Batman is back in camp. Sorry, Joker by Joaquin Phoenix, but we don't want sad songs. The penguin drives his purple Maserati around the block like it's an ice cream truck, and I'm a little kid running outside screaming, “Oz Cobb!” Oz Cobb!” In fact, I often forget that the Penguin is a villain because he’s just so much fun. He's like a clown, and you wouldn't think Gotham would need more of that at any point. Cobb sounds like someone who has never seen a single episode of The sopranos doing an impression of Tony Soprano. In the last episode, he pointed to his empty wine glass and told a waiter to “do that again.” I hate that I love him. Deep in my bones I know he will break my heart.

After baring his soul to Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) at the end of Episode 3, he abandons her as soon as things get difficult. His speech felt like a genuine apology for throwing her into the pub more than a decade ago. But before she could even forgive him, Salvatore Maroni's (Clancy Brown) men attack the couple. With Victor's (Rhenzy Feliz) help, the penguin manages to escape. He leaves Sofia behind. In this week's episode we find out why. Episode 4 is Sofia's story. It's a masterclass in acting from Milioti's Italian Mafia family from New Jersey – and dare I say it just entered the Emmy conversation. Even though old Oz Cobb barely appears in it, it's the best episode of The penguin still.

Sofia, take it away

We begin with a flashback set ten years ago, when Oz is none other than Sofia's personal driver. The Falcone family heiress is still traumatized by her mother's death. She hanged herself in her family room when Sofia was very young, but Sofia always remained skeptical of the events of that fatal night. “You know the lies we had to tell as adults about his actions?” One night, Sofia asks Alberto (Michael Zegen) about her father. “There’s a lot we don’t talk about.”

When a journalist informs Sofia that several incidents in Gotham are all linked to her father's club, old wounds resurface. It's no coincidence, Sofia is currently in dangerous waters. Oz hears everything in the car. “People will start getting ideas,” warns the penguin. These “people” are Oz Cobb, who rats Sofia out to Carmine (Mark Strong), leading him to send his own daughter to Arkham Asylum just to avoid the murder investigation. It's the cruelest thing anyone has ever done The penguin But when Carmine Falcone pulls all the curtains on Sofia and sentences her to a life in an insane asylum.

Oz, is that you in there?

I don't know what an actor does to enter the mind of someone sent to hell, but Milioti figured it out. As she falls into hopelessness, the Falcone family does everything they can to keep her in Arkham so they can continue their life of crime unhindered. She is the sacrificial lamb. Her family writes false affidavits claiming she is mentally ill. The newspapers call her “the executioner,” and Carmine pays every judge to reject her requests for release. When Arkham puts her through shock therapy, I wonder why they don't just kill her.

The Falcones regret this decision. Arkham hardens Sofia as she must fend off creepy, violent inmates, including a reimagined version of the DC Comics villain Magpie. She also meets Dr. Julian Rush (Theo Rossi), a doctor in Arkham who falls in love with her. After causing her great pain during her stay, he finally helps Sofia get free. But his intentions don't seem pure and Sofia is aware of how easily he can manipulate her. I am sure that red light hypnotherapy will also have a big impact.

It's Sofia's time.

It's my turn!

Back in the present, Dr. Rush Sofia before her encounter with the Maronis. “Men have been lying to me for ten years,” she tells him. “I come home and everything is the same.” You want a murderer? I'll give you a murderer. In case anyone watching at home is afraid of this The penguin Will Sofia get her revenge only at the end of the series, just watch the last ten minutes of this episode.

Sofia attends a Falcone family dinner and eats spaghetti and meatballs with her hands. “I trusted you,” she tells her family during a big speech. “I loved you and none of you tried to help me.” She is the only one at the table who is innocent. (I'll, um, overlook the fact that she killed Magpie in Arkham.) Sofia ends her speech with a toast to “new beginnings.” It's a new beginning – but only for her. That night, she triggers a gas leak and kills all members of her family except Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly) and her young cousin Gia. She struts around the bodies of the Falcone mansion to Sarah Vaughan's “So Long, My Love” and single-handedly takes over the crime family in one night. Watch out, Oz. You're next.