Penguin is a changed man after all of his therapy with Hugo Strange, but thats not necessarily a good thing on Gotham.
Fans of Penguin were probably having all sorts of feels while watching Gotham 2×14, “This Ball of Mud and Meanness.” Still at Arkham, he’s continuing to undergo some sort of torture therapy at the hands of Mrs. Peabody and Hugo Strange. During these therapy sessions, he sees hallucinations that leave a lasting affect, especially when he has to watch helplessly as he envisions himself beating his mother to death. A much more broken, and weaker Penguin tells Strange that he’s feeling a lot of remorse for how he treated people. I’m guessing he’s also feeling plenty of guilt for what happened to his mother and clearly blames himself a great deal.
It’s also quite alarming to see how Strange throws Penguin into situations at Arkham which are almost sure to get him hurt. The so-called “Ice Cream Test” has them giving Penguin the treat of ice cream with his meal and no one else. It’s no surprise when another inmate at Arkham who wants the ice cream attacks Penguin. Luckily Penguin isn’t hurt in the test but it seems to leave him and the fans quite shaken.
Later, when they do another test, he’s put into a room with the same inmate that attacked him. This time the other inmate is secured to a chair and a knife is left out, but Penguin decides to help the other guy out and free him. I think I literally held my breath as he was doing it, worried that his good will would be turned against him.
Apparently, this was Penguin’s final test to see if the torture therapy had worked — and he passed. That meant that he was free to leave Arkham with a certificate saying that he’s sane. What’s sad is that Penguin actually seems scared to leave the asylum. He’s so broken that he doesn’t even know how to survive outside of the walls anymore. Strange managed to convince Penguin that he will be fine and sends him on his way, but the doctor didn’t alert the GCPD of what he’s done. Rather, Strange explained that he has deeper plans for Penguin and that it’s all part of a big experiment.
But what will happen to Penguin now that he’s free, and what are Strange’s plans for him? Penguin is basically defenseless now, with all of his ability to take care of himself gone. Yes, Penguin was quite ruthless before and no doubt a villain — but it’s what allowed him to survive the city of Gotham.
It won’t take long before someone recognizes him on the streets, and more than likely it won’t be a friendly face, which means big trouble for Penguin. His enemies won’t have as much sympathy for him as he seems to have for others now. All of his former friends and allies probably won’t care now that he’s powerless, and it seems like Nygma will be more preoccupied with Gordon than helping Penguin. His father will also reappear, but I’m not sure that his motives will be pure either.
I’m guessing that Strange is using Penguin to see how well he can control the villains that he has down in his lab at Indian Hill. He wants to bring back some of the most infamous killers Gotham has ever seen including Theo Galavan, Jerome Valeska, and Fish Mooney, so of course he needs a way to stay in power. Penguin is his first try at being the top dog to a killer, but does that mean that Strange wants Penguin to really stay a weakling? I think he’s actually hoping that Penguin will ultimately go back to a life of crime, and that’s why he didn’t tell the GCPD.
Instead of Penguin calling the shots though, Strange wants to use him for whatever he has in mind. Being in control of Penguin only has its perks if he gets something out of it, other than a power trip. How this all goes down remains to be seen, but I just hope that Penguin makes it out of this all in one piece. It seems like the further we get into the show the worse things become for him. His body and mind are being broken down; it’s only a matter or time before something snaps inside of him.