Poker Face Episode 3 The Stall Review And Recap- Maga Dogs And Pecan Logs

By now, you know the drill. Someone will be done dirty, and Charlie will be conveniently present to get justice for them. There are a few constants in Poker Face. Charlie will be bumbling but brilliant. You will find yourself laughing more times than not. There will probably be a trailer or Rv that will make an appearance, and greedy people will do awful things to protect their money. Poker Face Episode 3 gives us all that and more when Charlie picks up a fascist dog who gets her in all kinds of trouble and forces her to learn the fine art of BBQ.

The cold open this time presents George Boyle(Larry Brown), a pitmaster who decides he can’t be party to animal genocide one more night and asks to be bought out of the family business. Unfortunately, George’s partners, his wife Mandy(Danielle MacDonald) and brother Taffy(Lil Rel Howery) aren’t as enthusiastic. They claim not to have the money, but George thinks if the books are turned over to an accountant, they could come up with a deal. This isn’t an option, though, as Mandy and Taffy have got in over their heads and owe a huge sum of money to some shady types they are hiding from George.

An elaborate scheme that involves a pre-recorded live radio show complete with call-in questions and sneaking out of a window leaves George dead, and a dog bludgeoned to death. Cue Charlie who finds the best dog actor in America, in her car on the day of George’s murder. The dog won’t stop barking or leave her car. Charlie is stuck with the MAGA dog, who only calms down when she turns on a conservative hate-filled talk show. When the dog bursts out of the car and onto the table of George and Taffy’s BBQ place, he promptly begins chowing down on the diners’ plates. Needing to make money to cover the cost of all the food he ate, she is forced to help out on the pit. Once again, she finds herself in the right place at the wrong time to solve a murder.

This time she has two victims to get justice for. She finds her annoying canine companion on the road badly injured and is around to see George’s supposed suicide. Armed with George’s lessons about memories, wood, and truths making music, she sets out to solve yet another murder. The structure could be annoying if not for the pitch-perfect delivery by Natasha Lyonne and the whip-smart script, which makes the most of its actor’s talents.

Almost reverent, George teaches Charlie about the art of BBQ. It’s all about the details and the stall. She proves to be a good student when she uses that knowledge of the cook to figure out that the dog was beaten by pecan wood. George’s trailer was the only place with a pecan wood pile on the property. This convinces her that George’s killer and the dog’s attacker are the same. Poker Face Episode 3 does a masterful job of letting Charlie find the clues using all the lessons she has learned throughout the season. When she tells Taffy she knows he is lying about his brother’s suicide, he echoes the worthless words of those who came before him. he tells her he has all the power and no one will believe her. It’s a mistake he will regret.

Taffy thinks he thought of everything. He and Mandy pay off their loan by taking out a loan using the restaurant as collateral and think they are in the clear. But, of course, this was Mandy’s plan all along, and she believes she has thought of every angle. The radio show gave them both alibis, the trailer was locked from the inside, and the dog was dead on the road, indicating he was hit by a car. This dog has nine lives, though, and Charlie is an animal lover with a DVD library in her trunk to prove it. Her traveling library of entertainment is hilariously what caused George to want to stop cooking and eating meat. Anyone who has seen OKja can relate to that sentiment. It’s a heartbreaker.

Charlie is a fly in the ointment that doesn’t give up. Even when she believes she won’t be able to prove any wrongdoing, her determined nature won’t let her let it go. George’s symphony constantly plays in her ear, warning her something is off. When she is caught searching George’s apartment, she tells Mandy and Taffy she knows about the cinnamon dental floss used to lock the door. However, Mandy still thinks she has everything under control because of their supposed air-tight alibi.

All of that changes when Charlie tells Taffy that she knows the sausage segment of the live program was recorded, and thus Taffy’s alibi is a lie. The devil is in the details, and even though Charlie didn’t understand why Mandy lied about the paprika the night before, she does now. Like every killer before her underestimated Charlie, the two tell her to leave now because the sheriff is a friend as she will never be believed. It is then that the final pieces fall into place. The recording wasn’t much about what was heard but what wasn’t. Taffy’s recording did not have a train whistle in the background. The train went by during his show, and if the sausage segment had been live, there would have been a train whistle.

Taffy then calls Mandy in a panic and says he will go to the cops and make a deal. Mandy tells him to calm down and says she will be right there. Austin(uber-talented Shane Paul McGhie) can do almost any voice, and he is both the voice of the Incel radio host Hanky T Pickens who the dog loves, and Taffy in that phone call. Charlie keeps Charlie talking while she waits for the police, who she knows Mandy will have called. When the police arrive, Charlie reminds Taffy that any good cook depends on the stall, and he knows she has him. Mandy is not getting away with murder, though, as Charlie recorded Austin’s conversation with her. She leaves the dog with Austin and leaves town with the knowledge that she has solved another murder and gotten justice for the just.

Charlie is a worthy opponent that is overlooked because of her transitory lifestyle and her goofy behavior. She is more intelligent than she first seems and more moral than she ever thought she was. Poker Face Episode 3 is a fun mix of Matlock and Diners, Drive In’s, and Dives. It’s full of kooky people, meat so flavorful you can smell it through the screen, and book woods dealings that arent legal. The signature sarcasm and clever wordplay continue to impress me. Color me a fan. Find all our Poker Face coverage here.