When Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) is first introduced in The Penguin, it’s revealed that she’s a former patient in Arkham, and she’s earned the moniker of The Hangman; a serial killer who's killed several women.
With the next episode set to explore her origin though, some speculate that Sofia was actually framed—and by someone very close to her to boot.
Is Carmine Falcone the Actual Hangman?
Fans have speculated for a while that Sofia’s Arkham sentence was more than meets the eye, and one prevailing theory among the community is that it’s actually Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong) who is the Hangman, and Sofia was the one who was made to take the fall.
One big clue is that Carmine in The Batman (played by John Turturro) actually went so far as to strangle Selina Kyle when she confronted him; and Sofia was also known to have woken up with scratch marks on her neck in the show—as if trying to stop someone from strangling her.
There’s also a new preview for Episode 4 which is supposed to give a peak at how Sofia was taken away to Arkham and it’s heavily implied that there’s some kind of conspiracy going on when she was admitted.
What Could Have Gone Down
Though this may not be what exactly plays out on the show, it’s possible that Carmine definitely was guilty of the murders; and when the police were getting closer to finding him as the suspect, the family decided to put all the blame on Sofia.
Even if Sofia isn’t the one who was responsible for the deaths, she has proven herself to be extremely unstable and dangerous—which would have made her the perfect fall guy for a bunch of strangulation crimes.
There’s also the case of Sofia’s therapist Julian Rush (played by Theo Rossi). It’s possible that Rush as a psychiatrist was working for the Falcones to keep gaslighting Sofia into thinking that she did the crimes. It’s also possible that he’s been drugging Sofia as well—which leads to her coming up with the idea to peddle Bliss to the party people of Gotham.
These are all just theories so far, but seeing as how convoluted Oz’s plans can get in his rise to power, a twist where Sofia was actually innocent would give her a very interesting arc in which she would try to redeem her reputation with the family.
Audience Reception
Three episodes in, The Penguin manages to wow audiences with the underworld of Gotham. Colin Farrell is completely unrecognizable as Oz, but he’s also surrounded by a fantastic cast which includes Rhenzy Feliz as his unwilling accomplice Vic.
Praise has also been coming out for Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone. Though Milioti has been in projects like Black Mirror and How I Met Your Mother, her role as Sofia really allows her to tap into a dark side which gives her a very commanding screen presence and great dynamic with this version of the Penguin.
Catch new episodes of The Penguin every Sunday night on Max.