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Great Series but Mixed Feelings on the Season Finale -- SPOILERS

posted 13 days ago by VinceD (9805)
6 replies | jump to latest

‼️S P O I L E R S‼️

This series has been great, and I knew Vic was a dead man from the first episode; however, I'm not sure Oz's reasoning for killing him at the end of the final episode was compelling. Oz was definitely a cold-blooded killer and capable of killing Vic -- or anyone else, for that matter -- but he still had a use for Vic. His reasoning that Vic saw him as "family" or might eventually become a threat didn’t seem like enough to justify impulsively killing him off so soon. He wasn’t a threat yet, not even close. In fact, he was an incredibly loyal henchman.

I think the angle was that an underboss might eventually turn on their boss to try to take power. Oz had once worked for Sofia, and he turned on her; Link worked for Zhao, and Link turned on him; Sofia turned on Carmine and her family, and so on. Based on that throughline, it makes sense that Oz would eventually kill Vic once he no longer had a use for him, to prevent him from taking power. But by the end of this season, Vic was still a nobody, for all intents and purposes, so the threat just wasn’t there yet. It doesn't seem to make sense that Oz would discard him so impulsively.

Other than that, this has been a great series. The acting was stellar all around, and I hope Milloti and Farrell get nominated for their performances. The one weak performance was by Theo Rossi as Rush; he had that same blank expression the entire time and delivered all his lines in the same way. I’m not sure what he was going for with his character, but it took me out of the story every time he was on screen.

But that was it -- everything else was excellent. The acting, directing, cinematography, editing, music, and production design were all just top-notch. The writing was especially terrific; I really enjoyed the social commentary on the forgotten underclass, how their treatment can often breed crime, and how the interpersonal family dynamics of the Falcones impacted Sofia. It was all-around pretty tragic stuff. I also appreciated how they subtly set up the next Batman film, weaving in a few plot points without resorting to a post-credit scene or a cumbersome insert that might have felt out of place. I can't remember the last time I was this invested in a TV series.

Overall, I give the series a 9.5/10

[–] Jeepster (1145) 13 days ago

Oh forget it! This was a shitshow! It sounds like an odd thing to say but I enjoyed this series immensely but boy am I glad that this is finally over! This sh!t here is some bad juju. Actually felt disturbed witnessing all of this. This is absurd at best & implausible at the very least. So most of the crime lords spurn Victor but later on they come out and say “Well we were wrong, so where are you and Oz?” I’m sure most everyone who sat in front of a TV and watched this probably thought that it was a setup, but it wasn’t. They actually meant what they said and then betrayed a woman they had no reason betraying. Yeah I believe all of this, for sure.

If you watch this as a whole I think the underlying message is to not seek revenge & go all in but to walk away and let things go. If Sofia wasn’t so obsessed in capturing and killing Oz, she could’ve just drove away with her trunk full of money and that would’ve been it. He wasn’t leaving Gotham to go after her. But she had to have her revenge, just when she was “THIS” close to leaving it all behind & moving on with her life but of course she didn’t & eventually she got burned. “Grasp for all, lose all” as Aesop had observed. If she could’ve just have followed her initial instincts and said “F*k it! I’m outta here”. She would’ve had a happier ending.

Try and tell me why after she offered to let everyone have her home/territory/business would they seek to screw HER? Those guys really had a hatred and disdain for Oz, they looked down on him, not so Sofia, so they’re betrayal of her and support for him is ludicrous to say the very least.

The thing with Oz’s mother was deep. She was “that” close to killing him as a kid but chose not to. She was after all still his mother. That guy, I forget his name, I don’t think “wanted” her to choose that course of action but he was ready though nonetheless if that’s what she chose. I’m guessing after all is said and done that she really did love Oz. She couldn’t have gone the rest of her life hating him and wanting him dead. That was just some of the anger coming out after all those years but it’s also her fault too for putting up a front for all that time. But I do believe she still loved him and was proud of him for what he accomplished.

It’s funny because Oz promised her he wouldn’t have left her in a bad state due to her dementia and would end her misery but he didn’t. I guess that was HIS revenge on her for her “confession” After saying she hated him and was going to kill him when he was a child. But we all know Oz is a pathological liar. So everyone in this didn’t get what they truly wanted. That’s the end theme as it were.

Honestly I thought that woman at the end was his girlfriend, you know the leader of the prostitutes. Then it turned out to be his mom, but it was all in his mind correct? The murdering of Victor was needless and felt rushed but we both knew he would die and all it proves is that Oz is truly a monster. Makes me wish that his mother DID have him killed by that guy as a child. If anyone deserves it, it’s him.

Again this is some real bad juju here, makes me feel dirty by evening watching these events unfold. But good show, I’m just glad that it’s at and end. The last scene with the bat signal in the sky was the perfect way to bring Batman “into” this and end it. Nice touch! That’s my take on everything, hope you enjoyed it.

[–] RoloTony (1284) 13 days ago

Let's not forget this is a comic book/superhero show with a comic book sensibility. This is all wildly exaggerated and to generate emotion. Many of these characters - particularly Penguin - do not look or act like real people. Look at how little it took for Oz to KILL HIS OWN BROTHERS!? He did it happily and without regret, too.

I think the showrunners wanted to remind us - rather harshly - that Penguin is an absolute psychopath on a deep deep level. Mission accomplished I say.

[–] asom (6824) 13 days ago

His intention was not to kill them.

[–] cattntaw (147) 12 days ago

bro were you even paying attention during that scene

oz implies that close relationships like family makes you weak, thus he had to kill vic off before he grew too attached to him

[–] TylerAArse (2870) 11 days ago

The writers clearly wanted to show just how delusional and ruthless Penguin was. What better way than setting it up for him to kill Vic. Make him the most likeable guy on the show, then off him. But I agree. The reason didn't justify for me, either. Because he didn't need family? I thought all thugs were big on family, and family only makes you stronger. So killing Vic was a weak exit on the part of the writers.

And another reason it looked bad: If you're in the position of the penguin, would you not need smart and loyal men by your side? Vic was everything he could hope for. He lied, cheated, and killed for this guy. Down the line, to stay in power, he's gonna need loyal men like that. Fucking "duh", writers. They killed the one guy who got him to where he was at. Made no sense at all.

[–] VinceD (9805) 11 days ago

If you're in the position of the penguin, would you not need smart and loyal men by your side?... Down the line, to stay in power, he's gonna need loyal men like that.

This. 100% this.

Penguin absolutely still had use for an extremely loyal right-hand man, who was lacking in confidence and posed no real threat to him. It just didn’t make sense to get rid of him. But yeah, the writers wanted to show Oz’s ruthlessness and cold nature, and this was their way of doing it. I can roll with it for the sake of the show, but this was the one piece of writing that felt a little lazy to me.