Did THE PENGUIN Episode 3 Tease Poison Ivy Exists in THE BATMAN Universe?
Matt Reeves and Lauren LeFranc’s The Penguin has been a freakin’ great show to watch so far, and I loved where the story is headed. Episode 3 explored a lot of interesting things in the aftermath of The Riddler’s plan, PTSD, and more. There’s also some strong character development going on in this episode.
But, one thing that I wanted to talk about is the drug "Bliss", which was introduced in the episode. Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) and her brother Alberto (Michael Zegen) were planning to unleash this drug on the streets of Gotham City.
Bliss is a new narcotic that would've helped the Falcone kids up-end their father's hold on the drug "Drops," with drug profits that they would 100% control.
After Alberto was killed in Episode 1 by Oz, he actually Sofia to bring him in on the new venture. She takes Oz to the secret warehouse where she is manufacturing the new drug, and while there, Oz notices that the deliveries coming into the facility are bags marked with the logo of Arkham State Hospital.
Sofia is the one who actually came up with this new drug scheme, during her years there. She reveals that her new drug is made from a very rare and fragile mushroom, which has blood-red spores on top of it.
The red fungi spores are referred to as "Bleeding-Tooth" and it’s used to produce a euphoric effect, which Sofia plans to market as the ultimate party drug. We see the drug in action during a rave at a club, and it convinces a Triad gang leader to go into business with them.
My first thought is who actually is engineering this drug, and since it comes from a mushroom, my mind immediately went to Poison Ivy a.k.a. Dr. Pamela Isley. She is one person that would have knowledge of the mushroom and its euphoric effects. She would also know how to cultivate it into a consumable drug.
It’s not hard to think that Poison Ivy would eventually make her way into The Batman universe and this seems like the perfect way to do it. It’s safe to say that the creative team will reimagine the character in a new way, maybe even tie her to the pharmaceutical industry.
Anyway, trailers for the series have teased flashback scenes of Sofia Falcone while she was in Arkham Asylum, so maybe Dr. Pam Isley will pop up there at some point to educate Sofia about the mushrooms and develop the Bliss.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!