This time, on “Poker Face,” after binge-watching “The Office,” Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) has taken a job as an administrative assistant and gets involved in a minor league baseball team after a baseball crashes through the window and hits her. It’s the type of unlikely inciting event we’ve come to expect.
“Poker Face” Season 2, Episode 5: Hometown Hero
Russ ‘Rocket’ Waddell (Simon Rex) is a baseball pitcher who is famous for his 100 MPH fastball. But he’s been struggling, and the team, The Cheesemongers (named for the imitation cheese the town is known for), is on a losing streak. Waddell is told he’s going to be let go and hatches a plan, with other members of the team, to bet on his own team losing the next five games. The trouble is, he’s already being replaced, and that throws a monkey wrench in the plan. He stands to lose everything.
Brandon Perea, Gil Birmingham, Carol Kane, and Ego Nwodim also appear in the episode.
How Was It?
As usual, “Poker Face,” Charlie Cale gets deeply involved with the people she meets. When she partakes of Felix, the new guy’s chewing gum, she has a psychedelic trip and her vision of the ball park’s founder tells her to save the park, to save baseball. It was great! So unexpected, and it added the usual humorous undertones of the show.
After a death is discovered, Charlie steps in to investigate and help save the park from a wrongful death lawsuit, which could cause it to shut down. It never gets old watching Charlie go around calling bulls**t when she hears a lie. You know what happened already, so it’s entertaining to see her find out the clues and challenge the liars and drop the bait so they incriminate themselves.
It wasn’t the best “Poker Face” episode of the series so far, but it’s still classic Charlie Cale and worth watching to see her antics.
