The following review contains spoilers for the third episode of The Penguin, “Bliss.”

After watching the premiere of The Penguin, it was surprising how much Game of Thrones DNA there was as everyone compared it to The Sopranos. Now, the third episode of “The Penguin” deserves an even stronger comparison to HBO’s adaptation of “A Song of Ice” and “A Song of Ice.” Fire mimics his signature “people talking in rooms” style in “Bliss.” This is definitely the most dialogue-heavy episode yet, and it's made all the better thanks to a good structure and pacing that moves the characters smoothly from one conversation to the next. However, it's the conversations between Victor, Sofia and Oz that stand out, focusing on who these characters are, what they want and what they need (and how these differ). It's the deepest look we've gotten into the minds of our three leads, and especially Victor, who slowly emerges as the Penguin's most interesting character.

It's really a Victor-centric episode that adds a lot of much-needed backstory to the character thanks to a lengthy flashback. Flashbacks can be a difficult storytelling mechanism to implement. They are often tasked with either providing context for a character and explaining why they are the way they are in the current plot, or revealing something that happened in the past and reframing the events of the story so far contextualize. But if the way the character has changed between the flashback and the present doesn't fit, or the way the flashbacks are arranged throughout the series isn't done at the right pace, it can feel like a break feel in continuity and bring the story to a halt off its axis. Luckily, right when I was thinking, “Man, I wonder when we're going to find out exactly what happened to Victor's family,” “Bliss” delivered an emotionally devastating answer. It's a sad story that we knew was coming, but author Noelle Valdivia sets up a devastating end for the Aguilar family while weaving those feelings into the current situation Victor finds himself in.

And aside from a few moments of Bliss-related business meetings, the rest of the episode remains entirely focused on Vic bringing his girlfriend Graciela back into his life and giving him a series of meaningful and dramatic interactions with his captor/mentor Oz. Graciela is a character that every villain protagonist must have. They are the person who draws them into the light, away from a life of crime and villainy, but in the end they will always be disappointed with our character's final decision. Victor is the Penguin's Jesse Pinkman, who keeps getting pulled back into life much to our horror, and while at the end of “Bliss” we don't get a real sense of Victor's thought process at the moment of his big decision, his conversations with Oz as the film progresses do As a result, it is presented quite well.

At lunch, Oz and Vic talk about Vic's father, Ramon, who worked as a car mechanic and loved to cook. Oz comes very close to this realization when he imparts an almost sage wisdom: “The world is not designed for the honest man to succeed.” But where another hero's story is about working towards a world in After the honest man succeeds, Oz has a different opinion: “Fuck the world.” It's honestly an understandable point of view that a young, impressionable child can hold on to. Oz and Graciela's back and forth in Victor's life is really the crux of the episode, culminating in Oz's emotional moment when he finds out Vic wanted to leave. The outburst serves as a final, real plea to keep Vic around, but also shows how deeply Oz's manipulative behavior is deeply rooted in his nature. Even when he's expressing real emotion, he's still playing along. And it works.

This genuine sadness and anger over their apparent breakup fuels another emotional moment between Oz and Sofia as she relentlessly denounces him for his (still somewhat mysterious) betrayal of her all those years ago. Oz ratted out Sofia in some way that led to her punishment in Arkham, and because of that he feels like he owes her something. After another swipe, he explodes and sincerely apologizes for what he put her through, but doesn't regret what he gained from his loyalty to Carmine. It's another great depiction of how Oz thinks about the world, and again the work from Farrell and Milioti is top notch. And how everything collapses at the end with the Maronis and Victor's big stunt and Sofia is left behind – Oz and Vic are now part of the game!