The Penguin has come to an end after airing eight thrilling episodes on HBO. The finale, A Great or Little Thing, showcases the showdown of the brutal gang war between Oz and Sofia Falcone. The action-packed final episode takes an emotional turn as some explosive family secrets are revealed.
The dark history of Oz and his mother, Francis’ relationship comes out, which changes everything the audience knows about Oz's tragic past. In a flashback scene, it is revealed that Francis wanted to kill Oz as a young boy when he let his brothers die.
Oz had always been a troubled child who craved so much for his mother’s attention that he locked his brothers in a sewer tunnel, leaving them to die. Francis had been aware of her son’s actions and planned to murder him as a child.
Oz’s mother wanted to kill him in the past in The Penguin
The Penguin finale’s flashback scenes show that Oz did something terrible as a young boy. He purposely trapped his brothers, Jack and Benny, in a flooded sewer tunnel, leaving them to drown so that he could be the center of his mother’s attention.
While Oz did not tell Francis that he was responsible for his brothers’ demise, Francis eventually found out the truth and struggled to accept that Oz could be capable of such cruelty. Francis was so disturbed by what Oz had done that she asked gangster Rex Calabrese for help.
She was planning to kill her own son to get rid of the evil presence in her home. Francis and Rex plotted to take Oz out for a final supper at a nightclub. While Oz thought it was just a nice evening with his mom, Francis secretly intended to have him killed as Rex waited to take Oz away and end his life.
However, during that night, Oz made an emotional speech for his mother, telling her that he would do anything for her and would give her the life she deserved, with wealth, luxury, and safety. He said he would take care of her forever.
This speech softened Francis, and she remembered Rex’s words: Oz’s violent nature could be used to her advantage. Instead of letting Rex kill him, she chose to keep him alive, planning to turn him into a loyal, fierce ally in the criminal world.
All these years, she had known about Oz killing his brothers, but she never confronted him. In the present day in The Penguin finale, Sofia captures both Oz and Francis, using their family history as leverage. She forces them to confront the past and holds Francis’ finger in a cigar cutter until she utters the truth.
In a heated moment, Francis admits that she has always known what Oz did, thinking of him as an ‘emotionally weak monster’ who she should have let Rex kill years ago. She stabs Oz with a broken bottle, finally expressing the long-hidden resentment she has carried.
The revelation brings out another aspect of Oz’s character as he realizes his most significant relationship has been built on lies, fear, and manipulation. His criminal mentor, Rex, whom he looks up to, was originally involved in a plan to kill him at his mother’s request.
Since childhood, Oz has been deceived by those he loves most. This betrayal and abandonment further push him on the path of ruthlessness and violence. On the other hand, Francis helps in creating the monster that Oz becomes by choosing to spare him, despite knowing his real intentions.
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By grooming him for a life of crime and exploitation, Francis partly bears responsibility for the dangerous crime lord Oz evolves into. Meanwhile, she goes into a coma after the confrontation with her son, while Oz still cares for her and rushes her to the hospital. At the end of The Penguin season 1, he only wants his mother to tell him that she is proud of him.
All episodes of The Penguin are streaming on Max.
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