Poker Face Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Exit Stage Death
On Poker Face Season 1 Episode 6, “Exit Stage Death,” Charlie finds herself working at a low-rent dinner theater club where the real drama is happening offstage.
As with Poker Face Season 1 Episode 5, “Time of The Monkey,” “Exist Stage Death,” plays with tried-and-true tropes to deliver another fun and surprising case of the week.
The episode centers on two washed-up actors trying to recapture their previous success with a one-night performance of a play from their early days. It has all the trappings viewers expect from a story like this.
There are bickering co-stars, massive egos, a young new wife, and a put-upon crew catering to the whims of the stars. The theater setting itself is practically obligatory for mysteries and procedurals.
But, as the series did with “Time of the Monkey,” the episode uses the expectations of those tropes to misdirect viewers until it’s time to reveal the truth.
“Exist Stage Death” doesn’t just rely on narrative tropes to subvert expectations, though. It also uses casting choices as a source of misdirection.
On too many procedurals, seeing a well-known actor appear in a seemingly mundane role gives the game away. It almost automatically signals to the viewer that their character is more than meets the eye. If their character isn’t the murderer themselves, they are almost always involved.
So, when Jameela Jamil shows up on “Exist Stage Death,” it’s instantly suspicious. Even with two other big guest stars — who do end up being the murderers –, viewers are primed to believe Jamil’s Ava is hiding something.
Her role as Micheal’s wife and the keeper of his heart medication only reinforces that suspicion.
It all makes Ava’s relatively quick exit as the episode victim genuinely shocking, even more so because it isn’t an accident. That is Kathleen and Micheal’s plan from the start. Something I at least did not see coming.
The downside to that misdirection is that Jamil feels under-used on the episode. We don’t even get any flashback scenes outside of her asking Charlie to keep her plied with alcohol.
It’s an understandable decision given everything happening the episode and all the characters the episode needs to attend to. Still, as someone that remembers Jamil’s comic chops on The Good Place, it’s a tad disappointing.
Jamil isn’t the only one with a relatively minor role to play on “Exit Stage Death.” Charlie is a relatively small presence on the episode, which is unexpected, considering she is the show’s star. She isn’t even the first to solve the murder.
That honor goes to the play’s third lead, Rebecca. If not for Rebecca’s attempt to extort Kathleen and Micheal instead of turning them in, Charlie wouldn’t even have a role to play in this week’s case.
Despite Charlie’s reduced presence on “Exist Stage Death,” it is still a fun, engaging episode.
The show is built on Charlie. Much of its appeal is Lyonne’s performance. That the show still succeeds even with Lyonne’s reduced screen time is a testament to its quality and a good sign for its sustainability.
It is also a reminder of how vital guest casting is for the show. The only reason this episode works is because of its stellar guest stars, especially Ellen Barkin.
There are outstanding performances from everyone on “Exist Stage Death,” but this is Barkin’s episode. As deeply unlikable as Kathleen is, Barkin has an almost magnetic screen presence that draws viewers to her.
In her hands, what could be a pretty cliched role has an acidic bite that makes her so much fun to root against. When memories of this episode start to fade, Barkin will be what people remember in vibrant color.
Poker Face continues to play with tropes and subvert expectations in ingenious ways. The unraveling of this week’s mystery isn’t quite as clever as some of the previous episodes. Still, expert execution and deliciously fun performances from its guest stars make it just as fun.
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New episodes of Poker Face stream Thursday on Peacock.
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Sarah Fields
Sarah is an obsessive geek who likes to get into the weeds and over think things. She is passionate about Sci-Fi and comics and is a giant classic film nerd. Sarah cares deeply about media representation and the power of telling diverse stories. When she's not writing or watching her favorite shows she spends her days working in the non-profit world trying to make life a little better for those that need some extra help.