Rian Johnson’s
Poker Face
concluded its initial season by sending Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) back out
on the road
, evading an increased number of mob enforcers and seeking out fresh escapades. The second season resumes roughly at the point where the previous narrative ended, which leads to several significant advancements in Charlie’s efforts to remain one step ahead of her adversaries appearing quite promptly.
This particularly holds for the concluding scenes of Season 2, Episode 2 titled “Last Looks.” Now that the episode has been released on Peacock, we can closely examine how the finale sets up future events and consider what challenges Charlie may encounter next.
RELATED:
Who Do Katie Holmes & Giancarlo Esposito Play on Poker Face? Guest Roles Explained
Charlie’s Season 2 problem
At the end of
Poker Face
In Season 1, Charlie receives a call from Beatrix Hasp (played by Rhea Perlman), a formidable mob leader who presents her with an ultimatum: join the Five Families as their personal truth verifier or face relentless pursuit and death at their hands. Although initially wary about aligning herself with federal authorities like the FBI, Charlie is far less inclined to collaborate with criminal organizations. Consequently, she declines Beatrix’s proposal and resumes traveling, aiming to evade the mafia indefinitely.
In the Season 2 kickoff episode titled “The Game is Afoot,” we see that Charlie isn’t finding it easy to evade her adversaries following Beatrix’s phone call. Several hitmen from a criminal organization appear to track her down almost wherever she seeks refuge, even at an apple orchard—a location that ends up being central to her inaugural investigation this season. This clearly validates what Beatrix had warned Charlie—that hiding out anywhere within the nation remains impossible for her.
RELATED:
Rian Johnson Explains “Vibe” Shift in Poker Face Season 2: “We Really Took a Swing”
However, Charlie persists and finally arrives in Florida. There, an opportunity arises for her to feature her Plymouth Barracuda in a movie set in the 1970s, leading her to a nearby funeral parlor managed by Fred (Giancarlo Esposito) and his spouse Greta (Katie Holmes). This is where Charlie encounters her subsequent investigation and runs into an unforeseen guest.
Who’s in the back of Charlie’s car on
Poker Face
Season 2, Episode 2?
It’s Beatrix Hasp, portrayed by Rhea Perlman!
While renting her car out to the film shoot and serving as a stand-in for a corpse in one of the funeral home’s caskets, Charlie befriends Greta, who longs for a more glamorous, exciting life after 15 years of marriage to the strait-laced and self-serious Fred. Encouraged by the friends she makes on the film’s crew, Greta makes a plan to leave Fred and move to Miami, but Fred kills her before she can get away, and hides the blood amid the set decorations for the film.
By the end of the episode, Charlie has confirmed that Fred killed Greta, and has to fight hard to avoid being killed herself. As Fred tries to burn her alive in the funeral home’s crematorium, Charlie fights her way out, using the lithium battery in her vape pen to trigger an explosion. She tries to save Fred, but he would prefer to burn alive in his family funeral home, so she escapes to her car. Just as she’s about to pull away, though, a figure emerges from the backseat and puts a gun to Charlie’s head.
It’s Beatrix Hasp! For the first time since she was introduced at the end of last season, Hasp is in the same space as Charlie, and she’s decided to personally come out to Florida and sort out her little problems with the amateur detective once and for all. That means that Charlie is now at the mercy of a very powerful woman who could do any number of brutal and sadistic things to her.
What strategy will Charlie use to get away? What are Beatrix’s intentions, and why did she choose not to eliminate Charlie from the start? Stay tuned to find out.
Poker Face
to find out!
Poker Face
Season 2 includes episodes 1 through 3 are
now streaming on Peacock
New episodes drop every Thursday.