This article contains spoilers for The Penguin episode 8.When The Penguin began, embattled mid-level mobster Oz Cobb (Colin Farrell) was left reeling in the wake of his boss Carmine Falcones assassination in The Batman and the resulting chaos left by the Riddler. In pitting the Falcone and Maroni crime families against each other, Oz made his own calculating bid for power to become Gotham Citys newest kingpin of organized crime, relying heavily on wayward youth Victor Aguilar.Though Victor quickly proved himself valuable to Oz, saving his life on multiple occasions and helping him outmaneuver the vengeful Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti), Oz murders Victor in The Penguin season finale, feeling his trusted associate had grown too close.In an exclusive interview with Den of Geek, The Penguin actor Rhenzy Feliz unpacks Victors death scene, reflects on the characters arc over the course of the season, and explains Victors role in the wider story along with Ozs violent rise to power.Den of Geek: A moment of silence for Vic. How was it playing such a brutal death scene in the season finale?Rhenzy Feliz: It was an interesting one. Me and Colin both circled the dates in our calendar knowing that the scene was coming up. I remember even a week leading up to it, he came up and went You ready for our scene? and I was like Yeah. Three days before that, he was like Three days before our scene! and then, [the day before] Big day tomorrow!We knew this day was coming and it was a big deal plot-wise, character-wise, and so many different things. The thing that I was most interested in nailing was the moment right before that happened. Its a very soft scene. The way I read it, its vulnerable and emotional. These two are opening up to each other in a way that they maybe havent before. In a way, Victor is being as open and honest as he can be with a guy like Oz.Then, for Oz to do that directly afterwards, its meant to be a gut-punch. That was its own challenge as well, filming the strangling and dying of it all. That was an interesting thing to do, but thats more physical. The first half is more emotional, mental, and wanting to tackle this challenge. Theyre two different challenges ones physical and ones emotional. It was a big day and we knew as much. You could feel it on set, that it was a bit different that day, with the way people interacted with each other. It was a little bit darker, more sad and sullen kind of day.Even before that, in the hospital, its Vic coaching Oz after they bring in Francis. Vic pulls up Oz from his lowest moment only to get rewarded for it shortly thereafter. How was it playing Vics journey from somebody trying to steal Ozs hubcaps to an assertive figure in his life?That was one of the things that interested me the most about the part, that we get to tell this arc of his character who is, at the beginning, very different from who he is at the end. That was always the mental charting that I was doing in my mind, making sure there was this change and this arc. By the end, you dont feel that its forced, but a natural progression of what hes turning into.That was an incredibly exciting thing to get to do over eight episodes. You get time that you dont necessarily get on a movie because you dont get as much time to draw out the arc. You get eight hours on this thing and that was very exciting. By the end, he is more assertive. You can see that in the way hes talking to the gangs. The guy is looking at five different gangs in the face and calling them cowards, telling them Nut up! Is this it? Yall are a bunch of cowards.Thinking about how Squid walks up on the rooftop, a week before the show technically begins in episode 3, and he walks away from this lower level guy. By the end of the show, hes telling off the heads of these five different gangs. Hes a very different person and it was always exciting to chart that out, get to create that, and do it in a way that didnt feel too rushed.Do you think Vic killing Squid in the seventh episode also killed the innocent, old Vic?I think there is still a death process happening between 7 and 8, its not a switch thats flipped. I think it is the beginning of a descent, where hes going into a darker and less innocent place. By the time he pulls that gun on Sofia, I think if need be, hed pull the trigger and not feel as bad as he did about Squid. I think its on a gradual spectrum versus an on-and-off switch. Hes on his way to something much darker and it wouldve been interesting to play out.I wonder if hed lose all of his goodness and innocence, I dont know. I think itd be interesting to play out and get to see, but we never get the chance because Oz does what he does.In speaking with [showrunner] Lauren LeFranc and the directors, were there things you were conscious of as you were figuring out where Vic was mentally from the beginning across each episode?For sure! There were some things I was doing with posture and my stutter. The scenes and words hes going to say are there, so its easy to chart out and keep track of that myself. But definitely my stutter and the way that Id stand, sit, and things like that change over the course of the show, for sure. At the beginning, his shoulders are rolled a little bit and he looks up a lot more. As the show goes on, hes talking to you more head-on.I think that subtly, without the audience even knowing whats happening, shows confidence, insecurity, youth, and that this feels more submissive or assertive. It was slowly and gradually changing over the course of the first three [episodes] and little more after the time jump in 6 and even more in 7 and 8. There were definitely things we were charting along the way in creating this arc, even if its just subconsciously. Maybe the audience wont know that its happening, but theyll feel that theres a difference.So many of your scenes are with Colin Farrell. How was it working with him on this series, especially on the more intense scenes?It was awesome! The guy is so giving as an actor. There were definitely moments where it felt like he was overdoing it, where he didnt have to be this generous. Hes been on set far longer than I have because he has to put on prosthetics at the beginning of the day. Hes there three hours before I am and hes got to be there about 45 minutes afterwards to take off all the prosthetics as well.There were times where we were doing scenes and Id just need to look in that general direction and not really have any words to say to him, just reactions to what he was saying. Id tell him You can totally go home, were just finishing this coverage. He never would. Hed always stay back and give whatever I needed for looks as an actor.Thats just an example. The guys an incredibly giving human being, a generous person, so incredibly talented, and works so hard. I couldnt have asked for a better person to stand next to and take this journey with.We had talked about Vic not having a lot of time to process losing his family and the trauma from that. How was it playing this guy who thinks he found his father figure and place only to swim into the mouth of a shark?Its heartbreaking, its brutal. If youre looking at it from an audiences perspective, this poor kid is trying to do his best and hes found someone who he thinks is looking out for him, who he thinks cares for him, and who he thinks cares for a lot of people. Victor falls into the trap of [thinking] Oz really cares about the people of Crown Point, about the small guy.If Im looking at it as Rhenzy, I think Oz cares about people who adore him. The way you get that is making people think that you care about them. Its more about the adoration that Oz gets rather than the care that he gives to others. I think that Victor confused the two. When hes giving him that speech in the hospital, the reason that he cares about Oz so much is because Oz cares about the little guy, for me. Im the little guy and look at what hes doing for me. He couldve killed me but he didnt because he cares.I think he confuses that adoration, attention, and wanting to look up to Oz. It is heartbreaking. I think he misread the situation and who Oz was at his core and it ends up costing him his life.Looking back, what scenes standout for you? What makes the sizzle reel?Its hard to watch my own stuff, to be honest. I try not to bring that up as much as possible, I think its eye-rolling behavior. There are very small moments in 6 that I like. There are, like, three seconds from a scene that Ill think are decent, but its all tough. I like watching everyone elses work more. I like watching that scene between Colin and [Deirdre OConnell] when she tells him if my mind goes before my body does, youve got to help me die. That whole scene is heartbreaking.The scene between Sofia and Eve, when theyre having their moment at the end is a heartbreaking moment and its so intense. I was having the time of my life watching Francis talk to Sofia, going Go fuck yourself. I cant wait until my son puts a bullet in that little skull of yours. All of those scenes are fun to watch. Some of them are heartbreaking, some of the other ones are intense. I just find them to be awesome.The whole fourth episode with Cristin, and that scene where she realizes shes going to go to Arkham, what a scene. I can stand back and appreciate those. I think its hard for me to stand back and appreciate my own. Its the other ones that Im in awe of.Rhenzy, lets lay Vic to rest. How was it getting to add your own stamp in the Batman mythos with this tragic, impressionable character who grounds the narrative and this world of organized crime and losing ones soul?It was an honor. I was also afraid that maybe people wouldnt understand it, that maybe people are so used to seeing Ozes and Sofias, the badasses doing badass stuff. I was afraid people wouldnt embrace Victor in that way because hes too sensitive, he feels too much, or hes too weak. I, the creators, the producers, the writers, and the directors always saw it as what would probably really happen if somebody didnt just want to go around murdering people in cold blood. A 17-year-old kid probably wouldnt just take to it like that.Itll probably take some time, itll hurt, and it wont be fun. Taking a real grounded approach to it and bringing it into reality, I thought it was awesome. I was afraid that people wouldnt understand it and, what I realized, is that people have really embraced Victor as a character, embraced his innocence and how good he is. They seem protective of him, they dont want him to go. They dont want him to meet a tragic demise.Its been eye-opening. Its taught me about the world and that maybe I didnt give the world enough credit and was cynical about how theyd perceive him. Ive learned that on this show, to give the audience a bit more credit with empathy, that they would be more empathetic when I was afraid that they wouldnt be. Thats been nice.I think thats who Victor is at his core. He is the kid who, after Batman fights whoever, the buildings get blown up, and whatever happens, hes the personification of the people who are affected by this thing on the ground level. We get to see that, see the everyday person and what happens to them. Their families are lost, they dont have any clothes, their girlfriend and people they know are scared of the city and leaving Gotham. Thats the human aspect of whats going on in the city and Victor embodies that.We get to see an extraordinary tale because its not the everyday person who gets to meet Oz. We get to see what happens. We get to take the ordinary person and put them in an extraordinary situation and circumstances, and that makes for good television. I think thats who he is and Im glad people were able to embrace him.All eight episodes of The Penguin are available to stream on Max.