Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Poker Face Season 2 Episode 3.
Wow, that was quick! Poker Face’s newest season kicks off with the promise of having Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) once again on the run from a terrifying mob boss, this time Rhea Perlman’s Beatrix Hasp, one of the heads of the Five Families that control Atlantic City. However, Episode 3 just wraps up this story entirely, setting Charlie completely free to roam the country on her own. In a way, that is a relief. After all, had it kept the Beatrix Hasp plot until the end, Season 2 would most likely end up looking like a carbon copy of Season 1, with Charlie fleeing from one town to the other just to get caught in the end. Putting an end to this story right away is exactly what the show needs to properly thrive.
Another positive point of “Whack-a-Mole,” the last of the three episodes dropped on Peacock for Season 2’s debut, is that it is a good episode of Poker Face — and, in the end, that’s what the shows we love the most are made of: decent stories that pave the way for something truly extraordinary. Honestly, after the disappointment that was “Last Looks,” it feels nice to be reminded that Poker Face can still deliver the basic bread and butter that actually makes it tick. Writer Wytatt Cain and director Miguel Arteta charm and entertain with a fast-paced, enthralling plot that blindsides everyone, including Charlie herself.
‘Poker Face’ Season 2 Episode 3 Puts Charlie in the Service of Beatrix Hasp

Image via Peacock

We pick up from where we left off in Episode 2: Charlie is in her car, and Beatrix Hasp has a gun pointed to her head. It turns out that the Five Families’ leader is ruling over an empire in ruins and needs to get out of the country as soon as possible. There is, however, a small problem that needs to be solved: there is a rat, perhaps even a mole, infiltrating her gang, and she has no idea who it could be. Therefore, she needs Charlie’s freak lie-detecting abilities to sniff this pest out. With no choice in the matter, Charlie goes with Beatrix to her hideout, where she promptly reassures her that there is no mole among her men. In order to make sure Charlie is telling the truth, though, Beatrix forces her to board the plane with them, and that’s when things get ugly. To keep it short: the FBI shows up, Beatrix’s husband, Jeffrey (Richard Kind), gets killed, and Beatrix shoots Charlie’s fed friend Luca (Simon Helberg) before firing at Charlie.
This, of course, is not how the story ends. To be fair, it’s not even how the story actually begins. As soon as Charlie is shot, back in time we go, and we get another look at the plot through Luca’s perspective. Now, these back-and-forths happen more than once in “Whack-a-Mole,” so we’ll try to keep it simple here. The FBI has been keeping an eye on Beatrix for quite some time, and knows that her organization isn’t what it used to be. The feds do have a mole inside her home, and it is none other than her beloved husband. On the other hand, though, Beatrix also has her own inside man in the Bureau, a man whose name she isn’t sure of, but that we, the viewers, know to be Danny (John Mulaney).

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Hop in the Plymouth Barracuda. We’ve got mysteries to solve!

Now, Luca has a plan to trap Beatrix for good: he will ambush her with the rest of his team as she tries to board her plane and shoot blanks at Jeffrey to fake his death in order to get him into witness protection. However, upon learning about this plan, Danny trades some of Luca’s blanks for real bullets, and Jeffrey ends up dying for good. Beatrix loses her mind after seeing the love of her life slain and, with Luca’s gun, starts firing at everyone she deems responsible for his death. Luckily, the gun has run out of proper bullets, and Luca and Charlie live to see another day. Out of this mess, though, emerges an ugly hostage situation in which Beatrix has her gun once again pointed at Charlie and is trying to negotiate her way out of the country. Her bargaining chip? The identity of her man on the inside.
While Luca and Danny’s boss immediately agrees to this trade in order to save Charlie, our mole guy gets really anxious and tries to convince his higher-up to take Beatrix down without a fight. Eventually, he finds himself with no way out and reveals his identity to Charlie and Luca. Completely insensitive to Luca’s attempts at talking him into doing the right thing, Danny shoots his colleague, but falls to the ground right after. A fight erupts, but Charlie manages to get hold of both a gun and the situation. Danny is exposed and arrested, and Beatrix goes into witness protection, but not before promising to withdraw the hit on Charlie.
‘Poker Face’ Season 2 Will Feature a Completely New Version of Charlie

The episode wraps up with Charlie opening a map of the United States and picking a place at random to visit. Our hero won’t give up her days on the road, and the season preview that follows the episode ensures us that trouble will keep finding her wherever she goes. Still, the Charlie we will see now is a completely new version. No longer will she be running from someone who is trying to either kill her or hire her. She will now be entirely free to do as she pleases. This opens many possibilities for the show. For starters, it gives us a chance to know more about Charlie, who she is, and what she wants, something that was already hinted at in her conversations with Delia (Cynthia Erivo) in Episode 1.
Then again, perhaps Charlie doesn’t need to have her big “I Want” song. Perhaps she can just be a leaf blowing in the wind, going wherever there’s a mess and solving it in her own way. Poker Face is, after all, a procedural, and what matters most in these kinds of series is how the case of the week will be handled, and not so much the personality of its leads. Effortlessly charming and funny, Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie is the perfect protagonist for this kind of show, and maybe all that she needs is a reason to remain on the road.
Overall, “Whack-a-Mole” is a pretty solid episode of Poker Face. Some would say it’s a pretty solid episode of television, period. It wraps up a story nicely and kicks off another one with the same ease, all while keeping us thrilled with what comes in between. Granted, it probably won’t become your favorite Poker Face episode. It doesn’t have the sauce for it. But those sure are some good 40 minutes.
The first three episodes of Poker Face Season 2 are now streaming on Peacock.

Poker Face

Charlie Cale’s story gets wrapped up just as a new one begins in this solid episode of Poker Face Season 2.

Release Date

January 26, 2023

Network

Peacock

Showrunner

Lilla Zuckerman

Pros & Cons

“Whack-a-Mole” wraps up the Beatrix Hasp plot, keeping Season 2 from looking too much like Season 1.
The prospect of a new, free Charlie is refreshingly interesting.
Full of back-and-forths, the plot is enthralling and unpredictable.