Episode 4 of The Penguin reveals a big change in the story of Sofia Falcone and the hangman

Penguin Episode 4 finally explains exactly how Sofia Falcone came to be known as the Penguin, and it’s a massive change from the comics.

Sofia Falcone is an intimidating character in The Penguin. After all, she’s not just the daughter of the late Carmine Falcone — she spent 10 years in Arkham for (allegedly) murdering seven women.

In episode 3, having lost patience with the family’s animosity towards her, she reluctantly teams up with Oz to peddle his new drug, ‘Bliss’. However, there was still tension between them, and in the final seconds, it was made clear that Oz Cobb played a big role in putting her behind bars, which he regrets, despite enjoying the rewards of his betrayal .

Episode 4 pulls no punches, revealing Sofia’s tragic and often brutal history and the hangman’s true identity.

Sofia is not the hanged one in The Penguin

Carmine Falcone was the real hangman. Sofia Falcone suspected that her father killed these women (and her mother), but when he discovered that she had spoken to a reporter, he framed her for murder and exiled her from the family.

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Years before The Penguin, Sofia was a respected and loved member of the family. Not only was she the president of the Isabella Falcone Foundation, a charity dedicated to women’s mental health, but she actively helped her father with other tasks. He was also paired with Oz, his driver at the time, even telling Alberto off when he called him the Penguin.

She quickly went downstairs after being approached by Summer Gleason, a reporter investigating the deaths of several women at the Iceberg Lounge, all of whom had apparently hanged themselves. She refused to talk to her…at first, but met her later that night.

Photos of the corpses’ hands (bloody as if frantically scratching for survival) reminded her of her mother’s when she died, and convinced her that Carmine was responsible for all the deaths, including Isabella’s.

It didn’t help Summer any more though. She returned to the car and, in a fatal mistake, lost her temper with Oz after he told her to be careful. Oz told Carmine about their night meeting and the next day, she was arrested for the murders and sent to Arkham, with her father spreading lies about her history of poor mental health.

While Carmine roamed free, Sofia was stuck in Arkham; stripped every day, eating slop, dealing with violent inmates and enduring electroshock therapy with Dr. Julian Rush. She was supposed to stand trial after six months, but Arkham’s boss argued she was unfit to stand trial, so she was jailed for 10 years.

Sofia takes revenge

Later in episode 4, Sofia crashes a Falcone dinner the night before she is supposed to leave for Italy. It’s awkward, and it only gets worse when he makes a toast scolding everyone in the room (aside from Gia, Carla’s sweet daughter).

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“I was stuck in Arkham for a decade, convicted of murdering seven women… I’ve had a lot of time to think, and I have to say that I was really surprised by how many of you wrote letters telling the judge that I was mentally .sick like my mother,” he says.

“I trusted you, I loved you, and yet none of you tried to help me, except my brother, the man to whom you flew to cry. The real thorn in my side (is) unlike everyone here, I was innocent.”

Sofia tells them that she doesn’t fit into the family anymore and that she plans to start a new life, but she won’t go to Italy.

After everyone goes to sleep, he wakes Gia up and takes her to sleep in the greenhouse. The next morning, Sofia goes back inside… and they’re all dead. He gassed the house, killing everyone while they slept.

He does leave one person alive though: Johnny Viti, but it’s unclear what he has in store for him.

The history of Sofia Falcone in the comics

Sofia Falcone was introduced in 1996’s Batman: The Long Halloween. As in The Penguin, she is the daughter of Carmine Falcone who helps with mob deals.

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Specifically, he helps his father track down the Holiday Killer, an assassin who begins attacking members of the Falcone family. It turns out to be his brother Alberto, who ends up in Arkham. Meanwhile, Harvey Dent (who becomes Two-Face after his face is splashed with acid) kills Carmine, and Sofia falls through a window after being attacked by Catwoman.

Return to Dark Victory, a 1999-2000 series that continues the story of The Long Halloween. With Carmine dead and Alberto behind bars, he becomes the new head of the family. This comes as a new killer emerges in Gotham, taking police officers and hanging them with a noose.

In the end, Sofia is revealed to be the Hanged One. She tries to kill Two-Face to avenge her father’s death, but he shoots her in the head.

Check out our recaps of The Penguin Episode 1, Episode 2 and https://www.dexerto.com/tv-movies/the-penguin-episode-3-recap-2919642/ and find out when you can catch episode 5 You can also read why Batman won’t be appearing in The Penguin and what’s going on with The Batman 2.