[Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Penguin episode 8, âA Great or Little Thing.â] âThe world wasnât built for guys like us,â Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) told Vic (Rhenzy Feliz) after taking the teenager under his wing in the first episode of The Penguin. âThatâs why we gotta take whatever we decide is ours. âCause no oneâs gonna give it to us. Not without a fight.â In the end, Oz and Vic did just that: together, they took what was left of the Falcone and Maroni crime families from Sofia Gigante (Cristin Milioti) and performed a coup against the remaining gangs by convincing the deputies to turn on their bosses.
After consolidating power with control of the Triads, the Burnley Town Massive, LoBoys, the Sullivans, and the Odessa Mob, Oz ended the gang war by pinning it all on Sofia and having her recommitted in Arkham State Hospital. He leveraged his position with corrupt Councilman Sebastian Hady (Rhys Coiro) to come out clean as a whistle, winning out over the woman who used his mother against him while seeking revenge for the murder of her brother Alberto (Michael Zegen).
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In the end, it was a Pyrrhic victory for Oz: his beloved mother, Francis (Deirdre OâConnell), suffered a stroke that left her in a vegetative state and unable to tell him sheâs proud of her last-surviving son for becoming the kingpin of Gotham City. âThanks for taking a chance on me. For taking me in,â Victor told Oz. âYouâre family to me.â
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Calling their chance encounter kismet, Oz put his arms around Vic and told him, âI canât take you with me this time. Thatâs the thing about family⌠itâs your strength. It drives you.â But family âmakes you weak, too,â Oz said as he viciously strangled Vic to death. âI canât have that no more. Itâs too much.â In-between gasps for air and apologies, Vic died as Oz snuffed out the only family he had left. âIt wasnât for nothing.â
Why Did Penguin Kill Victor?
âI think itâs what he says while heâs committing the act,â Feliz exclusively told ComicBook. âItâs that he knows that heâs vulnerable in this way now. Heâs just experienced what itâs like to lose his mother, to have his mother taken from him.â
Because Sofia was able to use Ozâs mother against him, ultimately causing the stroke that left her catatonic and nearly costing Oz his life, Vic had to die.
âWhen you view someone as family, itâs a strength, like he says,â Feliz continued. âAnd so I think he wants to become something almost impenetrable. And the way he thinks he can do that is [killing his weakness]. Everyone else, I think, sees it as, âYou donât have to do this.â He sees it as, âThe only way that I can be invulnerable is to snuff out this flame here.ââ
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In his final moments, Vic begged Oz not to kill him. As for what was going through Vicâs mind as Ozâs embrace turned into a chokehold, it was âshock.â
âShock is what I was going for,â Feliz pointed out. âYouâre getting choked to death. You know, everything youâre doing is survival at that point. Itâs instinct. Youâre kicking, youâre grabbing, youâre pleading. You donât know whatâs going on, you donât know why itâs going on. You donât really understand whatâs happening.â
Ultimately, Oz betrayed both members of his remaining family. He promised his mother he wouldnât let her live if her condition worsened, only to put her up in his penthouse while he molded Eve Karlo (Carmen Ejogo) in his motherâs image. And he betrayed Vic, choosing to kill the kid who saw Oz as family rather than a monster.
âYou put so much love and trust in this person, for him to be betraying you like that,â Feliz said. âI think itâs just like, âWhat? Oh my God. No, please. Please donât. Please stop.ââ As for whether Oz was always going to kill Vic or if he gave into his darker impulses when he admitted his victory âdonât feel like it should,â Feliz turned the question toward Farrell.
âThatâs a great question. I want to know what what would Colin would say about it,â Feliz said. âWhen was the decision made [by Oz]? I really have no idea. Iâm in the debates with everybody else.â
âI really donât know, to be honest,â the actor continued. âI go back and forth and I think, in that moment, sometimes I think he knew it from the moment when he takes me out to the river bank [that] he knows what heâs going to do. Then I really go back and forth.â
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. All episodes of HBOâs The Penguin are now streaming on Max.