We always knew that Oswald Cobb (Colin Farrell) had the makings of a supervillain, but The Penguin Episode 7 “Top Hat” finally reveals just how black his heart truly is. The latest installment of the HBO hit opens with a flashback to Oz’s youth in the mean streets of Gotham. However, as we soon see, the meanest guy on the block might not be the intimidating gangster Rex Calibrisi (Louis Cancelmi), but the little boy version of Oz (Ryder Allen) himself.
Young Oz does something in The Penguin Episode 7 “Top Hat” that could be perceived as youthful folly, but actually reveals a truly horrific strain of evil, according to showrunner Lauren LeFranc. “Yes, I do know what his intentions were,” she told Decider.
**Spoilers for The Penguin Episode 7 “Top Hat,” now streaming on Max**
The cold open of The Penguin Episode 7 “Top Hat” reveals that Oz Cobb is responsible for the deaths of older brother Jack (Owen Asztalos) and young brother Benny (Nico Tirozzi). We see the three Cobb boys let loose on the streets of Gotham by the younger version of their adoring mother Francis (Emily Meade) so that she can focus on bookkeeping for Rex. After dropping off her latest work to the gangster, the three boys are forced to amuse themselves on their own. When the protective Jack notices a rainstorm coming, he suggests they play “flashlight tag” in the same empty underground trolley tunnels adult Oz uses as a base.
However, Oz simply can’t keep up. Both Jack and Benny are faster, more athletic, and nimble than the kid in a leg brace. Oz’s brothers take advantage of this, scampering down a ladder into an excess drainage tank. Oz is frustrated and nearly suffers a terrible fall trying to climb down after them. Irate, young Oz shuts the door on the excess drainage tank and locks it. He then ambles home to cuddle up with his mother on the couch to watch his favorite movie, Fred Astaire’s Top Hat.
“There’s an impulsivity to Oz, right? In [Episode 1], when he shoots Alberto (Michael Zegen), it’s impulsive and it’s because he’s made fun of and mocked and laughed at,” Lauren LeFranc said, explaining how young Oz and adult Oz are motivated by the same insecurities. “Similarly, his brothers do something in the same vein, but they’re children, and obviously, Oz is a child, too. And so the first action he takes is an impulsive move.”
The rain continues to pour and Francis worries about the whereabouts of Jack and Benny. Oz has lied and told her they went to the movies. As the rain continues to grow worse and worse, Oz does nothing. He’s safe, ensconced in his mother’s arms, while Jack and Benny desperately scream for help from behind the locked tank. It is flooding and they are running out of time. They eventually drown. But was it really young Oz’s master plan?
“To me, I think the treachery is in the waiting and the amount of time that passes,” LeFranc said. “We give him opportunity after opportunity to say something, to do something. But in that vein, he doesn’t do anything. That to me is actually quite active. His choice not to do that.”
It’s not just that Oz’s impulsive actions were payback for the humiliation he felt. By eliminating Jack and Benny, he now gets Francis all to himself.
“He loves the comfort of his mother,” LeFranc said. “He finally gets what he wants. He gets her full attention.”
And, as we see in one of the final flashbacks, a fateful “date” wherein he promises his mother he’ll conquer Gotham City for her.
The post ‘The Penguin’ Episode 7 Ending Explained: Did Oz Kill His Brothers? appeared first on Decider.
