There has been no shortage of surprises throughout The Penguin to this point. HBO’s DC series hasn’t been the kind of comic book-inspired TV show you might be used to, so most of its surprises have come in the form of harrowing moments or tragic twists, rather than chasing after big Easter eggs or reveals. Another storytelling surprise arrived in the second half of Sunday night’s penultimate episode, resulting in a death scene that it’s safe to say nobody saw coming.
WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the penultimate episode of The Penguin! Continue reading at your own risk…
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Over the course of The Penguin, Oz Cobb has taken advantage of basically every major organized crime figure in all of Gotham, though none more than Sofia Falcone and Salvatore Maroni. We knew that the two of them would be throwing everything they possibly could at Oz, and that it would create some fireworks when that new partnership came face-to-face with the man that took nearly everything from them.
A little over halfway through this new episode, Sal gets to take the shot at Oz that he’s been waiting for. The plan is almost perfectly executed, as Sal finds Oz in a vulnerable situation and takes out several of his men. None of that is particularly surprising, but the ending of their scuffle is what will surely have viewers shocked.
A couple of savvy moves from Penguin’s men left Oz and Sal in a fist fight away from everyone else. It feels like it go either way, until Sal begins clutching his chest and collapsing. The infamous mob boss suffers a heart attack in the middle of the fight and dies, right there in front of his enemy.
Salvatore Maroni dying during a conflict with Oz isn’t exactly a big shock. The fact that he died from a heart attack, however, makes for a surprising and captivating moment of television.
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It’s not about the fact that Sal died, it’s about what his death means for Oz. The Penguin wants to defeat his enemies and prove he’s worthy of the spot he has wrestled out of their grasp. Sal’s heart attack takes that opportunity away from Oz. His rival’s death had nothing at all to do with him, leaving him feeling a little helpless and frustrated.
You can see in the way that Oz reacts to Sal’s death he’s having trouble processing it all. He starts talking to the dying Sal and saying things like, “I got you,” just like he did to Bruce Wayne in The Batman. But he didn’t do anything to “get” Sal. The man died of a heart attack, and Oz is trying everything he can to convince himself that it was his doing.
