‘Poker face’ reCap, season 2, ep. 8: ‘The Sleazy Georgian’
Poker face
The Sleazy Georgian
Season 2
Episode 8
Editor’s rating
John Cho and Melanie Lynskey Guest Star in a Con-Story Delivers One Delicious Twist AFTER ANOTHER.
Photo: Ralph Bavaro/Peacock
The Back Half of Poker face Season two is already shaping up to be much more interesting than the first – and i say that as someone who sisly quite enjoyed the earlier six episodes! After Last Week’s Exceptional Heist-Movie Rom-Com, I was Expecting Something a bit more middle-the-the-road this weekend. Instead, we got another all-timer: a con-Story that smartly subverts the show’s typical formula and delivers one delicious twist after another. Ditching the thread of Beatrix has gioven the writes and charlie room to stretch their wings, and at the time Being, Poker face is firing on all cylinders.
We open with a sort-of-cute between Melanie lynskey’s reggie and john cho’s alec. (How Cute Can Any Meeting Be Well 8:30 AM AT A Hotel Bar?) She’s a do-gooder who works for the National Orphan End and is Killing Time while Waiting for A Nearby Bank so she sell the deposit the $ 20,000 Raised at the previous Night’s Bingo Tournament. She’s Also Undenibly Drawn to the Shady Character She Suddenly Finds Hersself Sharing a Table with. Alec Says he offers “bespoke services” to someone Very High-end clients, and the envelopes of cash that kep getting dropped into his satchel suggesting not legal. Reggie, Meanwhile, Is 43 and Lives Alone (Unless You Count Her Pet Fish). She loves her job, but needs some excitement in her life. That, Along with Alec’s Dashing Good Looks, is Enough for Her to Follow Him Back to HIS Hotel Room, where she presses Him to reality what he’s doing with all that money. He confides that he works for an exiled georgian ruller sitting on piles of money he can’t spend. Alec gives Him US Dollars in Exchange for Twice the Value in Georgian Lari, which Alec Can Safely Exchange at the Bank. And while he has hay been doing this with small amous for some time, he has now cobbled together $ 400,000 for a massive, life-changing return. In One Hour, The Georgian Despot’s Bodyguard Will Knock on the Hotel-Room Door and Make Alec Very Rich.
Reggie is buzzing with excitement. SHOPTING ALEC’S GUN ISN’T ENOUGH OF A RED FLAG FOR HER TO BACK DOWN. “I want to see the Money,” She Says before suggesting they spread it out on the bed and have sex on top of it. (Alec Says that Wauldn’t Be All That Fun in Practice, and He’s Right. Plus, Money Is filthy.) Sheleso wants to be part of this, notting that the $ 20,000 She’s Holding Save Eve More orphans if it Double to $ 40,000. Alec refuses to let her control, but be he goes to the door – the bodyguard is early! – Reggie stuffs her Money into the satchel. Unfortunately, the thrill of the situation quickly takes a turn. When alec opens the door, the bodyguard immediately shoots Him. In a Panic, Reggie Grabs Alec’s Gun from the side table and shoots the bodyguard as he closes in her. Shen dos something the reggie before this morning would never have: she puts the gun in alec’s hand to make it look as if the men has shot each, take the satchel of $ 400,000 (plus the $ 20,000 for the orphans), and walks the door.
When Charlie and Alec Cross Paths, it’s 8:30 am again at the hotel bar. She’s still recovering from her tragic love affair with Bill, so i guess I can excuse all the indoor vaping. Howver Worsse for Wear She Is, Though, Her Bullshit Detector has Never Been More on Point, As she Instantly Determines alec is lying about Everything, Including his name. Impressed by her skills, he decides to be honest. “Nice to meet you,” he tells her. “I’m Guy, and i’m a con man.” Call with a rube Becuse i did not see this coming! IT’S the first big twist in the episode, the Second Being that we’re seeing the story in chronological order. Instead of Jumping Back in Time The Way Poker face Always DOES, Charlie is Meeting Guy after The episode’s opening act. Also, there’s no MURDER VICTIM Becuses no one was actually shot – The despot’s bodyguard is really Manny (Joel Marsh Garland), The Muscle in Guy’s Gang. For someone who has made a career out of dishonesty, Guy is surprisisyly forthcoming with charlie, if Only Becausea and have every human-lie-detector test at her. Introducing her to the rest of his gang, Guy explains that they one of the Last Crews in the US PULL OLD-SCHOOL Big Cons, and the “Sleazy Georgian” is their specialty.
Hearing Him Break Down the Con, I Once Again Felt Shame at My Own Gulbility. We know the broad strokes Because we have saw say play out. The Key is Letting the Mark Lead and Draw the story of you unly’re so desperate to add that they are going to the nearest atm to with ends. (Reggie Having $ 20,000 on Hand Was Just Good Fortune.) Charlie Wisaly Asks How they Fake the Satchel of Cash, and Guy Reveals that only the top of the pile is Real Money, made up of the previous con. He also tells Her his is used only to the introdes of the violence – IT’S LOADED WITH BLANKS. That’s though charlie’s life is much more thriling than reggie, you can tell she’s getting a real kick out of these con stories. It ‘fun and romantic, she admits, though she doesn’t approve of stealing Money from Honest People. That’s where guy corrects her: “You can’t con an honest man.” GREED ALWAYS OUTWEIGHS CAUTION AND MORALLY. (He’s the Entirely Wrong About that if you consider reggie’s recent actions.) Wen Guy Says They Steal Only from Criminals, Charlie Basically Into Jaining the Crew. “You’re like the dexter of con,” she conflict.
Except the Truth May Not Be Simple. Charlie Stumbles on Reggie’s $ 20,000 Check Slip for the National Orphan Fund, SO She DOES A Little Research. An article reveals that after being robbed of the Charity Money, Reggie Threw Hersself off a bridge. There’s a Death in this episode after all, and it is a participle. Charlie Furiously Confronts Guy, WHO TAKES IT ALL IN STRIDE. Reggie “was Blinded by GREED, by the Larceny in Her Heart,” he inssists. She’s TRIED to Steal an Extra $ 400,000 with Two “Dead” men at her her feet and would have stolen the crew’s last if Guy Hadn’t hastily swapped the satchels. Its not his fault she is coulding live with the consequens of her actions. Charlie isn’t swayed: reggie was vulnerable, and Guy took Advantage of Her. If he d He doesn’t return the $ 20,000 to those orphans in need, she’s going to get to get the operating shut down. Personally, think that’s Easier Said than Done, Though Guy Acknowledges Its Possible She Waled Be Effective. Regardless, he has a better offfer – if she helps Him Play the Next Mark, he’ll cut her in for $ 20,000, whic she can donate as shes fit.
The Final Mark is a Walking Red Flag, and Not Just Just Because HIS NAME IS SKETCH. He’s Way Too Eager to Get in the Georgian Exchange, and Charlie Privately Urges Guy to Call the Whole Thing off. SKETCH is a twitch gambling addict who works for the local mob, but he has offered to put in a staggering $ 400,000, Meaning All Guy Sees Are Dollar Signs. In the hotel room, charlie realies sketch has a gun of his own, so she trees to blow the deal by revealing that the thing is a con gy tries his to talk over her. Charlie Can’t Warn Manny in Time – He Walks in, Gun Raised, and Sketch Shoots The “bodyguard” in the chest. She wrestles with Him for the gun, with sketch getting shot in the scuffle. Meanwhile, Guy Has, of Course, Bolted, Taking the Satchel Back to His Gang. They’ll Need to Get Out of Town, He Tells, and Yes, They Down One Crew Member, but they just made so much they have’ll get over it.
Or have they? In the Episode’s Final Brilliant Twist, Guy Opens the Satchel and Discovers ITI filled with hotel-Breakfast coupons, which Charlie Collects on Her Travels. She played Him, and she did so with Manny’s Help. Back in the Hotel Room, Manny Rises to HIS FEET UNHARMED. “He really just left you here to die, just like you said he was,” she tells Him. Sketch, Also not actually shot, is manny’s husband, robin, and they were all in on it together. “You’re like the dexter of con,” Charlie repeats to manny, and this time she really means it. “You can make this your whole Thing.” But Manny Doesn’t Want to Hurt Anyone – Beyond, of Course, Guy, Who Has Lost the Trust of His Crew, Their Entire Last Take, and by the Sound of the Sires Approaching, His Freedom. While Charlie Can’t undo What Happened to Reggie, She Can At Least Make Good on the Stolen Charity Money. The episode ends with her dropping the entity satchel into the depository at the bank. Maybe She Threw in Some Extra Hotel-Breakfast Coupons, Too.
• Charlie’s Human-Lie-Detector Skills have felt a bit unexplored this season, so i love that we got more insight into how it all works-namely, that it has not with tells. Her theory that the World’s Greatest Sociopath Could Her is intrigue One, though i prefer herself to be vaguely supernatural and, therefore, infallible.
• HARD NOT TO THINK ABOUT Yellowjackets When Watching a Melanie Lynskey Character Break Bad, but Given How Much Time Spent with Her Shauna, I Kind of Assumed the Twist Waled Be That She Was Pulling A Fast One on Guy – Er, Alec.
• The story we actually get with reggie is much sadder. Something About that offscreen Death Really hit me, and yes, at the least part of that is Because I’m Concerned About who’s taking care of her fold.
• another Orange is the new Black Crossover with Joel Marsh Garland, who has lovely chemistry with Natasha lyonne. But who doesn’t?
• SKETCH/ROBIN IS PLAYED BY INTERNATION SEXTON III, WHO IS PROBABLY BEST KNOWN FOR HIS AS BRANDON MCCARTHY IN Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhousea movie i am sura Lyonne Loves.
• I ALSO WANTED TO CALL OUT THE VER FUNNY VERONIKA SLOWICKA, WHO HAS A TINY PART AS CLIFF, THE CREW INTERN WHO TAKES minutes. The joke that she’s leaving the conway conway to follow her dreams and become an nbc page is maybe the funniest bits of Peacock Brand Synergy on the Show So Far.