Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Penguin episode 4The Penguin episode 4 features several Easter eggs from The Batman alongside references to the original DC Comics. The dark past of Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) is finally explored in this new episode, including the 10 years she spent in Arkham State Hospital. As such, there are several nods and teases along the way as she struggles to retain her sanity.

In The Penguin episode 4, Sofia is abandoned by Oz after it’s revealed that he killed her brother, Alberto Falcone. Wounded and needing assistance, the bulk of this new episode is set in the past, revealing the truth about Sofia’s past as the Hangman, and how she ended up in Arkham. To that end, here are 11 of the biggest Easter eggs and references to be found in The Penguin episode 4.

12 Summer Gleeson of The Gotham Gazette

From Batman: The Animated Series

While speaking at a gala put on by the Falcone family’s foundation in honor of her late mother, Sofia is approached by Summer Gleeson of the Gotham Gazette. Gleeson first debuted in Batman: The Animated Series, a creation for the show before the comics (much like Harley Quinn).

11 The Penguin Debuts A Younger Carmine Falcone

Played by Mark Strong

Returning home for dinner, Sofia eats with her brother Alberto and her father, Carmine Falcone. Set 10 years before the events of The Batman, Carmine is alive and is played by Mark Strong (rather than John Turturro). No stranger to DC projects, Mark Strong played Sinestro in 2011’s Green Lantern and Doctor Sivana in the Shazam! movies.

10 Congressman Hill

DC Comics’ Hamilton Hill?

In The Penguin episode 4, Carmine makes mention of Congressmen Hill who finally started taking his calls thanks to Sofia. This is most likely Hamilton Hill from the original DC Comics, a corrupt politician and mayor of Gotham seen on the page as well as Batman: The Animated Series.

9 Carmine and Alberto’s Relationship

Similar To The Original Comics

Displeased with Alberto’s partying, irresponsibility, and overall disinterest in the family business, Carmine reveals that he eventually wants Sofia to take his place rather than his son. This mirrors the original comics in which Carmine similarly didn’t want Alberto involved in the family business. However, the reasoning is different as the Carmine of the comics believed Alberto could be better and do more with his life than crime. Regardless, Alberto grew bitter due to his father keeping him at arm’s length.

8 Detective Kinzie

First Seen In The Batman

After Oz rats Sofia out to Carmine about speaking with reporters regarding multiple women’s deaths connected to Carmine, Sofia suggests she remembers that her father killed her mother. As such, Carmine has Sofia arrested and institutionalized at Arkham. However, the cop that does the arresting in The Penguin episode 4 is none other than Detective Kinize (Peter McDonald) who’s on Carmine’s payroll and first appeared in 2022’s The Batman.

7 Gotham Newspapers Teasing Firefly?

A Major Industrial Fire

Gotham newspapers all start referring to Sofia as the Hangman, her father’s murders having been pinned on her. However, it’s also worth noting that each paper also makes mention of a massive industrial fire that is currently under investigation. This could be a nod to the infamous Gotham arsonist known as Firefly, who perhaps caused the blaze.

6 Dr. Ventris

Perhaps Named After Floyd Ventris aka Mirror Man

The corrupt lead doctor at Arkham State Hospital introduces himself to Sofia as Doctor Ventris in The Penguin episode 4, tasked with putting her through a series of torturous psychological experiments. Having a rather unique name, it’s possible that he could be named after DC Comics’ Floyd Ventris aka The Mirror Man. Not to be confused with The Flash’s Mirror Master, Mirror Man simply used mirrors in his crimes and eventually used them to discover Batman’s true identity (though no one believed him).

5 Magpie is Sofia’s Neighbor In Arkham

A Classic Gotham Thief

In Arkham, Sofia interacts the most with Magpie, the neighboring patient in the next cell to hers. In the comics, Magpie is a notorious thief in Gotham obsessed with all things shiny. However, Sofia murders her near the end of The Penguin episode 4’s flashback sequence once she realizes that Magpie was spying on her for Doctor Ventris in exchange for drugs.

4 Same Arkham Visitation Room

When Batman Confronts Riddler

When Alberto is finally allowed to meet with Sofia, the siblings meet in the same visitation room where Batman will confront the Riddler in 2022’s The Batman following Edward Nashton’s arrest. It’s also the same scene from The Penguin episode 2 when Sofia was having a nightmare about her brother’s death (though this time Alberto has all his fingers).

3 “The Death Of A Parent”

Doctor Rush May As Well Be Talking About The Batman

While Doctor Ventris is quite sinister and more than likely working for Carmine, Doctor Julien Rush is far more sympathetic and seems to genuinely want to help Sofia (even in the present). At one point, Rush makes a poignant comment: “The death of a parent can be traumatic and it’s not unusual to transfer that grief into anger or even violence.” While Rush is talking about Sofia and her mother’s death, he might as well be talking about Batman and his crusade of vengeance following the death of his own parents in Crime Alley when he was a child.

2 Hangman Replaces Holiday

Killing The Falcones

In the present, Sofia returns to the Falcone mansion after being saved by Julien (who quit working at Arkham due to his guilt over what happened to Sofia). She confronts her entire family, expressing her anger that they all signed affidavits claiming she had a history of mental illness. Sofia then claims that she intends to leave for Italy to finally be free of them all, seeing herself as the only true innocent in the entire family.

However, Sofia instead kills the family with gas in their sleep, aside from Johnny and Gia Viti. As such, this does mirror the actions of her brother in the comics when he was one of the Holiday Killers. Instead, it’s the Hangman who’s killing Falcone family members in The Penguin episode 4, clearing the way for Sofia Falcone to finally take the seat she was always meant to have.

New episodes of The Penguin air Wednesday nights on Max.

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