What happens in episode three, ‘Bliss’?
WARNING: Major spoilers for episode three ahead.
In a flashback to the night of the Riddler’s attack, we see Victor spending time with his family in Crown Point, before heading to watch fireworks with his girlfriend, Graciela, and pals on the roof.
When the Riddler’s bomb goes off, breaking the city’s seawall in the process, he’s left helpless as he watches the water hit his family’s apartment, killing everyone inside.
In the present day, Victor is spending more time with Oz, who starts paying him $1000 a week to continue working for him.
At Oz’s apartment, they get a visit from Sofia who starts scoping Victor out, causing him to stammer and panic as she asks him about his life. Sofia then leaves, asking for Oz to come with her by himself. Left alone in the apartment, he calls Graciela.
Sofia takes Oz to her new drug plant, and she shows him they’re developing a new potent drug that hasn’t hit the streets yet, asking him for his help in finding a distributor.
Graciela comes to Oz’s apartment and reunites with Victor, immediately noticing a more confident side of him. However, she tells him she’s leaving to move to California to start a new life after also losing her family. She asks him to leave with her, and while he’s initially hesitant, he then agrees, promising to meet her at Gotham City station.
On her return home to the Falcone manion, she’s confronted by Johnny who tells her to lay low and go to Italy, giving her a plane ticket. He appears to threaten her if she fails to get on the plane.
The next morning, Sofia joins Oz to meet a connection in Chinatown to sell the new drug, which he calls Bliss. They meet with the Triads, who only agree if they get the all-clear from Johnny Vitti.
Oz later takes Victor to dinner, and stands up for him when he starts stuttering. Victor shares memories of his mum and dad, and his dad’s dream to be a chef. Oz tells him he would be proud of him.
He then sets up Johnny so he’s caught in a compromising position, sleeping with his boss Luca’s wife. Oz blackmails him to give the Triads the all-clear, and they’re ready for the evening – but not before Johnny mocks Oz, calling him “The Penguin”, and claiming he screwed over Sofia once before. He reacts with violence.
That night, the team sells Bliss at the nightclub, and it’s a hit. Meeting with the Triad boss, Sofia works her charm and he eventually agrees.
As the night goes on, Victor gets texts from Graciela as she prepares to leave. However, the nightclub lights cause him to have trauma flashbacks to the night of the flood, and he has a panic attack on the dancefloor.
Oz later finds him in the bathroom and finds out about Graciela. He admits he is worried about choosing this life, and the pair argue. Oz tells him that if he believes he’s nothing, then he is nothing, before telling Victor to leave. In retaliation, he steals Oz’s car and heads to the bus station. He sees Graciela get on the bus, and he lets the bus go without him.
Meanwhile Oz speaks to Sofai and apologises for handing her over, saying he didn’t realise she would end up in Arkham. He doesn’t regret it because it gave him a better life, though regrets what that did to her because she does mean something to him. Sofia appears to be impressed with the honesty, though admits she doesn’t know how to trust him.
Just when they’re in a good place, the pair are cornered by gang members working for the Maronis, who aren’t taking too kindly to him being double-crossed. Just when they look ready to shoot, Victor returns, running over the gunman. Oz jumps in the car and they flee, leaving Sofia behind.
The History of Victor Aguilar
Unlike most of the characters in The Penguin, Victor Aguilar is not based on a character in the DC Comic books, instead being a brand new creation for the show.
Currently, little is known about him, apart from that he has no family following the break in the sea-wall, which flooded Crown Point and killed his family in their homes.
He also has a prominent stutter, particularly when it comes to words beginning with F and M, and it gets worse when he’s feeling anxious.
In the comics, Oz’s choice of henchman often come with bird-like sounding names – including Chick, Lark, Jay and Raven – though none of which were considered his right-hand man in the way he’s taken Victor under his wing.
But Victor’s introduction into The Penguin’s life does have some comic book roots. It is seemingly inspired by the introduction of Jason Todd, who ran into Batman after attempting to steal the wheels from his car. Rather than get him arrested, Batman befriends the kid, later turning him into the second-iteration of Robin.
Who are The Triads?
The Triads are a criminal syndicate that function in a completely different way to the Falcones and Maronis, which are organised under crime families.
Instead, they are a more varied coalition of smaller gangs, with each one having a specific leader.
Their members are typically of East Asian descent, and in the case of The Penguin, function out of Chinatown. Their crimes of choice are largely fraud, racketeering, drug dealing and smuggling.
There have been multiple variations of Triads within the DC Universe, with the Neon Dragon faction and Lucky Hand factions both functioning out of Gotham City in the comic books.
It’s currently not been made clear which faction the one seen in Bliss was, or how this affects their long-term connection to the greater Batman world being created.
However, we know that they have an uneasy history with the Falcones, after Carmine Falcone drove them out of the main areas of the city as he took over, leaving them to function mainly in Chinatown.