Clay Dockery
The following recap contains spoilers for Poker Face S1E5, “Time of the Monkey” (written by Wyatt Cain & Charlie Peppers, and directed by Lucky McKee)
Poker Face S1E5, “Time of the Monkey” may have been the funniest, and twistiest episode of the series so far. But in this recap, I can’t be sure of that. Because, in an attempt to test the old school “episode of the week” non-serialized promise of the show, I didn’t watch Episodes 3 or 4 before diving into the latest one.
And even just jumping right in out of context, the entire story really works. I’m not sure you could necessarily watch Poker Face in any order—like Kalidescope—but it definitely doesn’t leave the viewer confused or out of place. Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) is still traveling, basically randomly, around the country and she is still on the run from Cliff (Benjamin Bratt). But Cliff doesn’t appear in the episode at all and nothing has really changed for Charlie. She is still trying to keep off the radar and survive by doing odd jobs, but is faced with deceit and mystery at every turn.
But S1E5 isn’t really a mystery at all. Sure there is a murder and a big twist, but those aren’t the elements that make the episode work. Instead, “Time of the Monkey” is a madcap farce. It is easily the funniest of the three episodes I’ve seen, with the villains over the top, the murder almost superhuman, and the fight at the end an absolutely hilarious three-way throwdown between TV legends Judith Light, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Lyonne. Yes, I feel with Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll behind her and Poker Face shining brightly now, Lyonne herself has firmly established her legendary bonafides. (If you disagree, I guess you can leave a comment, but why?)
The guest cast has been essential to Poker Face as the show is able to access the extensive list of people who want to collaborate with Johnson and/or Lyonne and “Time of the Monkey” takes that to the next level with the way it uses Light and Merkerson, as well as K. Callan, Reed Birney, and Simon Helberg in key roles.
Structurally each episode of Poker Face has followed the same formula: we get about 10 to 15 minutes setting up the murder and learning about the victim or the killers, then we flashback a few days and see how Charlie has already been entwined in the events we just witnessed, then Charlie tries to leave but winds up staying for “just one more thing,” she solves the murder and confronts the baddie, the cops roll up and Charlie rolls out. That procedural structure gives the show its narrative propulsion, but somehow through the creative talents of Rian Johnson’s showrunning and Lyonne’s charisma, it also has an incredible amount of dexterity in the types of stories they are able to tell.
Poker Face S1E5’s script is tight and really packs a lot of twists and action and the direction by Lucky McKee has all of the visual flourishes of the Johnson-directed episodes. Especially as we learn more and more of the depravity of Joyce (Merkerson) and Irene (Light), the way they are framed and shot takes us on the journey with Charlie.
I think it would be fun with these Poker Face recaps to take a similar tactic and use the same format each week, so I’ll be checking back in on four key questions every time. First, what is the basic plot of the episode and how does it fit the series structure or subvert it? Second, how do the guest stars fit in, third where does Charlie end up, and does she grow or change?
The Plot
“Time of the Monkey” is easily the most meta-referential episode of the show. There are old ladies who watch murder mysteries on TV and help Charlie solve the case who are incredibly and hilariously referred to as “The Fletchers.” One of the shows they watch is a parody of Norwegian crime shows, another stars “Wolfen Skarsgård” so basically everything about the nursing home turned to gold.
Then there is the murder mystery. As usual, we find out immediately that Joyce and Irene are the killers, but the actual murder this time is insane. It involves the wheelchair-bound Irene climbing up a vine, a chimpanzee who can tell time, and “sexy zapping.” All of this is pretty incredible to observe and just adds to the overall comedic sensibility and fun of the episode. Even after it turns out that they are dastardly villains through and through. (Even if Johnson and the crew did consider having Charlie let them get away with it.)
The Guest Stars
The biggest reasons that Judith and Irene work so well are Light and Merkerson. Both women are longtime vets of stage and television and use every bit of their well-honed timing and characterization to make these characters sing. The interactions between them have the playful lived-in quality that seems completely accurate for two lifelong friends and sometimes lovers who know exactly how to play off and through each other. Then when things get dark, Light can deliver a line like, “You know what we have to do,” with an amazing gravitas, matched only by Merkerson’s simple head nod of a response. These ladies play the comedy, the romance, and the villains with ease. The big surprise though was the all-out fight at the end.
Once she figures out what happens Charlie confronts Irene and Judith in their room. If I have one complaint about the show it is that they really need to make Charlie smart enough to stop doing that, though at least in this case it is subverted. Judith and Irene attack Charlie—she gets hit in the head with a plant and stabbed with knitting needles among other indignities—and it devolves into a full-on streetfight. Bites, scratches, low blows, people getting dragged across the floor. And all three actors commit entirely; it is really quite impressive. It turns out that Charlie was using it as a setup to get the ladies to use the same taser that was part of their initial murder plan on her, so she wasn’t just being stupid, but in any case, the fight made it worth it.
Every moment with the three women is incredible, but in an embarrassment of riches, Light and Merkerson aren’t even the only incredible guest stars in the episode. Reed Birney, K. Callan, and Simon Helberg all also play essential roles in making “Time of the Monkey” work. And no matter how small their screen time, each of them delivers an incredible and well-developed character.
Reed Birney plays Joyce and Irene’s former lover, cult leader, and rat Gabriel. In the flashback he got cold feet on their plan to “kill the bourgeoise pigs” and turned his former lovers in. He spent 50 years in witness protection but decided he wanted to come clean to the ladies, so they killed him. Birney doesn’t get a lot to do, but the one scene where he tearfully confesses to Joyce and Irene is incredible. The three actors sit tearfully around a table and both the emotion, and the murderous determination that results are completely believable. That doesn’t work if Birney doesn’t bring the goods.
Also bringing the goods is K. Callan as Betty. Betty is another resident at the retirement community with Joyce and Irene and she hates them. But every line she delivers, every sneer and diss is just perfect. Betty winds up murdered by Joyce and Irene as well, but not before she gets to solve the case by explaining to Charlie about the “sexual zapping” that Joyce and Irene did at the time of the monkey. Betty is the type of limited character that didn’t need a huge star, and Callan isn’t that, but she is a Johnson regular and that innate knowledge and familiarity with Johnson had to be a part of why Betty seemed so memorable.
Simon Helberg is also great as FBI agent Luca. He is funny and charismatic, though he seems quite bad at his job. He did get his protectee in the witness protection program super murdered after all. Helberg seems set to return and with his energy and delivery, it will be really great if he does.
Charlie
“Time of the Monkey” seems like a big episode for Charlie in two key ways. First, she really got attached to Joyce and Irene—as did we all—and it seemed that each time she discovered more about their villainy, it broke her just a little more. There is definitely a sense to the character, which is tied to the innate charms of Lyonne, that she is really just looking to have some fun and meet some cool people with which she could just hang. With Joyce and Irene, she felt she met the perfect crew. As Charlie says, she feels she was “born a few decades too late.”
The joy that Charlie feels in the early scenes with the ladies is really palpable. (And it had me contemplating this cast for a Golden Girls reboot, and not hating it.) Even knowing that they killed Ben/Gabe, it seemed plausible that they would be right and justified in doing so. But thankfully Poker Face is not that easy of a show. When it turns out that they tried to blow up the “UN for babies” Charlie has to grapple with it and ultimately understand that just being cool doesn’t make Joyce and Irene any less evil.
Also, her interactions with Luca are very interesting. Charlie has previously only been giving a romantic vibe with female characters, but there seemed to be some sparks with Luca, and Lyonne and Helberg had easy chemistry together. Things definitely seem set for Luca to make a return, and possibly add to the serialized or continuous parts of the show and that could be interesting.
But so far, Poker Face is staying true to the classic television storytelling the creators said they would, and it is doing it at an incredibly high level. Poker Face may or may not be the best show on TV, but if it keeps up for the rest of the season it might easily be able to pick up the mantle as my favorite.
