We now know that Bliss comes from Arkham Asylum. The choice to pull the new hot drug on the street from the hospital meant to help people with mental health conditions is far from new. Yet “Cent’anni” looks to expand on the simple “where” questions around Bliss. Instead, it opens the door for why Sofia is sure of its effectiveness as a drug.

“Cent’anni” – The RecapWe overhear the conversation between Sofia and Oz at the end of “Bliss.” As he tells her to trust him, The Maronis arrive and threaten to kill them both. However, first Nadia reveals that Oz killed Alberto. Sofia processes what she’s heard as Oz tells Nadia he was setting up the operation to bring to the Maronis. Suddenly, Victor drives into the scene, causing a shootout and chaos. Sofia watches Oz tell Victor to leave her, and they speed away. Sofia calls Dr. Julian, and tells him she needs help.

A decade earlier, Sofia attends a public charity event in her mother’s name. After her speech, she steps away with Oz, who serves as her driver. As Oz gets the car, Summer Gleason approaches Sofia. Summer tells Sofia about a woman named Yolanda, who commits suicide by hanging. However, a worrying trend of women working at the Iceberg Lounge have done the same. Sofia tells Summer she does not speak with the press and leaves with Oz.

Sofia stares up at a portrait of her family. We see a flashback to when Sofia found her mother’s corpse after her suicide. Sofia sits down to eat with her father, Carmine (Mark Strong), and Alberto (Michael). While they’re trying to talk business, Alberto leaves to answer a phone call. After he goes, Carmine tells Sofia he wants her to take charge of the family.

She’s thankful, but Sofia pauses. Carmine realizes there’s something else going on, and he asks her to tell him what’s on her mind. Sofia reveals she’s been thinking about her mother’s death and asks whether her mother ever got help. Carmine dodges the question and asks her not to bring it up.

The next day, Alberto rides with Sofia and Oz. She asks him about their father, and if he dates women at the club. Alberto jokes about it and tells her to stop asking questions. Oz asks her where to drive, and Sofia looks at the card from Summer.

Sofia meets with summer that night in secret. After revealing the evidence she has, Summer asks Sofia to wear a wire. When Summer refuses, Summer asks for employee records. Sofia remembers the immediate aftermath of her mother’s death again, and her father whisking her away. Oz expresses his worries to Sofia, but she tells him off.

The next night, she jokes with Carla about Luca and his new wife. Oz comes up to Sofia and tells her that Carmine wants to see her. She walks back to speak with him, and he’s angry she met with a reporter. When he asks why she met with anyone from the press, she mentions his hands were cut up the day her mother died. Disappointed, Carmine tells her to go home.

Oz apologizes as he drives Sofia home. He tells her he was only looking out for her, but she’s furious with him. Before they leave the compound, the police arrive. They arrest Sofia for Summer’s murder and the murders of the other women. Oz tries to stop it, but the police hold him back.

The newspapers call Sofia “The Hangwoman.” Members of the family contributed sworn affidavits swearing to her mental health struggles. She asks Alberto to help. However, she’s pulled away after only a short discussion. She calls out for help, but it’s too late.

Sofia undergoes a physical examination and cleaning at Arkham. She meets her doctors, Dr. Ventris and Dr. Julian Rush. During the next six months before the trial, she will be held in isolation. She walks through Arkham, seeing other patients in isolation until she reaches her cell.

Once she arrives in the cell, the lights are shut down. The screams of other inmates reverberate off the walls, and a screw falls to the floor. Sofia’s neighboring cell contains an inmate named Magpie, who quickly strikes up a conversation about Sofia’s fame.

Sofia tries to block out the sounds, but the next day, she still hears the other inmates calling out her nickname. Sofia sits next to Magpie, who receives the drugs from the attendant. One of the other unchained inmates walks over to Sofia and proceeds to beat her until she passes out.

Sofia wakes up with bruises on her arms. She shudders as Dr. Rush arrives and asks her about the incident. She expresses her worries about the unchained inmate and does not think he believes any of her ideas. She believes it’s a waste of time because he’s already decided.

Sofia is brought into the mess hall and put opposite the woman who beat her. Dr. Ventris watches as the two women circle each other. Sofia refuses to hurt her, but the woman grabs a fork, stabbing herself repeatedly in the throat. Afterwards, the staff drag Sofia down o electroshock therapy.

Over the coming days, she goes back to additional electroshock sessions and begins peeling paint off the walls of her cell. Beneath the paint is a yellow Art Deco wallpaper. She reimagines her mother’s death, but this time, she’s the woman hanging in their house.

Alberto visits Sofia but brings bad news. Ventris has ruled her incompetent, and she cannot stand trial. Sofia cannot believe her brother will not fight for her, and she leaves the room. She returns to the mess hall, and Magpie tells Sofia they can finally be friends. Sofia proceeds to bash Magpie’s head into the table, killing her and breaking her neck. The doctors drug her, and she passes out.

Sofia wakes up on Dr. Rush’s couch in his current office. She’s no longer in Arkham, and we are now in the present. Rush tells her she can shower and he will bring her breakfast.

When Rush returns, he asks her how she’s feeling. Sofia is furious with herself for trusting Oz, and her family will kill her if she does not leave. Rush tells her to go, but she retorts that he’s the one who quit and left her Arkham. He tells her he cannot handle it any longer, but she thinks he misses the power he held in Arkham. She’s angry that men have taken her power for ten years. Sofia agrees, she deserves a fresh start.

At the Falcone compound, the family laughs and drinks at dinner. Sofia makes a grand entrance, but when Viti tries to get her to leave, she refuses. Luca tries to give a speech, but Sofia interrupts it, starting her own talk about her time in Arkham. Carla tries leaving with her daughter Gia, but Sofia tells Carla to stay. Carla sends her daughter to bed alone.

Sofia tells her family how much she loved them, but they were the reason she was in prison. Luca tries to downplay the fact that she’s “innocent,” but Sofia finishes the speech. She’s starting over the next day, and she bids them adieu (“To new beginnings, Cent’anni”). After everyone goes to bed, Sofia sneaks through the house with Gia. They go out to the greenhouse to eat cake, and Sofia tells Gia they will be there.

The next morning, Sofia walks back into the house with a backpack. Inside, she pulls a gas mask out and walks through the house. She turns off the carbon monoxide hose that she set up. She then wanders through the house, finding nearly everyone is dead. She finishes her tour in Johnny Viti’s room – the only survivor because he sleeps with an open window. Sofia wakes him, telling him it’s time to talk.

“Cent’anni” – The TakeawaysEasily the best episode of The Penguin so far, “Cent’anni” digs into the Sofia Falcone storyline. In previous iterations of the character, like Batman: Dark Victory, Sofia was a murdering psychopath. With that in play, hardcore comic book fans likely had that reputation coloring their interpretation of The Penguin. At the same time, the series gave us little reason to doubt the rumors.

Yet “Cent’anni” slowly reveals the truths about the Falcone crime family. The sycophant approach has always worked in this family, and the result has been years of power unchecked. With Carmine gone and Sofia out, the family still feels like they’re above reproach for serving him by eliminating a potential heir to the kingdom. However, instead, they created their own downfall, pushing her to the brink so that she would eventually kill them in the slowest and most vulnerable way possible.

It’s a darkly funny joke that Sofia only became a killer after they made her into one. She does not take her first life until Arkham. One could argue “Cent’anni” feels like a DC version of Making a Murderer. However, not only is the story less sensationalized, but the way these men stripped her of humanity, they deserve everything that happens to them. Sofia became something darker, and even when she tried to forgive them, they would not let her escape a fictional narrative they had created for her. What other choice did she have than to embrace that horrific story?

With “Cent’anni,” Milioti almost assuredly locked up her Emmy win. Four episodes into The Penguin, and there’s no doubt about her power in this role. She’s playing in every key she’s ever shown, but this time in a show that matches her greatness. Outside of Fargo, Milioti has rarely received material equivalent to her talent. Now, she’s hitting every key and soaring as a result. Simply put, she’s a superstar in this series, and she’s showing she’s among the most versatile performers working today. “Cent’anni” just packages it up with a nice bow.

Alan’s Rating: 9/10Watch The Penguin on HBO or Max today. “Cent’anni” aired on October 17, 2024. Read our recaps of The Penguin here.Check out our Reviews, Recaps, and Features on TV here! The post TV: ‘Cent’anni’ – The Penguin – Episode 4 Recap appeared first on Sunshine State Cineplex.