A deep-cut DC comics villain makes a brief appearance in The Penguin episode 4’s Arkham scenes

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Penguin episode 4.

The Penguin episode 4 takes us to Arkham with a full flashback episode dedicated to Sofia Falcone, and includes some familiar comic book characters along the way. One of the fellow inmates who Sofia meets behind bars is the chirpy Magpie, who ends up being her next door cell neighbor.

We first meet Magpie when Sofia arrives in Arkham, as she tells her through the wall that watched her on TV. "My name is Magpie like the bird," she says, giggling through the shared vent. She appears a little later on too, taking the Arkham drops, which we now know is how Sofia got the idea for her business venture, but it’s her final scene that is the most chilling. 

When Sofia is kept inside Arkham, she returns to the canteen where Magpie is twittering away. "I can show you the garden," she tells her. "There aren’t any plants though, it’s more of a yard. I always look for birds." However, when Magpie tells Sofia that she’ll finally be able to have the drugs, the Falcone daughter snaps. Convinced that she’s been spying on her, she smashes her head in, leaving her to bleed out. 

Who is Magpie?

While she doesn’t last long, Magpie actually has some comic book connections. Margaret Pie, otherwise known as Magpie, first made an appearance in 1986’s The Man of Steel #3. She is a jewel thief who’s bounty of choice is jewels named after birds. However, as a Batman supervillain, there’s naturally a twist as she replaces them with booby-trapped replicas.

Her origin story saw her working as a museum curator, where she was driven out of her mind by all the beautiful objects that she coveted. Over the years, she’s also been linked to some other major characters, having been Poison Ivy’s cellmate in Arkham for some time and she later worked for the Penguin.

This isn’t actually the first time we’ve seen her in live-action either, having previously appeared in both Gotham and the Arrowverse series Batwoman.

The Penguin airs weekly on Sky and NOW in the UK, and on HBO and Max in the US. Stay up to date with our The Penguin release schedule and read our The Penguin review to hear our verdict.

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