Poker Face Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Time of the Monkey

Charlie solves a murder among the senior set on Poker Face Season 1 Episode 5, “Time of the Monkey.”

The latest stop on Charlie’s cross-country effort to avoid being caught by her former boss finds her working as a janitor at a senior living home.

While there, she gets to know many of the home’s colorful residents. All the residents represent a character archetype that viewers know well.

There is pervy Pete, who, as his name suggests, is the home’s obligatory lecherous old man. There is also Betty, the home’s resident, uptight, busybody, and self-appointed social coordinator. 

Most notable, though, are Charlie’s favorite residents, friends Irene and Joyce. The episode introduces Irene and Joyce as rebellious, take no shit grandma types (though neither are actually grandmothers).

They are the home’s of loveable troublemakers who fit the mold of a long line of free-spirited seniors in countless TV shows and movies.

All these character vignettes are well-established tropes that inform viewers’ expectations and sympathies. That is the genius of this week’s case. It plays with those expectations and sympathies to deliver twists that are genuinely surprising despite knowing that Irene and Joyce are the murderers. 

Years of media consumption condition us to feel an almost immediate affinity for Irene and Joyce. We want to root for them before we even know anything about them. 

Plus, our protagonist Charlie is a non-conformist herself who is immediately drawn to them. The episode paints the three as sort of kindred spirits. Charlie trusts them, so our instinct is to trust them too.

Even as it gets harder and harder to defend their actions, each new revelation about the pair feels shocking because it plays against our expectations. It’s a mystery tailor-made for savvy TV viewers. 

As has been the case with every episode so far, much of the episode’s success is thanks to its brilliant guest casting. Judith Light and S. Epatha Merkerson are both marvelous. They have wonderful chemistry with each other, and their transition from sympathetic to psychopathic is seamless. 

In many ways, this episode sticks to the same pattern as the first four. There is no mystery about who the murderers are or how they kill their victim.

This time, though, there is a mystery about why and who these characters are. The episode plays with tropes and archetypes expertly to keep viewers guessing.

There are no red herrings to mislead us. It relies on simple framing devices to play with perspective and lets viewers’ own inclinations do the rest. It all makes for another fun and particularly exciting hour of TV. 

Stray Thoughts

• If Luca giving Charlie his card at the end of the episode feels like a sign that we will see him again, you aren’t wrong. Simon Helberg is listed as appearing in 2 episodes this season. As much as I like the show’s episodic nature, I’m glad we will also have some recurring characters. 
• Speaking of recurring characters, I would love to see Irene and Joyce return in some potential future season. Maybe after a jailbreak and looking for revenge or something. 
• The one complaint I have with this episode is that the big fight scene at the end is a little too over the top. It feels a bit out of place and silly.
• I was really hoping Betty would make it out alive. K. Callan is a lot of fun in the role, and I found her endearing in her own prickly way. 
• Charlie getting taken in by Irene and Joyce’s charm is a reminder that even though she can see BS, she has her own blind spots that can affect her judgment. 

What did you think of this episode of Poker Face? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of Poker Face stream Thursday on Peacock.

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