A more uneven, slower episode this time around, but one that greatly benefits from two awesome set pieces and a deeper look at a character that I didn't expect to get.
Sofia is a lot more vulnerable than I was expecting. She was sleeping in her closet instead of her actual bedroom, and clawed at her neck in her dreams. That's not signs of someone who is in a solid place mentally. There's definitely some trauma there. To the point where I'm actually wondering if maybe she wasn't rightfully exonerated for the seven murders that she was accused of. We still don't have any details about that: just that they were seven women, and that they were presumably hanged based on Sofia's nickname.
She very clearly knows that she's unwanted too. It's not just being locked out of family decisions a la The Godfather or protesters screaming at her outside her brother's funeral. It's the conversation that she had with her cousin too. It was kinda heartbreaking. She went from soft-spoken and unsure of her words, tentatively happy at the idea of having a girls' trip to completely clear-eyed and more direct once she realized that her cousin was scared of her and didn't want her near her daughter. It was like a switch had been flipped.
This might be something that she has in common with Oz. They both match people's energies. They become who they're expected to be. Although, I suspect that Oz is acting more than Sofia is. Sofia might genuinely change. Oz just puts on a mask.
Which, naturally, implies the question of who/what is the real Oz? He is both protective, yet violent. He kinda sets Victor up with a cam girl, but also makes him lie in a grave and stare at dead bodies. He calls "his girls" over for a party, but then retreats to be by himself. He is a man of contradictions, and that makes him dangerous.
The episode is bookended by two large set pieces, both of which were very tense and well done, although I do have the give the edge to the second one. I really thought that Viti was going to wind up with the knife, but the fact that he didn't was a smart move on Oz's part. It would have been way too coincidental if the person he accused just so happen to have a weapon on him, and now this way, Sofia is more isolated. She lost the one person she relied on.
It was a shrewd move, but one that was only taken because Vic screwed up. He's really lucky he didn't get caught or that no one reported his presence. At least not yet. I'm curious to see if it pops up again down the road.
I also wonder if Vic is destined to become Victor Zsasz at some point. That moment at the very end when he was lying in the grave seemed to give him a new resolve. He knows that he needs to get better if he wants to live. And since he can't rely on his social skills thanks to his disability, he might turn towards his physical ones instead. The story about Oz teaching himself how to drive and Vic calling himself Oz's driver with a small, proud smile felt a bit too coincidental.
Which, side note, is an interesting parallel to Oz. He can't rely on his physical skills thanks to his disability, so he leans on his social skills and his mind. He's going to need that next episode. I can't see the Maronis reacting to the death of their man very well. Especially not when Oz was directly told to get him out alive.
Random Thoughts
Always nice to see Shohreh Aghdashloo on screen.
Who was texting Vic? A sister? Girlfriend? Someone is worried about him.
Sofia's doctor is Julian Rush. This isn't a name from the comics, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be a new take on one. There was definitely a charged energy between the two of them, right?
Is Oz's bedroom a bank vault or something? I wasn't really sure what I was looking at, but it was cool.
Oz told Sofia that his mother was dead. I'm sure that will be important later.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
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