A journalist named Summer Gleeson brings one theory directly to Sofia — that her father, Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong), is secretly operating as The Hangman. Carmine confronts Sofia about this investigation directly,

To this point, it felt like The Penguin was just about a sleazy underboss attempting to make his way to the top, but perhaps with a heart of gold. That's changed.

When executive producer Matt Reeves first talked to showrunner Lauren LeFranc about creating "The Penguin," he encouraged her to take the same approach he did with "The Batman": Do a deep dive into the Batman comics to find inspiration,

But the majority of the episode actually takes place ten years prior to The Penguin's present-day events, instead focusing on a younger Sofia as she's framed for murder by her father, crime lord Carmine Falcone (played by John Turturro in The Batman and now played by Mark Strong in flashbacks).

It feels counterintuitive, but it’s quite a joy knowing that you don't have to hunt through The Batman spin-off looking for Easter eggs. Here's a great example: The Penguin episode 4 took viewers to Arkham Asylum and didn’t show us the Joker.