What happens in episode one, After Hours?
WARNING: Spoilers for episode one, After Hours, ahead.
After the events of The Batman, Gotham is in a state of turmoil. An explosion has taken out the city’s seawall, leaving poorer areas flooded, with looting, gang warfare, and drug use at an all-time high.
With mob boss Carmine Falcone dead, a power vacuum exists in the criminal underworld. It’s reported that Alberto Falcone, his son, is expected to take over.
Oz heads to the destroyed Iceberg Lounge, picking up files of blackmail material and jewels, and runs into Alberto. Although Alberto holds a gun to him, Oz sweet-talks him, and soon the pair are drinking. Alberto also takes Drops, a drug you take through your eyes.
Alberto reveals he knows Oz had been taking small cuts from his father’s profits, but his dad didn’t mind. Oz responds by sharing a story about Rex Calabrese, a gangster who was loved in his neighborhood. However, Alberto taunts Oz for wanting that kind of respect, and Oz shoots him dead.
When he leaves, Oz finds a group of street kids trying to steal his car. He corners one of them, Victor Aguilar, and threatens to shoot him, but softens when the boy starts stammering. Stealing his ID, Oz recruits Victor to help him get rid of Alberto's body. Together, they load the corpse into the back of his car.
Oz and Victor spend the night covering their tracks. Ultimately, Victor requests to work for Oz, becoming his driver. They dump Alberto’s body in a junkyard, where Oz steals a signet ring from the corpse that belonged to Falcone’s rival, Salvatore Maroni.
The next day, Oz is summoned to the Falcones’ house, where they inform him of their plan to shut down his Drops operation. During the meeting, Sofia Falcone, also known as The Hangman, arrives. She has been released from Arkham Asylum after being "rehabilitated." Sofia is immediately suspicious of Oz and questions him about her brother’s whereabouts. Oz tries to dodge her, but it doesn’t work.
Fearing that he’ll be exposed, Oz and Victor head to Oz’s mother’s house, where Oz plans to flee. However, his mother convinces him that running is cowardly and that this is his time to shine.
Instead of running, Oz hatches a plan with Victor to frame Salvatore Maroni for the crime, igniting the gang war between the Maronis and Falcones once again.
Becoming The Penguin
Colin Farrell is barely recognizable as Oz Cobb, undergoing three hours of makeup and costuming each day to transform into the gangster.
Talking to the official Penguin podcast, Colin Farrell said:
“The first time that we did the makeup test was one of the best days I've ever had in 25 years as an actor. It'll take some besting, if that ever happens.”
He added:
“It was amazing. It started to mess with my head... Do you ever see cats looking at themselves in the mirror for the first time and they s**t themselves... it was a bit like that.
“For the first time in 45 years, I looked in the mirror, and I was nowhere to be found. It was a very powerful thing.
“I don’t want to say it was like a possession, but it had elements of being overtaken by something greater than me.”
The Death of Alberto Falcone
As the successor to one of Gotham's biggest crime families, Alberto Falcone’s death is a shocking moment, with repercussions that will ripple throughout the season.
Speaking on Inside the Episode, Farrell noted:
“Alberto and Oz share a similarity in that neither of them have been taken very seriously. Alberto doesn't see what might be encroaching... which is a great weakness in the world he inhabits.”
Unfortunately for Alberto, his decision to mock Oz costs him his life and sets the stage for Oz’s transformation.
Showrunner Lauren Lefranc said:
“We wanted to get into Oz's psychology. We're planting seeds that there's something a little bit more disturbing there. It was important to make sure you understood Oz and the man he becomes because of who he is inside.”
Victor Aguilar
Oz could have easily killed Victor when they first met, but the boy’s stutter made Oz soften.
Rhenzy Feliz, who plays Victor, explained:
“I think Oz hears the stutter and, with his leg, understands that Victor maybe hasn’t been given many chances in life.”
Colin Farrell added:
“We have a relationship built on status. Teacher/student, Master/mentor.”
Lefranc later elaborated on the podcast:
“Oz to a kid like Victor is a God. While Alberto treats Oz like a joke, Victor is afraid of Oz, and Oz feels that, which gives him respect.
“It’s like Oz sees his younger self in Victor, how he viewed Rex as a kid. That power dynamic isn’t accidental – Oz wants to bring Victor along.”