Warning! Spoilers forward for Poker Face season 2, episode 11.
Poker Face’s newest episode follows on from final week’s game-changing improvement with a recent twist on the system. Season 2, episode 11, “Day of the Iguana,” brings again Patti Harrison as Charlie’s new friend Alex, and the thriller is much less about getting justice for the one who was killed and extra about saving Alex from being framed for it. This penultimate episode seems like the primary a part of a two-part season finale. It brings all the things again round as Charlie takes a gig at a marriage the place the groom seems to be Beatrix Hasp’s son, and Simon Helberg’s FBI Agent Luca Clark is in attendance.
The primary acts of Poker Face episodes often take a little bit of time to construct as much as the killing, however “Day of the Iguana” includes a homicide within the first two minutes — and it could be the creepiest kill in your complete sequence. As Justin Theroux is preparing for a marriage, a pretend chauffeur sneaks into the home sporting a pair of giallo-style black gloves and chokes him along with his personal bowtie.
The killer vacuum-seals the physique and compresses it till it’s decreased to a bloody mush, then assumes the sufferer’s id with a Mission: Not possible masks. It’s no surprise this episode was directed by X’s Ti West.
When Alex Is Framed, Charlie Is Emotionally Invested In Fixing The Case
She Would not Need Her New Pal To Be Blamed For A Crime She Did not Commit
The killer poses as his sufferer to infiltrate the marriage. It’s a enjoyable performing problem for Theroux, who has to play two totally different characters with the identical face (and the identical glass eye, pulled off with seamless VFX). Theroux’s skilled hitman, dubbed “The Iguana,” is there to assassinate Hasp’s son. When he finds Alex working as an oyster shucker, he decides she’s the right patsy. The Iguana stabs the groom within the eye with Alex’s shucking knife, medication her, and phases the homicide scene to appear like she did it.
It’s not simply the FBI that’s looking down Alex, which might be unhealthy sufficient; she’s additionally obtained the Iguana on her tail, and for the reason that sufferer was a strong mob boss’ son, the 5 Households are coming after her, too.
Charlie is all the time dedicated to clearing harmless folks’s names and figuring out the actual culprits out of a powerful sense of justice. However in “Day of the Iguana,” she has an actual emotional funding in uncovering the setup, as a result of the patsy being framed is her buddy. The stakes have by no means been larger. It’s not simply the FBI that’s looking down Alex, which might be unhealthy sufficient; she’s additionally obtained the Iguana on her tail, and for the reason that sufferer was a strong mob boss’ son, the 5 Households are coming after her, too.
“Day of the Iguana” is a singular confluence of cinematic and literary inspirations. Setting a homicide at a marriage could be very old-school whodunit; it performs like considered one of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels. However the legendary hitman character is clearly a nod to Day of the Jackal, with the zanier spin of getting him don a convincing masks to embody one other man. The episode additionally incorporates considered one of Poker Face’s solely direct references to its biggest influence, Columbo.
“Day Of The Iguana” Has No Closure, However Units Up An Thrilling Finale
The Stage Is Set For Subsequent Week’s Season Nearer To Be A Climactic Thriller Trip
After Charlie is launched, it takes some time to get again round to Alex being framed. When Charlie is reunited with Alex and so they get to work clearing her title, there’s solely 10 minutes left. As it turned clear that one episode wouldn’t be sufficient to resolve this story and it could finish on a cliffhanger, I used to be reminded of Jerry Seinfeld’s bit about to-be-continueds on TV: “There’s like 5 minutes left, and instantly you understand, hey, they will’t make it! Timmy’s nonetheless caught within the cave! There’s no approach they wrap this up in 5 minutes!”
Poker Face releases new episodes on Peacock each Thursday.
Poker Face often resolves its mysteries of the week, effectively, inside the week. However with sky-high stakes, returning characters, and a sufferer we already care about, this one is value stretching out to a few episodes. It could be a bit unbelievable that Hasp, a infamous prison hiding out in witness safety, can be careless sufficient to put up an image on Instagram together with her handle in plain sight. But it surely’s an thrilling setup for subsequent week’s finale to really feel really climactic.
Poker Face Season 2, Episode 11
7/10
- Launch Date
-
January 26, 2023
- Community
-
Peacock
- Administrators
-
Fortunate McKee, Natasha Lyonne, Janicza Bravo, Ben Sinclair
-
Natasha Lyonne
Charlie Cale
-
Benjamin Bratt
Cliff Legrand
- The stakes have by no means been larger
- Patti Harrison’s Alex makes a welcome return
- The cliffhanger units up an thrilling season finale, however the lack of decision is a bit disappointing
