‘The Penguin’ Episode 5 Recap & Review: Goodbye Falcones, Hello Sofia Gigante

Warning: Spoilers ahead for The Penguin Episode 5, “Homecoming.”

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After an epic finale to the previous installment of The Penguin featuring Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) murdering her family, Episode 5 picks up with another exciting addition to the series. Victor Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz) is reunited with Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) and is now fully committed to a life of crime. With Sofia no longer on their side, the stakes have never been higher for Oz and Vic.

This is the first week where the episode wasn’t an improvement over the previous one. However, with the fourth episode likely securing an Emmy nomination for Cristin Milioti, it’s tough to improve upon perfection. Check out all the details from our recap of The Penguin Episode 5, “Homecoming,” below!

It’s Oz and Victor Against the World in “Homecoming”

Oswald and Victor torch their car and have to flee from both the Maronis and Falcones in a hurry. Both families know they’ve been double-crossed, and Oz is right in the middle. However, instead of hiding, they decide to take the fight to the Maronis. They kidnap Taj Maroni (Aria Shahghasemi), the son of Salvatore (Clancy Brown), and ransom him in exchange for the safe return of the drug Bliss to their possession in The Penguin Episode 5.

While Oz handles the exchange, Victor takes care of Oz’s mother, Francis (Deirdre O’Connell), by taking her to his former neighborhood, Crown Point. Unfortunately, the return to a dangerous and low-income area puts Francis in a terrible mood and worsens her mental health. To make matters worse, the exchange goes poorly for both Oz and the Maronis. When they try to turn on him, he kills Taj and Nadia Maroni (Shohreh Aghdashloo) by lighting them on fire, causing sprinklers to go off, and ruining the Bliss by getting it wet. To make matters worse, Oz sends someone to assassinate Salvatore Maroni in prison, but the assassin fails.

Sofia Gigante Is Born in ‘The Penguin’ Episode 5

Oz finds out that Sofia killed her entire family via the news, but Sofia has far more up her sleeve for the future. Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly) convinces her to let him work for her after some vicious torture, and he becomes the first pawn in Sofia’s game. She denounces the name Falcone and officially dawns the name Sofia Gigante, introducing Gotham to the brand-new Gigante crime family in The Penguin Episode 5.

However, once Sofia has assembled her new henchman for a meeting, she shoots Johnny in the head when he questions her decision-making to assert dominance. She offers to pay the stooges far more than they were making under her father, and the operations of Gotham’s newest gang are officially in motion. Sofia then visits Salvatore Maroni, using his vendetta against Penguin to her advantage, convincing him to team up with her.

‘The Penguin’ Episode 5 “Homecoming” Review: Setting Up an Epic Showdown

While Sofia and Salvatore set up their new operations, Oz and Victor do the same. Although they only have a very small amount of Bliss that wasn’t ruined by water, they take the remainder of the drugs to an abandoned underground station and set up their new hideout. Halfway through the series, The Penguin is set up for an epic home stretch.

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