After being conditioned at Arkham, Penguin was left as a shell of his former self. However, his father’s murder has the old Penguin back and ready to wreak havoc on Gotham!
On Gotham 2×17, “Into the Woods,” Penguin was just barely grieving his father’s death when his step family showed their true colors. As he looked for comfort, they were ready to toss him out the door. Their reasoning? They don’t want a killer living with them. It’s only until he offers to be their servant for free that Grace allows him to stay at the house.
Once they’re back at the manor, the family is quick to treat Penguin harshly. They call his mother names, belittle his work, and throw food at him after they’ve eaten. None of this is enough to make Penguin snap. What does send him over the edge, is the discovery that the decanter Grace served him and his father was full of poison. He even tests it by feeding the drink to their family dog and watches as it dies.
To get back at Grace for what she’s done, Penguin cooks her up a special meal. Grace notices that something is different about Penguin and when he reveals that he knows what she did, Grace calls for help form her children. That’s when Penguin tells her that he just fed her them and kills her too.
Honestly, Penguin fans will take him however he is. However, it is way more entertaining to see Penguin own up to his darker side and stand up to those that try and push him down. Just like with Mooney, Penguin was allowing his step family to walk all over him. Seeing his vindication felt like a little victory for Penguin fans as they knew the character they loved was back to normal.
So what will Penguin do now that he’s back to his old self? It looks like he’s nice and cozy at his father’s home and I’m guessing that will be made into his new headquarters. He can look more into his family and find out what his father was talking about when he said that darkness ran in the family. If Penguin wants to get back to power he’ll also have to recruit some new followers. Of course, now that he has his family’s fortune he can easily hire help.
The question is, what will Hugo Strange do now that Penguin is back to killing? Obviously Strange was expecting this to happen. I’m curious to see if and how he will try and use it to his advantage. Even though Penguin is ready to return to crime, Strange might still be able to control him. It’s unclear if any of the conditioning will remain.
I’m also thinking that Penguin will have a score to settle with Gordon. It was because of Gordon that Penguin was left in Arkham when he was being tortured in therapy. That can’t sit well with Penguin and he’s always been good at getting his revenge. This might take time and planning for Penguin to accomplish though.
Penguin may also feel inclined to help out Nygma who is now in Arkham. Even though Nygma wasn’t there for Penguin, and kind of used him, they did have a tight bond at one point. Plus Penguin knows what it’s like to be in Arkham and I don’t think he’d want Nygma in the same position. Nygma could also prove to be a good ally against Gordon.
Whatever Penguin does decide to do, I’m super excited to see how he will climb back to the top!