The Penguin episode 2 ending explained: Sofia takes Oz up on that dance

MAJOR spoilers ahead for The Penguin episode 2

The Penguin's second episode, "Inside Man," is an hour of Oz thinking on his feet. There isn't a single plan he comes up with at first that goes the way he laid out.

The Maronis decided to lean into claiming responsibility for Alberto Falcone's death and agreed to intercept their rival's drops delivery. It was supposed to be simple. They'd nab the drugs during transport, take out the lead car, jack the contents of the FEMA truck carrying the drops, and leave the follow car alone because that's where Oz was going to be. But then Johnny Viti told him he had to ride in the truck.

To get out of the mess, Oz had to betray the Falcone goons in the truck without tipping off the men in the lead car that he'd planned this tango with the Maronis henchman. He managed to do that as smoothly as one can when bullets are flying everywhere and he got out of there with no one the wiser. In fact, Castillo--Sofia's right hand man who beat Oz and who he'd planned to die in this robbery--owed Oz his life, so things worked out pretty okay.

This event is the source of a headache for Oz the whole episode even though, by the end, he's managed to manipulate the aftermath to his favor. First, however, he had to take out two people to get Sofia Falcone off his scent when it comes to her brother's death, starting with Ervad, the Maronis capo.

Ervad's death in The Penguin gives Oz an opening with Sofia

We first met Ervad during Oz's sit down with the Maronis at the prison. He was running point the night that the drop nab went bad and had been shot in the process. Sofia, via the drops addicted detective who used to work for her father, grabbed Ervad from the hospital and had him stashed in the basement of the Falcone mansion.

The detective believed that if she could get Ervad to talk then she'd be able to find out who's the mole leaking the Falcones' plans to their enemy. It's a good thing that Oz had been brought in by the Maronis after Alberto's funeral because he would have been none the wiser. He ended up having to give up the file on Viti he'd been saving for leverage to give to Luca, Sofia's uncle who is now the new don, but it bought him time to convince the Maronis to keep him alive.

Nadia Maroni, satisfied with the information that Viti has been sleeping with Luca's wife for years, turned Oz loose. She, however, tasked him with getting Ervad back. To be fair, Oz had every intention on doing just that. He figured out Ervad was being kept in the basement, tipped off Viti and Milos about it so they'd bring the situation to Luca, and slipped in to speak to Ervad.

The capo, barely conscious and out of it due to the morphine he'd been given at the hospital, was compliant. He knew he needed Oz's help and was going to tell the Falcones that he'd been working with Viti. But Oz didn't get the chance to frame Viti like he'd hoped. His plan hinged on Victor being able to stash jewels in Viti's car to give him motive for betraying the family. Only, it didn't work because Victor got caught and had to make a run for it from security.

Rolling with that punch, Oz pulled out his knife and stabbed Ervad before he left the basement. When Luca and Sofia got there they found Ervad dead. The murder clearly showed that they do indeed have a mole. Luca ordered that everyone who was a part of the botched drops transport be locked in a room and searched.

Oz, ever the actor, played it like he didn't know what was going on. Then, when Viti walked in the room, he picked a fight with him. He accused Viti of being the mole and the two tussled. The other henchmen broke it up, including Castillo. From the audience's perspective, it was obvious that Oz only caused a scene because he needed to dump his knife in some unsuspecting person's pocket. What may have come as a surprise to some viewers, however, was that he planted it on Castillo not Viti.

Castillo's death leaves Sofia looking for an ally

Castillo tried to get Sofia to believe him, that the knife wasn't his and that he didn't kill her brother, but she didn't. She wanted a henchman to give her his gun, but he wouldn't. Sofia said it repeatedly but it was ultimately Luca who killed Castillo. This act gave Oz the revenge he was looking for but also set Luca up for a betrayal from Sofia.

Since Sofia came home, Oz has been trying to get on her good side. "Inside Man" was no different. She was the one who deduced that the family had a mole but was shunted to the side by her uncle. His ascension to the Falcone throne was another slight as she wasn't considered to run the empire she was born into yet again.

Sofia being passed over to lead isn't unexpected considering the mafia are patriarchal in nature but it does mean that she has an axe to grind. Now that she no longer has Castillo, the call she made to Oz for him to meet her in her family's mausoleum makes sense. Luca was trying to send her off to Italy, even enlisting his daughter to endear herself to Sofia and use their old connection to try to coax her into the idea.

But Carmine's second to last heir (there's still Selina!), isn't one to be put in a corner. She and Alberto were going to lead the family together. Oz told her that he believes she should be the new boss. At her brother's funeral, he was the only one to commiserate with her over the loss and told her a personal story about his mother's grief when his brothers died.

They didn't have a funeral service for his brothers. His mom wouldn't get out of her bed for a month but then one night, she came and got him. She was all dressed up and she took Oz to a jazz club. They danced the whole time. That's Oz's philosphy. Instead of mourning, you dance. That's also what Alberto would have wanted. Sofia acknowledged that he wouldn't have liked his funeral service, he would have went to find a better party.

It's because of this story, and his continued support, that Sofia enters into a partnership with Oz. She plans on taking control of the Falcone empire and she wants him by her side. These two are ready to dance but the question of whether Sofia really trusts Oz or if she's keeping her enemy close remains.

The Penguin episode 3 airs Sunday, Oct. 6 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max.