Colin Farrell Opens Up About the Dark and Emotional Finale of ‘The Penguin’: “It Was Really, Really Ugly”

Colin Farrell recently reflected on the shocking and emotionally intense finale of The Penguin, revealing the unsettling impact the final scenes had on him.

In an interview, Farrell addressed the extreme darkness of the show’s conclusion, particularly in its home stretch where fratricide, murder, and betrayal come to the forefront.

He pointed to the brutal scene where his character, Oz Cobblepot, kills his loyal right-hand man, Victor Aguilar, as one of the most difficult and gut-wrenching moments in the series.

Farrell admitted that the day of filming was emotionally heavy, not just for him but for the entire cast and crew. Despite knowing it was all fictional, the weight of the violence and the moral ugliness made the experience far from easy.

Farrell recalls the filming of the murder as being an emotionally intense process, especially as he and his co-stars had spent a year developing the deep, complex relationship between Oz and Victor.

The scene, in which Victor thanks Oz for taking him in and calls him family, turns tragic when Oz strangles him to death in a cold and heartless moment of betrayal.

Farrell describes the mood on set that night as “pretty dark” as the crew moved through the scene quickly but with a palpable sense of discomfort.

“It was really, really ugly,” Farrell said, reflecting on how the brutal nature of the act made the shoot particularly intense for everyone involved.

The murder scene, with Victor’s final words being a desperate plea for mercy, is one of the most shocking in modern TV history, drawing comparisons to some of the most brutal deaths in television, such as Christopher Moltisanti’s death in The Sopranos and Hank Schrader’s demise in Breaking Bad.

Farrell acknowledges the selfishness driving Oz’s actions at this moment, explaining that despite his earlier desire to help others and be a force for good, his self-preservation instincts take over.

“Family: It’s your strength. It drives you. F–k if it doesn’t make you weak too,” Oz says, justifying his decision to kill Victor as a way to eliminate any weakness that might threaten his power.

However, Farrell also notes that there’s a deep pain behind Oz’s actions, particularly in his struggle to balance the need for power with the vulnerability that love brings.

Farrell reflects on how love makes you both stronger and more vulnerable, noting that as a parent, you might find yourself capable of extreme acts to protect those you love.

He believes Oz’s choice to murder Victor—someone who represents his former life and human connection—ultimately shows Oz’s inability to reconcile his ambition with his desire to care for others.

“When push comes to shove, if there’s a choice between serving himself and serving others, he would always go for self first,” Farrell says.

By the end of the series, Oz has left alone, having climbed to the top of Gotham’s criminal underworld, but Farrell suggests that this victory may be short-lived, hinting that Oz’s moral descent will continue in future instalments.

Fans will have to wait until The Batman Part II in 2026 to see just how far Oz can fall as the series explores the deeper, darker path his character is set to take.