It’s all-out war on Gotham’s fourth midseason finale, “A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight,” with Sofia Falcone (Crystal Reed) right in the middle of it.
The daughter of former mob boss Carmine Falcone, Sophia initially ventured to Gotham in order to help Jim Gordon dethrone Oswald Cobblepot from being the king of the city. Rather than come in with guns blazing, Sofia slowly gained Oswald’s trust, while rebuilding her father’s criminal empire.
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However, Oswald expected treachery, and a massive shootout recently erupted between his goons and Sofia and the Sirens. Now, all sides — Oswald, Sofia, the Sirens, Jim Gordon and the Gotham City Police Department — are prepared to do whatever it takes to regain control and take each other out.
Ahead of tonight’s epic brawl, Reed spoke with CBR about Sofia’s motivations, the return of Carmine Falcone, a death and the possibility of adopting the Hangman identity from the comic books.
Crystal Reed as Sofia Falcone on tonight’s fall finale of Gotham.
CBR: There are certain expectations associated with the Falcone name. How has that legacy been both an asset and a liability to Sofia?
Crystal Reed: I think that Sofia essentially wants to make her father proud. She can use her family name to help her garner respect, which I think she needs, given that she’s a woman and no one knows who she is. Of course, there are some things that come along with that which are negative for her, that she’s going to have to try and navigate. It’s a catch-22 for her. It’s been positive and negative.
When Sofia showed up in Gotham, did people underestimate her?
One hundred percent. A lot of the reason they underestimated her was because she wanted them to. The best part about Sofia is that she will give people exactly what they want, and then try and figure out motivations afterwards. She wanted people to think she was not a threat. She specifically played them to believe her.
The last episode culminated with Penguin declaring, “You want a war? You got one.” So, how does Sofia prepare for that confrontation?
She’s always three steps ahead, which has been fun for me, and fun for the audience to see how it unfolds. She’s thought about Penguin and what he wants and what his base desire is. Sofia has found a way to pin that against him. We saw that with Martin, specifically. We will see what she does in the mid-season finale.
Sofia seemed genuinely shocked when Penguin blew up poor Martin. Do you believe she still would have used him as a pawn if she knew that was his fate?
I don’t believe she would have killed a child. When we specifically filmed that scene, I made it a point for her to feel and look uncomfortable. She was using Martin underneath that bridge. That was one of the things that might be her soft spot, is children. I definitely don’t think she would have done that if Sofia believed Martin was in danger.
Jim Gordon has essentially pushed Sofia away. He doesn’t approve of her tactics. How does Sofia feel abut Jim these days?
Deep down, Sofia still has feelings for Jim. She believes they are similar in that they want power and control, and are grappling with the idea of what that means for them morally. She recognizes that in him, and she tries to pull that out of him, and she tries to connect with him in that way. Jim is constantly pushing the idea away, that he wants control, because I think he wants to be the martyr. But, deep down, I think she finds a similarity with him, so she can’t help but have these deep-rooted feelings for him.
Camren Bicondova and Crystal Reed on last week’s episode of Gotham, “A Dark Knight: Things That Go Boom.”
Sofia hooked up with the Sirens. Does she trust them? How much is she using them?
It would be safe to say Sofia doesn’t trust anyone. I think she trusts her father, which will be interesting because in the next episode, he shows up. That trust is put to the test. I don’t think she trusts anyone really. That’s the most heartbreaking thing about Sofia, is that she doesn’t have that in her life and is constantly searching for it.
How does the arrival of Carmine Falcone derail Sofia’s plans?
He definitely is there to question Sofia and her motives and to help her in the best way he sees fit. We’ll see what happens. I think she has mommy issues and not daddy issues, to be honest. Not everyone will make it out of this next episode alive. It should be a really great episode.
Why does Sofia hate Penguin so much?
I don’t think that she hates Penguin. He’s a threat to her like a lot of other people. Therefore, she wants to remove him from power.
What else can you tease about the winter finale and Sofia’s big move?
You never know what Sofia is up to, which is always fun. And, like I said, someone isn’t going to make it out alive, which is going to create a huge shift and rift in Gotham, one that Sofia is going to have to deal with.
In the comic books, Sofia becomes a serial killer known as the Hangman. What are your thoughts about going down that path?
It’s funny. We talked about that a little bit when I first signed on to do Gotham. That was an option. I think that would be really fun. I’ve done some research into Sofia, and she’s a pretty interesting character. I’m definitely open to that.
The fall finale of Gotham, “A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight,” airs 8 p.m. tonight on Fox.