The Penguin Episode 4 Introduces A Deep Cut DC Comics Supervillain

Television Drama Shows

This post contains spoilers for episode four of "The Penguin."

Over its first three episodes, "The Penguin" included several subtle Easter eggs that allude to wider Batman lore. The character of Rex Calabrese, of whom Oz talks so highly in episode one, is a villain from the "Batman" comics, while that same episode gave us a neat spin on Robin's origin story using the show's biggest supporting character. There are even more hidden nods to Bat-history throughout "The Penguin," with names of writers and producers appearing on documents and areas of Gotham named after prominent "Batman" writers of years past.

But on the whole, the show has tried its best to stay away from overt references to the Dark Knight himself. Prior to its debut, showrunner Lauren LeFranc made clear that she was crafting a standalone series that would not rely on Robert Pattinson's hero from "The Batman" in order to sustain itself across eight episodes. So far, that's proven to be true, with "The Penguin" representing a "Sopranos"-style crime thriller that is essentially a character study of the titular rogue.

With episode four, we take a detour from Gotham's gutters to Arkham Asylum by way of an extended flashback that explains how Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) came to be known as "The Hangman" — itself a moniker taken from the "Long Halloween" comic book arc. During this visit to Gotham's gloomy mental health facility, we get yet another subtle Batman Easter egg, though it's not exactly what many fans were hoping for.

The Penguin set fans up for a big villain reveal

After showing us the real human cost of Riddler's plan from "The Batman" in episode three, "The Penguin" used its fourth episode to flesh out Sofia Falcone's backstory. In the episode, the good-hearted daughter of Mark Strong's crime boss Carmine Falcone is sent to Arkham Asylum after asking too many questions about the death of her own mother and several women around Gotham. This leads her ruthless father — likely the real killer of these women — to frame his daughter for their deaths and have her committed, thereby removing her from public life.

It follows the storyline from episode three, in which we saw that Sofia was behind the invention of a new drug intended to replace the widespread "drops" in Gotham. This new drug, nicknamed "Bliss" by Oz, is made from mushrooms covered in red fungi spores. The reveal that Sofia was behind the creation of this new drug, with its quasi-botanical origins, suggested that, just maybe, "The Penguin" was alluding to the character having met Poison Ivy during her time locked away. All of which meant fans were surely hoping to see this particular Batman villain show up in a future episode, especially one set in say, Arkham Asylum.

However, episode four gave us a good look at Sofia's Arkham experience and unfortunately, Ivy is nowhere to be seen. Instead, "The Penguin" continued the trend of more subtle Batman Easter eggs by introducing us to an inmate named Margaret who occupies the cell directly next to Sofia. This character is actually a little-known DC rogue by the name of Magpie, and interestingly enough, this isn't her first time being depicted in live-action.

The DC villain who shows up in The Penguin episode four

While fans were surely hoping to get a glimpse of Pamela Isley during Sofia Falcone's Arkham stay, there weren't any such major Easter eggs in episode four of "The Penguin." Magpie is really the only notable DC character in this version of Arkham, and she doesn't even last the entire episode, with Sofia eventually caving to the mental pressure of being incarcerated and taking it out on poor old Margaret. Interestingly enough, however, there is a connection between this character and Ivy.

In the comic books, the character was introduced in 1986's "The Man of Steel" #3 as a jewel thief who goes insane. She has been featured in various DC comics ever since, at one point being revealed as Poison Ivy's cellmate at Arkham. Magpie has also appeared in Fox's TV series "Gotham," showing up in season 5 episode "13 Stitches", where she was played by Sarah Schenkkan. This wasn't her only live-action appearance, either. A version of Magpie played by Rachel Matthews actually showed up in "Batwoman," where she also ends up in Arkham Asylum.

Now, we've had our third live-action Magpie in "The Penguin." This iteration of the character tells Sofia that her name is "not Margaret, my stepmom used to call me Margaret." Magpie's real name in the comics is Margaret Pye, confirming that this is almost certainly the Reeves-verse version of the villain. Interestingly enough, her demise in episode four vaguely mirrors her death in the comics, where Magpie is killed by the Tally Man, Orca, the Ventriloquist, and the KGBeast — all villains working for none other than The Penguin.

Why is this arcane DC villain present in this episode? There's no way to be sure, but at one point the character says to Sofia, "I bet there'll be lots of paparazzi at your trial, no one even wrote about mine." With that in mind, perhaps showrunner Lauren LeFranc wanted to give what she saw as an underserved DC character some shine, though she also doesn't hesitate to very swiftly kill her off so who knows. 

Once again, then, "The Penguin" not only eschews the more obvious choice of Batman lore to work into its narrative, it quickly dismisses the one Easter egg it does include, suggesting LeFranc never wavered in her determination to secure "The Penguin" as a story more than capable of standing on its own.