Warning: spoilers ahead The penguinEpisode 7 – ‘Top Hat’ is in play. If you are not up to date with the latest news The Batman epic crime sagayou have been warned.
There’s no shortage of drama on the TV program 2024especially when it comes to one of the most notable hits in that particular landscape: HBO’s The penguin. The organized crime drama is a week away from its season finale, and Colin Farrell’s prosthetic problems are still something that makes me wonder if season 2 will even happen.
I sincerely hope so, though, because this corner of Gotham City, overseen by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, just showed an unforgettable showdown between Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Gigante (née Falcone) and Deirdre O’Connell’s Francis Cobb. What made this particular scene from Episode 7 – “Top Hat” even more remarkable was the fact that it was subject to a whirlwind of chaos that befell the production. And the factor that saved the day, believe it or not, was a $300 ticket transaction.
(Image credit: HBO)
How Deirdre O’Connell Saved The Penguin Episode 7 With $300
It was a huge honor to sit down with several of the film’s cast members The penguin during the festivities at New York Comic-Con 2024. With roundtable discussions bringing various cast members and the showrunner around the room, there was a lot of lore to soak up for what will be an eight-episode series. And it was thanks to our previous round of Penguin job interviews that I had come across a story that Deirdre O’Connell told to CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell!
During their conversation, Ms. O’Connell began telling a story about how the big scene of “Top Hat” between Sofia and Frances was actually moved to a slot that way earlier than expected. With that core in mind, I asked both women how that rush might have improved their performances. And as she began her part of the story, O’Connell told CinemaBlend:
We were filming, I think episode three or two at the time. And suddenly, because of the location, the weather and the strikes that started, all these things piled up. They called and said, ‘We’re going to episode seven, we’re going to shoot this scene.’ But most of us were like, “What?” I was in upstate New York. They said, “We’ll get you a car to drive you down.” And they couldn’t.
That is certainly not exactly the most advantageous scenario. I mean, like I If I had an in-person interview tomorrow that I thought would take weeks, I would also be looking for options to make it happen. And that’s what led Deirdre O’Connell to be as resourceful as ever, thanks to this next part of the story about the $300 in question:
So finally I found a taxi. I was just at the train station, I had missed the train… A woman named Eve was driving a taxi and I said, “How much is it going to cost to drive me to New York?” And she was like, “$200,” and I said, “Tell me $300.” And then I called HBO and I was like, ‘I bet I can get a ride for $300.’ I got this lady $300 to take me home, and the whole time I was just studying the lyrics and still thinking, ‘No, I love this scene so much! We don’t have time to prepare.’
After learning these further details about Mrs. O’Connell’s commitment to… The Penguin If you shoot in time, I passed that story along to her “Top Hat” dueling partner, Cristin Milioti. She was as surprised as our roundtable to learn that Deirdre O’Connell had to cross the finish line to arrive for their date with destiny.
That was the reason for the Black mirror alum to share her own memory of how harrowing the production schedule shift was. Here’s Cristin Milioti’s side of the story, which she shared with CinemaBlend:
First of all: what a legend. … that was a very intense time. We didn’t have time to prepare for that scene, one of my favorite scenes. And I remember thinking, ‘Oh no.’ They really did it to us. We were going to shoot something else that day, and they were like, ‘Listen, we should do this instead.’ That’s a nightmare, to get a call the night before around 10 p.m., while you think there will be something in two weeks. But because I know how special she is, I thought, ‘I’ll just go with her’
That two-week jump might have been the secret ingredient that made this fantastic scene even better. And I’m just saying this because The penguin‘s writers room, especially noted “Top Hat” writer Vladimir Cvetko, has been great with what they’ve given the fans so far. With O’Connell and Milioti’s backs against the proverbial wall, that surprise deadline feels like they have so much more to add to the pages in their scripts.
So with that in mind, I really have to talk about the scene itself, and how both Cristin Milioti and Deirdre O’Connell’s performances benefited from their accelerated path to filming it. Especially when their own memories have made me even more of a fan of the end result.
(Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)
Why The Penguin’s scheduling shakeup helped cement Deidre O’Connell and Cristin Milioti’s performances
If you agree The penguin’s matriarchal plot is the main attractionthen this scene in question is definitely worth dissecting. It lasts about five minutes and contains a conversation between the two theater makers mentioned above. To be honest, it’s one of the best moments in the show’s entire season so far; and there is nothing more inflamed involved than rising tempers.
As Francis Cobb and Sofia Gigante go head-to-head, “Top Hat” shows us a battle of wills between a rising leader and a woman slipping into her illness. Taunts and threats are exchanged, but eventually Francis finds herself thinking back to the loss of her boys; which can be seen in more detail in the scenes that bookend episode 7.
It’s honestly a scene worth paying attention to and as the ladies told the story of not being able to prepare, there was an air of tension. This leads to the following series of comments from Deirdre O’Connell, in which she compliments Cristin Miloti as follows:
But when we got there, it turned out that we were both like, ‘This is our scene. We’ve been looking forward to it so much, and now we have to film it so quickly.’ But (Cristin) came in with her little tea, whatever she brought me, and I just looked up at her and Francis just loved her on some level. Like, ‘Oh, who, this little girl thinks she is?’ It was so much fun right away, and maybe partly because we were being shot out of a cannon. We both expected that we would have to do hours of preparation. It’s like, ‘No, we’re just going to do this.’ But it’s one of my favorite days, and definitely one of my favorite scenes.
‘Mad glee’ were two words that were also thrown around in conversations, like the Saint Vincent The star loved the madness she saw in Ms. Milioti’s portrayal of Sofia in this scene. As most audiences are still used to remembering The penguin’s breakthrough artist – known for performing ‘The Mother’ from How I met your mother and other key roles — the road to this point must have surprised viewers at home as well.
Looking back on that fact, as well as the matriarchal lens on it The penguin has adopted is in itself a kind of punchline. Even though we see Sofia most motherly in her reassurance about niece Gia (Kenzie Gray) in this week’s episode.
All of this brings with it a recent featurette about showrunner Lauren LeFranc’s approach to women The Batman Epic Crime Sagas television spin-off in mind. For more on that, enjoy the snippet below:
Oz Cobb’s Relationship with Women | The penguin | Max YouTube
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The “complicated women” in Oswald Cobb’s world only make his story stronger, as “Top Hat” really digs into the nooks and crannies of this world in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without this added depth. Francis Cobb and Sofia Gigante are two of the women who shape his ambitions and are also the obstacles that stand in his way.
And as an added point of context, it’s a phenomenal way to deliver such character battles that don’t involve Oz in any direct context. The Batman co-writer/director Matt Reeves‘ look at how Oz feels like he’s not enough for anyone. With such a great moment happening outside of his storyline, it’s a subtle confirmation that his current form fits that description perfectly.
This is especially clear in Sofia’s evolution from cast assistant Falcone to a dominant Gigante. She returned to that cheerfulness in Cristin Milioti’s menacing moment and tipped her hat straight to her. Penguin opponent, who describes how things felt through her eyes as follows:
I couldn’t ask for a better partner in this scene. It was exciting. It was like stepping into a boxing ring and getting KO’d, but you love it. She also hadn’t seen me in a minute so she didn’t know how excited I would get if I put everything on. So she saw genuine joy. She said, “You really like this.” And I thought, ‘Yes, I will. I’m having the time of my life,” like waving a gun around.
Cristin Milioti – CinemaBlend
Sofia Gigante vs. Francis Cobb does the prizefight of The penguin’s seven episodes in, and I’m starting to wonder if the season finale will even come close to the top. To be honest, I’m also one of those people who didn’t expect it The penguin’s Episode 6 cliffhanger lead to Francis’s death.
So maybe as I was watching I was able to dive a little deeper into this scene because I had some expectation of where things were going to go. That kind of attitude didn’t stop me from being surprised Michael Kelly is shocking Penguin departurebut there are certainly some guardrails in place in Gotham City’s organized crime world right now.
While Sofia may be in control, and Oz’s mother is certainly a powerhouse that would settle the score after the loss of her second father Sal Maroni (Clancy Brown), Oz’s mother is not the panacea you might expect .
(Image credit: Macall Polay/HBO)
Francis practically begged her son to kill her if she’s too far gone in her degenerating mental state, so dying to ensure Oswald Cobb sees the top of the world is something she’s ready for. Since this is the penultimate episode, this is the case a lot of to still be processing the metaphorical eve of judgment; which is worth infinitely more than the $300 Deirdre O’Connell willingly spent to make this all possible.
That makes anticipating the Nov. 10 season finale “Great or Little Thing” all the more exciting for a fan. It also makes it more important than ever to have an active college education Maximum subscriptionWhen Episode 8 hits the airwaves at 9 PM ET, all eyes will be on Gotham City for this momentous occasion.