welcome back to new rock stars I'm Eric Boss and this is a breakdown of the penguin episode 1 an HBO series set in the universe of Matt Reeves the Batman the 2022 film starring Robert patson Barry kilan as the Joker and Paul do as the Riddler who yes was the source of perhaps the most infamous new Rockstar thumbnail let's break down all the details you missed in this episode and how it connects to its own DC world so we open on wet footprints on the floor leading up to oob AKA Oswald cobblepot Colin frell looking out the window this is where we left Oz at the end of the Batman as they looked out at the flooded streets of Gotham drenched by the Riddler's bombings that destroyed the seaw walls these Footprints are staggered in a way left by Oz's limp making the series I guess a March of the penguin but also a prototypical evolutionary creature who first transitioned from sea to land you'll also notice that these opening images often frame Oz's head within circles the framing of the bridge outside the home the circles of the elevator lights in the Iceberg Lounge and then the circular Windows of that same Suite despite his reputation as a hustling gangster he's really just an introspective man who's caught in his own head we hear the notes of Michael jaino score as newscasts remind us of the murder of Mayor Don Mitchell Jr he was killed by The Riddler in the opening scene in the 2022 film newscasters talking about the drug trade surrounding drops those are the ey drop substances that we saw in the film that actually inspired that green tear drop shaped Halloween mask we hear mentioned of Salvatore [ __ ] whose arrest mayor Mitchell celebrated with framed news headlines in the film and led to the rise of the Rival Falcone family and they mentioned the arrest of Carmine Falcone himself played by JN Truro he was Ed as The elusive El rata alada of that film The Winged rat thanks to Oz actually knowing Spanish Carmine was the police informant goddamn rat oh so you're a big man now o huh maybe I am really o because to me you always just a [ __ ] in an empty suit this led to Carmine being shot in the Crowd by Riddler at rashton sniper rifle just across the street he was actually sneakily foreshadowed very early in that film in the window in the upper corner of frame I think it was like my favorite Easter egg in that film these broadcasts show alternate angles of the seaw wall detonations and the flooding of the city including the flooding of Gotham Square Garden where Batman LED mayor elect Bell roal and other attendees to safety and then muddly attended to them on the roof of the Arena giving us one of the final shots of the film but in this wide shot I don't think we see patson anywhere in there they have said that Batman will not be in this show Jamie Lawson returns here as a cameo as Bella Ral promising to rebuild the city and what looks like a very green screen background set the fictional news Outlet gc1 and WG return from the Batman film and along the weather ticker are various parts of Gotham City from when the city was explored block by Block in the No Man's Land comic storyline we see Blackgate Isle that's the island known as the home of black gate prison Bowery that's known as Gotham's commercial District Bristol Township that's the affluent suburb in New Jersey known as the home of Wayne Manor we actually see some of the Mansions during this news reel and we go there later to the falconia state Burnley is another District of Gotham City north of the sprang River Chelsea and Chinatown are really parts of Manhattan Coventry is a middle- class District in Gotham south of the sprang River Crest Hill is a neighborhood in Bristol Township Gotham Heights is a neighborhood in Gotham's East End where Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered Grant Park is a neighborhood in South Gotham old Gotham is a large architectural scheme for Gotham City designed by Cyrus Pinkney and promoted by judge Solomon Wayne from 1992's Batman Legends of the Dark Knight number 27 otisburg is a residential district of Gotham that was also referenced as a gag in the 1978 Superman film in Lex Luther's New West Coast that he was dreaming of building Port Adams is the city's yards lint toown is another obscure Gotham neighborhood Robbinsville it's another Gotham neighborhood named after Comics writer Frank Robbins so Oz drives his custom painted purple Maserati back to his Iceberg Lounge that was a location visited by Batman Bruce three times in the 2022 film each time with different appearances showing the evolution of his character Oz Waddles under his umbrella a prop and weapon and Tool commonly associated with the penguin character Oz returns to Carmine's penthouse suite and breaks into Carmine's Vault with the sledgehammer retrieving files labeled HH Eric kude and councilman Sebastian Haiti with receipts and a photo of councilman Haiti gambling so Sebastian Haiti in the comics was a corrupt mayor of Gotham Eric kud is an ad who has worked on Films but isn't credited on this show so maybe he's someone's friend HH comes with this interesting Victorian era photo Founders Club dated 1893 HH could refer to Hamilton Hill who's another known corrupt Gotham mayor from the comics but HH is also known as Batman's nonverbal tick that was introduced in Grant Morrison's Justice League America run so it's like Batman going like there's also a file for Austin Whit who is this Show's costume designer and we see photos of John vidy Michael Kelly's character the under boss of the falconis with a mistress Carmine son Alberto Falcone played by Michael Zan from The Marvelous Miss mael and Boardwalk Empire catches him Oz claims to be getting the jewels for him and calls Carmine a great man but you know Alberto must have heard Oz calling him a goddamn rat before now in the comics Alberto Falcone becomes the holiday killer in the long Halloween and Dark Victory but not on the show Alberto's ring came from his father Carmine who said that he got it from Sal [ __ ] making this ring kind of a symbol of power in the Gotham underworld now Colin Ferrell is back in the heavy makeup and Prosthetics that he wore for the Batman and he said for this show when they wrapped the season he said quote I never want to put that suit in that head on again which is really Colin Ferell saying this there too much [ __ ] on me I can't breathe Oz recalls a past mob boss named Rex calaby who in the comics was a past boss and Gotham who was pushed out by the falconis before Batman's time Oz says how Rex knew everyone's name was revered he died of a heart attack with the cigar still in his hand and even had a parade thrown in his armor while Alberto mocks that old school thinking it really reflects the way Oz thinks gangsters should operate a kind of paternalistic service for immigrant communities who couldn't trust the police to protect them Oz is still living in that old world so he shoots Alberto not just out of ego but because he sees Gotham's flooding as a way to kind of wash clean both the Falcone and the marronis now after shooting Alberto O's reaction is just great [ __ ] he's like relieved for a moment but then he realizes oh crap I'm going to have to move this body with my limp we see him in the exotic dancer costume rack to find a suit hangup bag that he stuffs Alberto into and then he puts a garbage bag on himself I guess to keep blood from oozing onto his suit Oz finds some kids trying to strip his car and he stops one of them Victor Aguilar please please please I wonder if it's Victor's speech impediment that softens AZ to him as someone who has to walk with a limp that may also be why he makes Victor drive because as we'll see later Oz's right foot which he would be using to press the gas pedal and the brake pedal is mangled Oz goes through Alberto's phone which is a Samsung not an iPhone and there's always people pointing out the belief that Apple doesn't let their phones be used in movies and TV shows for immoral characters but that actually was only true for Ryan Johnson's Knives Out in 2017 and ever since then we've seen plenty of exceptions to that supposed Rule still I guess it does apply here on Alberto's phone calendar is a shipment on November 18 and then this is pretty crazy on November 23rd it says Gotham Knights now Gotham Knights is a 2022 game following Nightwing Robin Red Hood and Batgirl who tried to restore Justice to Gotham after Batman's death and a battle between the court of owls and the League of Shadows I don't know if we're going to get some update about the game series coming this year on November 23rd or maybe the Gotham nights on the show is just like a sports game that Alberto planed to go to the football team and Gotham is supposed to be the Gotham Rogues maybe the Gotham Knights is like a hockey team or something also interesting that on the 31st of of October was just written Bella which makes me wonder that Alberto might have had a rendevu with Bella Ral on Halloween night which was the night that Don Mitchell was murdered Victor's driver's license correctly lists Gotham as being in New Jersey though oddly it's a Gotham driver's license despite all driver's license in the United States coming from the state not from the city you live in Oz recalls an east side corner store called buddies where he would mix slush puppy flavors to make a suicide saying that he did so with all of his brothers and I think this might be the first mention of the penguin having siblings he's most commonly known as like an only child from a very Rich family Oz goes to his acquaintance Eve to get an alibi anytime after 10 but not before I love this detail because for Eve to only be able to lie to potential detectives about being with Oz after 10 means that before 10 she must have been with someone from law enforcement who would have known an alibi before 10 was [ __ ] Oz waits for him and Victor to move Alberto's body until daylight because he knows the Batman would only be on patrol at night time after agreeing to let Victor live as his driver and his Protegé Oz heads to the jewelry district up to Burgess jewelry which is a reference to Burgess Meredith who played the Penguin on the 60s ABC Batman series starring Adam West so really he lives in the Upper Floor of Burgess jewelry and it's just kind of a fun detail there he turned into a home of jewelry with vaults for doors which I guess is a smart way to stay secure but think about that having to lock yourself in a vault every night and he takes off his shoe and sock to show his mangled foot holy God what are you showing me come on in some Comics Oswald cobblepot was mocked as a child for his long nose and his grotesque appearance and in some cases see just waddle due to a hip ailment here they ground it into some other kind of physical defect so they drive through the flooded part of the city where signs hang from buildings don't forget about us help us and the way the freeway stays above the flood water while on the other side out of this neighborhood is collapsed meaning that everyone living there is trapped from driving out of there the imagery just kind of evokes New Orleans after the flooding from Hurricane Katrina Oz goes into his Warehouse where his workers are repackaging drops that they recovered from floodwaters and he hands over the councilman Haiti photos to set up a politician to have in his pocket this version of osob is clearly modeled on Tony Soprano who is a beefy mobster who struggles to walk sometimes but he's always hustling he lives in New Jersey not New York and he tries to keep his head down while others in the criminal hierarchy get all the attention as the public heads of the family so that the cops don't come after him like he tries to make himself small in that way they drive out to the falconia state in Bristol Township and we see a sign for Burnside which is another neighborhood in the comics across the Gotham River the Falcone Mansion is designed to look like an Italian Villa as italian-americans they would want to create the mansion in the style of the old world it's fun to think that just a few Estates over would be Wayne Manor the Italian Motif continues on the inside of the building where on the wall is a piece of Simone martinis Fresco guio da fogliano which is painted all the way back in freaking 1330 possibly remade in the 15th century now in the real world this is on a wall in a Palazo in Florence but the falconis are so loaded and Powerful that they have like a 700-year old piece of art just hanging in their dining room so Johnny VII sits at the head of the table uninterested while doing the talking is Milos The Bodyguard graa an enforcer in the Falcone crime family from the long Halloween story line he says that they plan is to move all drug trade operations to Robinsville now this actor James mtio played Frank perante on HBO's banded brothers and before that he was the Lost Boy don't ask in Steven speeder's hook now on the wall behind Oz is a portrait that I assume is Carmine Falcone with his two kids Alberto and Sophia and we know that on this show Mark Strong will be playing Carmine Falcone replacing joh chur who I assumed they just couldn't get back for the show and I actually kind of like it that you could just recast actors in the same kind of costume and we're all okay with them playing this character keep that in mind next time you try to digitally reanimate a dead actor just recast a new actor who kind of looks like them but seeing this portrait being reminded that there is another air to this family just makes it kind of creepy when she suddenly enters in the background like a serial killer which she literally is in fact it's got the potential to revolutionize the drug business what kind of [ __ ] man ah can't reveal the details yet Oz notices from their silence and it takes him a moment to realize that they are paralyzed in fear upon seeing who's behind him Sophia Falone played by the incredible Kristen milot I thought you was still at uh Arkham yeah no I've been rehabilitated it's kind of fun to see a series trying to be DC's Sopranos because here in the same scene we see two actors from that series Michael Kelly played FBI agent Ron Goddard and Christ motti played Johnny sack's daughter Katherine sacrimony the character of Sophia Falone was introduced in the long Halloween she was released by Carmine from prison early to help them find the holiday killer and once it's revealed to be her brother Alberto Sophia actually ends up falling out of the penthouse after an attack by Catwoman then in the Dark Victory storyline Sophia is initially in a wheelchair with a neck brace has the new head of the family while a new serial killer called the hangman kills Gotham cops with a noose and it's revealed that Sophia is that killer and she's been faking her paralysis now this Sophia later tells us that the papers did call her the hangman so I'm assuming this liveaction version of the character might have had a similar backstory Kristen motti brings a whole new dimension to the character as she exhibits a more understated but far more menacing form of criminal psychopathy that we almost never get to see from the Rogues gallery of villains on screen rather than showing outright rage she lets off these like faint Little Smiles whenever something is nagging at her and she wears a tightly tied scarf around her neck in the scene which seems like a nod to her hangman reputation and I was thinking might be covering some kind of cuts or burns on her neck and later in this episode she's wearing like a tur neck that shows more of her neck but I think there still might be more under that neck and her even quietly asking Oz about her brother Alberto gets Milos and Johnny to beg her to stop because they know where her mere curiosity will lead she follows Oz outside to get her answer which you have to imagine came after she had intimidated Johnny and Milo upstairs outside She lays or focuses on that bullet hole in Oz's Maserati which probably gives her a hunch that Oz has been a little too busy in the past 24 hours if he was willing to drive a car with a bullet hole around without getting it fixed I read a lot of comics obviously for work and research but also the reason this is my job is because I love comic books I'm always on the lookout for new apps and once I found Global Comix it immediately became one of my new faves Global Comix is a Digital entertainment platform that empowers creators with the tools they need to reach new audiences and monetize their work so they can keep making the stories that mean so much to the rest of us Global Comix is dedicated to reshaping the landscape of graphic fiction creation and distribution and the fact that it's so Creator forward really Appeals to me Global Comix just launched their highly anticipated vertical scroll Comics program which I love because it's such an easy way to read comics on my phone the opening lineup is real solid too with content from major Publishers like Dark Horse top cow bad egg AWA humanoids and TKO my favorite so far has been stranger things it's just a great way to get to experience a story from A New Perspective if you want more comics in your pocket Global Comix is the app for you right now our audience can get a 33% discount on a year of Global Comix Gold by using the code gcx new rock stars at checkout or just click the link in the description below to download the app at this meal Sophia gobbles the food with her hands as she probably got accustomed to eating like an Arkham patient she's not afraid to get her hands dirty it's a kind of show of force to oz so is her calling out the stairs that they are getting and her reputation as the hangman it's all a predicate to revisit the whole Alberto conversation with Oz because she reminds Oz that she had walked in right as he said the words revolutionize the drug business now Oz at least in this moment smartly plays this by trying to say that this was something Alberto cut both of them in on but kept them both siloed from each other and even though the end of this episode proves that Sophia probably did not fully believe him here she has to admit to herself that there is a chance that that might be true and just to kind of indicate that she sees right through him she Whispers in his ear that she always knew he was capable of more and then just kind of leaves him with his look so this music is actually coming from Michael jino's son Mick jaino and there's definitely a John Williams Jaws Melody to Sophia's music sting Oz and Victor take the elevated train to connect with an underground subway platform where on the other tracks a train is crashed and pumps are draining flood water I just love how much of like the recovering city of Gotham we see on this show like on this train are several city workers with their orange vests just the general setting of this makes it feel like it's a completely different city but a city that looks like cities that we've seen before but just not you know a studio backlog also this detail of Oz refusing to take the disability seats that are open when Victor totally notices this and it suggests that Oz probably takes his route often and he just doesn't want people to look at his limp that way now there's this guy on the train with a QR code with Gotham's true face beneath it now when you scan this it takes you to what was originally gothams trueface face. com and that was going to be like a Gotham's Toof faced thing but no it actually changes to the URL rata ala. com which you'll remember is the URL that Warner used to promote the 20122 the Batman film remember when they were dropping all the different ciphers from the Riddler including his full zodiac Alpha alab it but in this case it takes you to what looks like a chat room and I'm going to read the transcript for you clock breaker says what's been put into motion can't be stopped then rain it in Arkham's releasing patience and black aate is a mess no one's really a prisoner in there not even our old Pal Sal [ __ ] then hold the line 81 says people say they want the truth but they Shield their eyes when we shine the light and then determinator says let's make sure they're not blinded again du to the corruption the killings the Falcone power grab and that's linked and then hold the line 81 says we in the streets tonight at 9:00 p.
m. meet at the Metro outside Crown Point and then clock breaker says done and done the revolution is just getting started sorry this is just how I read anybody who tries to talk this way in a chat room on the internet also what's the chat room I just dated myself now when you click on the Falcone power grab it takes you to an article in the Gotham Gazette dated Thursday September 19th 2024 even though this show is set in 2022 it's an article for the future call Doc Brown and then the article is headlined crime pays well air to the Falcone crime family parties above the wreckage and the article goes on to criticize Alberto falone's party boy Behavior stumbling out of clubs in Chinatown at 3:00 a. m.
