That dynamic performs out within the episode’s finest scene, a confrontation that happens in a flowery restaurant. After Oz barks out his order, Vic takes his flip, however his stutter prevents him from getting out the phrases. When the waiter finishes Vic’s sentence, Oz snaps, “Don’t do that. The man is speaking.” He then insists that the waiter pause for Vic to state his needs on his personal.
It’s a robust second, one during which Colin Farrell‘s sometimes too big portrayal leaves room for Vic’s actor Rhenzy Feliz to work. Feliz sells the combination of worry and confidence as he makes his order, feeding off Oz’s encouragement.
But as a substitute of simply letting the scene converse for itself, Valdivia and Zobel enable Oz to proceed into the heavy-handed. He delivers a diatribe about taking what’s yours and by no means ready for anybody else to present you respect. True, these are Oz’s mantra and the supply of his bond with Vic. But it’s additionally the identical factor that Oz has stated within the two earlier episodes, one thing that the waiter confrontation already made clear.
Ironically, Oz speech about confidence underscores a insecurity in The Penguin. The present was met with skepticism from the start, a spin-off reeking of Warner Brothers Discovery‘s need to create more “content” based on recognizable IP instead of a desire to explore one of Batman‘s oldest enemies. Moreover, it had to follow the realism of the Matt Reeves movie, despite choosing that film’s most colourful and cartoonish character as a lead.
Three episodes in, The Penguin appears determined to be taken critically as a character-rich crime drama, not a present a couple of laughable man who stymies Batman and Robin with bird-themed crimes. That desperation is rarely extra clear than it’s in “Bliss,” with its characters who declare the present’s themes in plain dialogue and dramatic beats borrowed from different, extra acquainted works.
The issues within the Vic storyline are accentuated by the episode’s pleasant B-plot, which lastly places Oz and Sofia on the identical staff. The pair of shifty schemers are prepared to maneuver Alberto’s heightened model of Drop, known as “Bliss,” onto the streets. Because they’re enjoying in opposition to Luca and the present heads of the Falcone household (with Oz enjoying in opposition to the Maronis as properly), they should distribute by Gotham’s Triads. However, the Triads have one requirement: that Johnny Vitti, Luca’s right-hand man and sworn enemy of Sofia and Oz, name them personally to request assist.
