while we don't know whether or not his mother knew that he was the one responsible for their death, but after their death, he got what he wanted, his mom's full attention, and her belief in him that only he can get her the better life she deserves.
The act of the mother was to preserve her child's innocence, innocence is a strange thing, one would think that someone with innocence will never commit a crime, when in actuality, someone with innocence will never intend a crime, I don't believe he intended to kill his brothers, Oswald, in his innocence, didn't understand that and in an act of preserving his innocence, his mother encouraged his behavior.
Knowingly or otherwise, obviously, knowingly is much worse.
On the Other hand, we get Sofia, who kept her innocence in a different way, by growing up and understanding right from wrong and becoming the starry eyed idealist we saw in episode 4 who truly believed that if she just kept pushing, she could do some good, who Truly believed that her Father was the Hero she thought him to be.
And this innocence was rudely stripped from her by her father.
Again we see a mirroring, we see a person, in Oswald, whose innocence was taken by the world and then his parent tried to preserve it, and Sofia, whose innocence was preserved by the world(because everyone who knows her, is on her side, except Oz... that man... anyways) but then her very powerful parent acted actively to strip it away.
So we get one who skirts away from responsibility every which way and is forced to do Heinous things because of it, and another who Takes her responsibilities very seriously, especially her responsibilities as an elder cousin to Gia, as a feminist and as a potential role model to women(before she was falsely accused) and is then forced to do Heinous things because of it.
They both ended up in the same place in some ways.
But Sofia once again breaks out of the Cycle, and decides to go on a personal Vendetta against Oz, not the way I was thinking of but you do you.
And that is what sets up the Final showdown.
And it seems she is going to get back at Oz, not by killing his mother, but by making him face the consequences, by telling his mother what the Truth is.
You know generally we would be rooting for Sofia and be against Oz, but we don't the show is flipped, and believe it or not, most people while on a Moral level might side with Sofia, will still lean towards Penguin on a personal level.
Because, the Penguin is still that little kid who doesn't get that locking his brothers in an underground tunnel filling with water will kill them, he does heinous acts cause he truly doesn't understand the consequences of his acts, like killing Alberto in a flash of emotion.
But Sofia grew up, she understands what her actions mean, she understands it very well, and her violence comes from a place of Righteous anger, which while justified and directed towards the right people is still a more conscious decision on her part.
The truth is, you would be safer with Sofia as a crime boss than Oswald, Oswald is unpredictable and emotional, Sofia is calculating and prefers to Negotiate where she can, And also she is more morally correct than the Penguin, and yet, somehow, the show makes us side with the Penguin.
Cause at the end of the day he is just a kid trying to do right by his mom.
And we can all relate to that, and that is why this show is great, not only did it successfully make a believable villain in the Penguin it made us side with him, and the Show's antagonist, is someone who while ruthless and cruel, wants to run the crime families in a different way, that would in the end lead to a better world for those who do the actual work.
But I know what everyone is wondering, will Batman show up?
And the answer is I don't know, I mean I would love for him to show up, but so far, there have been no hints to it, and the show runners definitely will not put him there just to shoe horn a cameo and risk ruining the show, if we do go by their track record, then again don't forget that WB is the studio, and there is always the possibility that the Bat isn't shoehorned, and we just didn't see him coming, like a bat in the Darkness.
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