One of my favorite aspects about The Penguin (and there are a lot of great things to choose from) is the fact that there are several butterfly effect moments that easily could send the story in a million new directions. It starts at the very beginning, asking, “What if Oz didn’t kill Alberto Falcone?” Most of the horrible things that are happening on the show might not occur. Then again, this is Gotham, so even of Oz (Colin Farrell) didn’t murder his boss’s son in that moment, there’s a very good chance that trouble would have found The Penguin.
The events at the conclusion of The Penguin Episode 3 had me thinking about alternate realities as well, which I shared with the great Rhenzy Feliz when we spoke on behalf of the work he’s doing on this excellent show. Feliz plays Victor, a street tough who gets swept up into Oz’s criminal net, and so far has endured some truly horrible experiences (including having to climb into a grave next to fresh corpses, so Oz could teach him a lesson). However, as Episode 3 drew to a close, Victor was given the opportunity to run. His girlfriend Graciela asked him to get on a bus and flee Gotham. Victor hesitated, and ultimately ran back to Oz. In fact, he returned just in time to baul Oz out of another lethal predicament.
When I asked Rhenzy Feliz how he felt about Victor’s decision to remain in Gotham, he told CinemaBlend that it was more of a deliberate choice than we might have imagined, hinting at a turn toward darkness and criminality that could be in Victor’s cards. Feliz told us:
There’s a lot of content being made now, and art being made now, about the idea of different worlds and different universes, and what would happen in different situations if someone took a different turn. And I think that in most universes that we are with Victor, he does get on that bus. I think we're following one of the ones where he doesn't. I think in his heart and his soul, he's the kind of guy that would leave. And I think maybe the more interesting story is the one where he stays. And that's the one that we follow. That's the Victor who we get to know – the one who stays. But do I wish he got on it? I mean, I'd be out of a job, wouldn't I? If that had happened? So maybe not. … I think, in that moment, there's reasons why he had to stay, or reasons why he wanted to stay. Maybe ‘had to’ is the wrong word. But he wanted to, and so he does.
It’s an absolute turning point for Victor in that moment. Because up until then, he might have been the most innocent member of the cast, and so we all likely were holding out hope for the kid to maintain some of his decency and not get pulled into Oz’s criminal dealings. Then again, as Feliz jokes, he’d be out of a job… and The Penguin probably wouldn’t be nearly as interesting as it continues to be.
Episode 4 of The Penguin appears to shift focus onto Sofia, but there’s plenty more to Victor’s story that will play out as the season rolls along, so keep your HBO subscription up to date, and tune in every Sunday.
