Warning! This post contains SPOILERS forThe Penguinepisode 8Batman is finally acknowledged inThe Penguinfinale, which suggests why the Dark Knight never intervened in Oz Cobb’s gang war.DC’sThe Penguintakes place in a dark and forgotten corner of DC’s Gotham City, where innocent people likeRhenzy Feliz’s Victor Aguilarresort to a life of crime and hardened criminals like Oz Cobb and Sofia Falcone quench their thirst for power by killing everyone around them. Gotham neighborhoods like Crown Point are overlooked by the government, the police, and apparently, by Batman himself.
As expected,The Penguinepisode 8 brings the conflict to an endon a tragic note, as Oz’s successful plan to have Sofia Gigante captured by the GCPD is overshadowed by Frances' stroke. Oz refuses to accept that Frances will never recover, and takes her out of the hospital so she can live the rest of her life with him. Oz also decides to kill Victor Aguilar, arguing that keeping loved ones close to him only brings pain to his life. Although he doesn’t realize it yet, things will likely get even worse for Oz, asthe Bat Signal appears in the sky as soon as he finds a moment of peace with his mother.
Why Batman Isn’t In The Penguin
Batman Is Busy With Other Forms Of Crime In Gotham
Barring the implications of the Bat Signal at the end ofThe Penguinepisode 8,Batman is completely absent throughoutThe Penguin. In most DC continuities, Batman is unable to watch over the entirety of Gotham, and Gotham is such a crime-ridden city that not even the whole Bat-Family can keep up with it. In Matt Reeves’The Batmanuniverse, Batman is still in his early years as a vigilante, and he’s likely regrouping from the Riddler’s terrorist attack while he fights crime and plans out a better way to help Gotham.
There’s still a power vacuum in the Gotham underworld after the events ofThe Penguinepisode 8.
Above all,most of Oz and Sofia’s conflict inThe Penguinhappens in secret. It’s only until Sofia kills the Falcone family and blows up Oz’s hideout that the conflict attracts the public eye.The Penguinshowrunner Lauren LeFrancexplained toScreen RantthatThe Penguinis written in a way that Batman’s absence isn’t distracting. As intense as they are, events like Alberto Falcone’s murder and the Maroni family’s deaths are bound to fly under Batman’s radar, at least until they snowball into bigger tragedies for Gotham.
The Penguin’s Final Shot Of The Bat Signal Explained
The Penguin’s Battle With Sofia Gigante May Have Finally Called Batman’s Attention
The only clear sign of Batman’s existence inThe Penguincomes in the form of the Bat Signal at the end of episode 8. While the Bat Signal appears in the sky with no further context,it’s possible that James Gordon has invoked Batman to launch an independent investigation into the underground explosion at Crown Point, which could lead them to discover the origin of the Bliss drug, Oz and Sofia’s crime war, and the recent shake-up inGotham’s crime hierarchy. This would mean that Batman will soon cross paths with Oz again soon.
The Bat Signal could indicate thatThe Batman - Part II’s main antagonist has already made themselves known
Another face-off between Batman and the Penguin is inevitable inMatt Reeves’upcomingThe Batman - Part II,but the Bat Signal inThe Penguinfinale could also have a different meaning.The Penguinepisode 8 takes place about a month after the events ofThe Batman. At this point, the Dark Knight may already have discovered a new threat to Gotham as dangerous as the Riddler. Then, the Bat Signal could indicate thatThe Batman - Part II’s main antagonist has already made themselves known.
Batman’s Justice For Gotham Has A Dangerous Blindspot
Organized Crime Is A Breeding Ground For Dangerous Criminals
The Falcones and the Maronis maintained their operations as normal before and after the Riddler’s attack inThe Batman, which suggests that the Dark Knight didn’t dare to dismantle Gotham’s crime families. Batman may have decided that attempting to eliminate Gotham’s organized crime would have resulted in unnecessary collateral damage. However, by allowing Gotham’s gangs to self-govern,Batman has allowed drugs to take over the city, with all the secondary and tertiary side effects that drug trafficking entails.
Will The Penguin Season 2 Happen? Everything We Know
The release of The Penguin Season 1 may have fans wondering whether a second season with Oz Cobb is on the cards - here is everything we know.
As suggested byThe Batman’s opening action scenes, Batman used to spend his nights beating up low-level criminals — ignoring that the only way to reduce Gotham’s crime effectively is to eradicate it from the root.The Penguinshows how organized crime pushes all kinds of people to their limit and brings out their darkest side. After the Riddler’s terrorist attack helped Batman change his mindset from seeking revenge to spreading hope, perhaps the Dark Knight realized that he needs a different approach to crime-fighting in order to save Gotham.
