Warning: spoilers for The Penguin, Episode 7 - “Top Hat,” are in play. If you’re not caught up with the latest in The Batman Epic Crime Saga, you’ve been warned.
There is no shortage of drama on the 2024 TV schedule, especially when it comes to one of the most notable hits in that particular landscape: HBO’s The Penguin. The organized crime drama is one week out from its season finale, and Colin Farrell’s prosthetic woes are still something that have me wondering if Season 2 will even happen.
I sincerely hope it does though, because this corner of Gotham City overseen by showrunner Lauren LeFranc just showcased an unforgettable showdown between Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Gigante (née Falcone) and Deirdre O’Connell’s Francis Cobb. What made this particular scene from Episode 7 - “Top Hat” even more notable was the fact that it was subject to a whirlwind of chaos that befell the production. And the factor that saved the day was, believe it or not, was a $300 transaction of fate.
How Deirdre O’Connell Saved The Penguin Episode 7 With $300
It was an immense honor to sit down with several cast members of The Penguin during the festivities at New York Comic-Con 2024. With roundtable discussions bringing various cast members and the showrunner throughout the room, there was a lot of knowledge to soak up for what will be an eight-episode run. And, it was thanks to our previous round of Penguin interviews that I’d stumbled upon a story that Deirdre O’Connell told to CinemaBlend’s own Sean O’Connell!
During their conversation, Ms. O’Connell started to tell a story about how “Top Hat’s” big scene between Sofia and Frances was actually moved to a slot that was way earlier than anticipated. With that kernel in mind, I asked both women about how that hurry may have juiced up their performances. And, in starting her part of the story, O’Connell told CinemaBlend:
We were shooting, I think episode three or two at the time. And all of a sudden because of location, and weather, and the strikes starting - all these things were piling up, they called and said, ‘We're gonna go to Episode Seven, we're gonna shoot this scene.’ But the bulk of us were just like, ‘What?’ I was upstate in upstate New York. They were like, ‘We'll get you a car to drive you down.’ And they couldn't.
That’s not exactly the most advantageous scenario, to be certain. I mean, if I had to pop into an in-person interview tomorrow that I thought was weeks away, I too would be scrambling for any options to make it happen. And that’s what led Deirdre O’Connell to be as resourceful as ever, thanks to this next piece of the story involving that $300 in question:
So I ended up finding a taxi. I was like at the train station, I had missed the train … A woman named Eve was driving a cab and I said, ‘How much will it cost to drive me to New York?’ And she was like, ‘$200,’ and I said, ‘Tell me $300.’ And then I called HBO and I was like, ‘I bet I can get a ride for $300.’ I got this lady $300 to drive me home, and the whole time I just studied the lines, and was still like, ‘No, I love this scene so much! We don't have any time to prepare.’
After learning these further details about Ms. O’Connell’s dedication to make The Penguin shoot on time, I passed that story along to her “Top Hat” dueling partner, Cristin Milioti. She was just as surprised as our roundtable was to learn this scramble to the finish for Deirdre O’Connell to arrive for their date with destiny.
That prompted the Black Mirror alum to share her own recollection of just how harrowing the production schedule’s shift was. Here’s Cristin Milioti’s side of the story, which she shared with CinemaBlend:
First of all, like, what a legend. … that was at a really intense time. We had like, no time to prepare for that scene, which is one of my favorite scenes. And I remember being like, ‘Oh no.’ They really sprung it on us. We were supposed to shoot something else that day, and they were kind of like, ‘Listen, we have to do this instead.’ Which is a nightmare, to get that call at like 10:00 PM the night before, when you think something's in like two weeks. But, 'cause I know how extraordinary she is, I was like, 'I will just go with her,’
That two-week jumping of the line may have been the secret ingredient that made this fantastic scene even better. And I say this only because The Penguin's writers room, especially credited “Top Hat” writer Vladimir Cvetko, has been amazing with what they’ve given the fans thus far. With O’Connell and Milioti’s backs against the proverbial wall, that surprising deadline feels like it gave them so much more to add to the pages in their scripts.
So, with that in mind, I really need to talk about the scene itself, and how both Cristin Milioti and Deirdre O’Connell’s performances benefited from their accelerated path to filming it. Especially when their own recollections have made me even more of a fan of the finished result.
Why The Penguin’s Scheduling Shakeup Helped Amp Up Deidre O’Connell And Cristin Milioti’s Performances
If you’re in agreement that The Penguin’s matriarchal plot is the main attraction, then this scene in question is definitely worth parsing out. Roughly five minutes in length, it features a conversation between the two aforementioned thespians. To put it frankly, it's one of the best moments in the show's entire season up to this point; and it doesn’t involve anything more flammable than rising tempers.
As Francis Cobb and Sofia Gigante go head to head, “Top Hat” shows us a battle of wills between a leader on the rise and a woman slipping into her illness. Taunts and threats are exchanged, but eventually Francis finds herself flashing back to the loss of her boys; which is seen in greater detail through the scenes bookending Episode 7.
It’s honestly a scene worthy of awards consideration and, as the ladies were laying out the story of not getting to prepare, there was an air of suspense. Which leads to Deirdre O’Connell’s next set of remarks, which see her complimenting Cristin Miloti as follows:
But it turns out when we got there, and both of us were just like, ‘This is our scene. We've been so looking forward to it, and now we have to shoot it so soon.’ But [Cristin] walked in with her little tea, whatever she's bringing me, and I just looked up at her and Francis just loved her on a certain level. Like, ‘Oh, who does, this little girl thinks she is?’ It was so fun immediately, and maybe partly because we were kind of shot out of a cannon. We both had expected to be through hours of preparation. It's like, ‘No, we're just gonna do this.’ But it is one of my favorite days, and one of my favorite scenes for sure.
“Mad glee” were two words that were also thrown around in conversation, as the St. Vincent star loved the madness that she saw in Ms. Milioti’s portrayal of Sofia in this scene. As most audiences are still used to remembering The Penguin’s breakout performer -- known for playing “The Mother” from How I Met Your Mother and other key roles -- the road to this point must have surprised viewers at home as well.
Looking back on that fact, as well as the Matriarchal lens that The Penguin has been adopting, is kind of a punchline in itself. Even if the most motherly we see Sofia is in her reassurance of niece, Gia, (Kenzie Grey) in this week's episode.
All of this does bring a recent featurette on showrunner Lauren LeFranc's approach to women in The Batman Epic Crime Saga's television spinoff to mind. For more on that, please enjoy that clip below:
The "complicated women" of Oswald Cobb's world only make his story even stronger, as "Top Hat" really digs into this world's nooks and crannies in a way that couldn't happen without this extra depth. Francis Cobb and Sofia Gigante are two of the women that define his ambitions and are also the obstacles that stand in his way.
And, as an added point of context, giving such characters battles that don't involve Oz in a direct context is a phenomenal way of reflecting The Batman co-writer/director Matt Reeves' view on how Oz doesn't feel he's enough for anyone. With such an amazing moment transpiring outside of his storyline, it's a subtle confirmation that his current form matches that description to a tee.
That shines through especially bright in Sofia's evolution from a cast aide Falcone to a dominating Gigante. Turning back to that cheerfulness in Cristin Milioti's menacing moment, she tipped her hat right back to her Penguin adversary, describing how things felt through her eyes thusly:
I could not ask for a better partner in this scene. It was thrilling. It was like getting into a boxing ring and getting like K.O’d, but like, you love it. She also had not seen me in a minute, and so she didn't know how excited I would get when I would put everything on. So she did see honest to God glee. She was like, ‘You really like this.’ And I was like, ‘I do. I'm having the time of my life,’ like with swinging a gun around.
Cristin Milioti - CinemaBlend
Sofia Gigante vs. Francis Cobb is the prize fight of The Penguin’s seven episodes, and I’m starting to wonder if the season finale is going to even come close to topping it. To be fair, I’m also one of those people who didn’t expect The Penguin’s Episode 6 cliffhanger to lead to Francis’ death.
So maybe I was able to dig into this scene a bit deeper while watching, because I had a certain expectation of where things were going. That sort of attitude didn’t stop me from being taken aback by Michael Kelly’s shocking Penguin departure, but there are definitely some guard rails that are in place at the moment in Gotham City’s world of organized crime.
While Sofia may be in control, and Oz’s mom is definitely a piece of leverage that would settle the score after losing her second father Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown), Oz’s mom isn’t the silver bullet one would expect.
Francis practically begged her son to kill her if she’s too far gone in her degenerating mental state, so dying to make sure Oswald Cobb sees the top of the world is something she’s ready to do. Considering this is the penultimate episode, this is a lot to still be processing on the metaphorical eve of judgment; which is worth infinitely more than the $300 Deirdre O'Connell gladly spent to make it all happen.
Which, as a fan, makes anticipating November 10th’s season finale “Great or Little Thing” all the more exciting. It also makes it more important than ever to have either an active HBO or Max subscription, as the moment Episode 8 hits the airwaves at 9 PM ET, all eyes will be on Gotham City for this momentous occasion.
