Poker Face Season 1 Episode 8 Review: The Orpheus Syndrome
Poker Face Season 1 Episode 8, “The Orpheus Syndrome,” explores grief and guilt on a harrowing episode directed by series star Natasha Lyonne.
After a slight stumble with Poker Face Season 1 Episode 7, “The Future of the Sport,” Poker Face returns to form with its best and most emotionally charged episode since its premiere.
On “The Orpheus Syndrome,” Charlie lands a job as an assistant to a special effects artist named Arthur, played by Nick Nolte.
Arthur is haunted by guilt over a deadly onset accident from over 30 years ago. He has spent years punishing himself, trying to exercise his demons by creating a stop-motion adaptation of the Orpheus legend. When Charlie meets him, he is a broken man.
However, she quickly bonds with him as they connect over her guilt about Natalie’s death on Poker Face Season 1 Episode 1, “Dead Man’s Hand.”
This is the first time since “Dead Man’s Hand” that the series has let Charlie show the type of vulnerability she shows with Arthur. It’s also her first significant moment of character development. It is just one scene, but it is incredibly effective.
Perhaps because the series has given us so few glimpses beyond the surface with Charlie, the scene has a weight to it that feels poignant. It’s a simple scene that grabs hold and makes you pay attention.
Hopefully, the series will continue to include scenes like this one that dig deeper into Charlie’s character and allow her to become more complex. Hopefully, it will also continue to do so judiciously.
As viewers, we need Charlie to be more than a charismatic through-line connecting the different cases. We need to watch her grow and see more layers if the show is to sustain our interest.
Still, Charlie is also a character that always has her guard up, at least emotionally. It would undermine her character if we got scenes like the one with Arthur every week.
Opening her up sparingly, with the right characters and in the right moments, is more true to who she is. It also signals to viewers that something important is happening and increases their impact.
The scene’s power also comes from how good Lyonne and Nolte are. Both Nolte and Lyonne take a subtle approach to the conversation, giving it a rawness and making your stomach clench in sympathy.
Lyonne is particularly effective during the scene. It’s a reminder of her range and talent beyond the screen persona we know her for.
I feel like a bit of a broken record saying this, but once again, not enough can be said about how good the guest cast is.
Nolte is heartbreaking as Arthur. Arthur seals his fate when he discovers Laura is the murderer halfway through the episode. It is something I wanted to be wrong about. I wanted that happy ending for him so much.
I can’t think of any character besides Charlie that I’ve cared about as much — or as quickly — as Arthur.
His death is the most devastating of the season for viewers and the second most devastating for Charlie. Her connection with Arthur is the deepest of all the characters she’s met this season.
That is partly because of the emotional scene they share but also because Lyonne and Nolte make that connection feel so genuine.
It’s not just Nolte that stands out on the episode, though. Cherry Jones gives a fantastic performance as the episode’s villain.
There is a performative nature to her character that makes her feel dangerous from the start. The way Jones changes Laura’s cadence when she is performing the role of bereaved wife or sympathetic friend vs. when there is no one to perform for is unsettling.
It’s a tell that almost lets the audience experience what Charlie feels when she detects bullshit.
On paper, Laura is no more an interesting a villain than any of the others we’ve met. If anything, a description of her character likely makes her seem less interesting.
However, with solid writing to work with, Jones makes Laura the most captivating villain this season. If not for just how sympathetic Nolte is, you’d almost feel sorry for Laura as she starts to unravel from the pressure and the guilt she feels.
Given the utterly sociopathic behavior she exhibits up to that point, any conflicted feelings about her end is quite the achievement on Jones’ part.
Unlike the episodes preceding it, there are few twists or unexpected reveals on “The Orpheus Syndrome.” Twists and trope subversion are a major part of the fun for most of the episodes this season. Their expert execution is a crucial component of the series’ success.
On this episode, however, the minimal misdirection about the case or the characters makes the episode better. It lets viewers focus on the emotions of the story. This time, the intrigue is in the themes the episode explores, and it is as gripping as anything the series has done so far.
TV doesn’t get much better than “The Orpheus Syndrome.” From start to finish and at every level, it is storytelling at its absolute best.
Stray Thoughts
- “The Orpheus Syndrome” is the season’s most stylized and cinematic episode. Lyonne’s artistic eye comes through and elevates the episode to something exceptional.
- At first, Laura practically confessing to Charlie that she’s the murderer through her denials feels odd because it’s completely unsolicited. Given how the episode ends, though, it makes more sense. It’s the first cracks in Laura’s nerves showing.
- Speaking of Laura’s “confession,” Lyonne’s reaction during that entire scene is priceless.
- Luis Guzmán is delightful as Raul. I hope we see him again in a now confirmed (yay!) Season 2.
- Unlike “The Future of the Sport,” “The Orpheus Syndrome” does an excellent job serving all the characters. Everyone makes a memorable impression even if they have minimal screen time.
- I wonder if they originally had a more extensive flashback scene. Rowan Blanchard isn’t as well known as the rest of the cast. Still, she’s established enough that I imagine they hired her for more than one line and a few vague shots.
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What did you think of this episode of Poker Face? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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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.
4 comments
I can’t believe that was Eben put on film. I’ve watched every episode and until the eighth episode I thought it was great.
It was painful to watch Nick and was even harder to watch the director hide him.
Wtf
What are you talking about? Noone was ”hiding” Nick. What do you mean ” it was great until the 8th episode”???
”Perhaps because the series has given us so few glimpses beyond the surface with Charlie, the scene has a weight to it that feels poignant” – disagree. Every episode we see Charlie showing her emotional/vulnerable side – when she’s sad over someone’s death or indignant over murderers’ actions or kind to strangers etcetera. Aren’t all those different layers/sides of her character? It’s obvious that she’s not just ”charismatic cool chick” but actually a kind, honest, decent, smart person. Otherwise, good review.
I actually totally agree with you. I think maybe I didn’t articulate what I was trying to say well, though. I didn’t mean to imply that Charlie wasn’t a complex character, I more meant that up to that point we didn’t get much of Charlie’s backstory and she was rarely so explicit with the emotional toll those events took on her. Having her show that kind of vulnerability willingly felt different and so it felt especially important.
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