How a line in the ‘Poker Face’ finale solves one of the show’s very first mysteries
Poker Face has gifted us with a lot all through its first season, from fiendishly intelligent mysteries of the week to human lie detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne). Its finale, “The Hook,” is not any totally different, but it surely offers us a little one thing additional: a solution to a query that has been nagging at me since the very first episode.
In episode 1 of Poker Face, on line casino proprietor Sterling Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody) loops Charlie into his scheme to infiltrate excessive curler Kazimir Caine’s (Eddie Gorodetsky) non-public sport. As he does, he tells her, “When my dad handed me the keys to this place, he instructed me three issues. He stated, ‘Maintain the carpets clear, preserve Caine joyful.'”
“What was the third factor?” Charlie asks.
“Would not matter,” Sterling Jr. replies.
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The episode continues, however I could not escape the feeling that that third factor really did matter. In spite of everything, that is Poker Face, the place something from a spare quarter to a piece of dental floss can be utilized to unravel a homicide. Nothing is a coincidence in the world of Charlie Cale.
Given Poker Face’s mystery-of-the-week system, the query of this “third factor” understandably does not come up in the show’s following episodes. So think about my shock when Sterling Frost Sr. (Ron Perlman) meets Charlie in the season finale and launches into a speech that sounds very acquainted.
Ron Perlman in “Poker Face.”
Credit score: Peacock
“There’s three issues I stated to my child earlier than I gave him the keys to the on line casino. First two do not matter,” Sterling Sr. says. “The third one? Maintain Beatrix Hasp out.”
Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) owns Hasp on line casino in Atlantic Metropolis, the place the finale takes place. She can also be the head of the 5 Households, a sinister crime syndicate that Sterling Sr. reveals has at all times needed a piece of his city in Nevada. Sterling Jr. was doing enterprise with Beatrix — therefore, his cover-up that this piece of his father’s recommendation did not matter.
Not lengthy after Sterling Sr. informs Charlie about the 5 Households, he dies at the palms of henchman Cliff LeGrand (Benjamin Bratt), who was in cahoots with Beatrix this complete time. Nevertheless, by the finish of the episode, Cliff has offered out the 5 Households after proof from Charlie will get him arrested by the FBI. Out of the blue, Charlie has a complete new set of enemies: 5 households’ value.
The truth that one line in Poker Face’s first episode foreshadows not simply the arc of the Season 1 finale but in addition the Massive Unhealthy of Season 2 is additional proof of the show’s killer rewatch worth. Each time you return via an episode, you discover little belongings you did not catch in your first go-through: hints at Charlie’s presence in the lead-up to murders, particulars about sure clues, and even little jokes you might have missed.
However out of all these, studying Sterling Sr.’s third piece of recommendation might take the cake for my favourite payoff of the season. Positive, it could appear small at first, but it surely has large penalties down the line. It actually solidifies that Poker Face is aware of precisely what it is doing: That is a present that is snug taking part in the lengthy sport and holding its playing cards near its chest — one thing it can certainly proceed to do in Season 2. Carry on Beatrix Hasp, the 5 Households, and of course, extra Charlie Cale.
Poker Face Season 1 is now streaming on Peacock.(Opens in a new tab)
