Oz's surprise play throws The Penguin's future wide open

Oz pulls off a major stunt to avoid suspicion in 'The Penguin' Episode 2
Oz races against time to save himself in 'The Penguin' Episode 2 (@max)
Oz races against time to save himself in 'The Penguin' Episode 2 (@max)

Contains major spoilers for 'The Penguin'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In 'The Batman' spin-off 'The Penguin', Oswald "Oz" Cobb (Colin Farrell) is venturing into uncharted waters with his ambition to seize control of the criminal underworld following Carmine Falcone's (Mark Strong) death. For this, he doesn't mind getting blood on his hand or partnering with Salvatore Maroni (Clancy Brown).

Oz killed Alberto (Michael Zegen) in 'The Penguin' Episode 1 and Sofia rightly suspected him. However, Oz outsmarts her in Episode 2 by pinning the crime on someone else. Oz hatches a master plan, aiming to kill two birds with one stone. However, things don't really go as planned.

Why did Oz want to frame Johnny Viti in 'The Penguin' Episode 2?

Michael Kelly in 'The Penguin' (@max)
Michael Kelly in 'The Penguin' (@max)

Oz was under Sofia Falcone's (Cristin Milioti) radar and he urgently needed to distract her by feeding another suspect. We earlier saw that Oz had blackmail photos of Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly) and he was planning to use them when the time was right.

In 'The Penguin' Episode 2, Sofia knows that someone on the inside has partnered with Maroni. That's when Oz comes up with a master plan of framing Viti. For this plan to work, he asks Vic (Rhenzy Feliz) to plant the jewels in Viti's car while he goes to meet Maroni's man Ervad to name Viti as the snitch. Framing Viti would have served two purposes- one, it would divert the attention from Oz, and secondly, a strong contender in the race for power would be eliminated.

Unfortunately, things don't go as planned as Vic is unable to plant jewels in Viti's car. Eventually, Oz has to improvise his plan and he pins the crime on Sofia's man Castillio by planting a knife on him which was used to kill Ervad, and also later plants the jewels in his belongings.

Does Oz's master plan work in 'The Penguin'?

Cristin Milioti in 'The Penguin' (@dcstudios)
Cristin Milioti in 'The Penguin' (@dcstudios)

Though Oz's plan had some setbacks, it somehow served its purpose, at least for a while. It was easier to pin the crime on Castillio and everyone believed it as well. Before Sofia could kill Castillio, Luca took a shot at him.

Oz, who was previously under suspicion, is now apparently in Sofia's good books. At the end of the episode, she even approaches him to join hands to take down her enemies. However, things are far from over.

Sofia has just befriended her biggest rival, who hasn't only been betraying her but also killed her brother. She must watch every step in order to keep herself away from danger. Coming to Oz, he has dealt with threats from Sofia for now. But his rivalry remains. Sofia, Luca (Scott Cohen), and Viti are aiming to take over Gotham's criminal underworld while competing against each other. Things are bound to get exciting from here onwards.

'The Penguin' Episode 2 is now available to stream on Max

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