Poker Face Season 2 Episode 2, “Last Looks,” is a delightfully deadly outing that maintains a steady clip until those final high-octane moments. Charlie is almost burned alive! Beatrix Hasp finds her! It’s not looking good for our girl, but she’s resourceful. Charlie Cale is like a cockroach — not even the apocalypse can kill her.
RELATED: Read our recap of the previous Poker Face episode, “The Game Is a Foot”
Poker Face, “Last Looks”
We open with a film cast and crew shooting a 1970s-era movie at a funeral home. In this particular scene, a young woman snaps photos of the older couple who own the establishment, catching them in the act of dabbling in under-the-table business. The wife and husband get into it, culminating in the latter bashing the former’s head in with a fire poker. Blood splatters on the wall. The director orders them to reset the scene for another take.
As the crew resets, Paige (Sherry Cola), one of said crew, asks a woman, Greta (Katie Holmes), if she’s part of the shoot. Greta admits she’s not, but they’re using the funeral home her husband owns. Downstairs, Fred (Giancarlo Esposito) works dutifully on a corpse, preparing her for a service. Two PAs venture down into Fred’s workspace to chat about the film, but Fred shoos them away.
All That Remains
Next, Fred heads upstairs to complain about the crew. He overhears incorrect terminology in the scene as the camera rolls for another take. They’re not ashes; they’re human remains, people. Fred makes the crew promise to leave his establishment better than they found it. After all, this shoot is disrupting business.
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Fred pulls his wife aside to vent his frustrations. He reminds Greta that having the crew film in their funeral home was her idea. Greta’s taken in by the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, though. She fires back that they’re getting money out of this. Business has been slow, and this cash bump will certainly inject new life (hee-hee) into it.
Outside, Fred runs into the Hoppenstammer family, who believe the service for the grandmother he fixed up is scheduled for that day. Fred apologizes profusely to Mr. and Mrs. Hoppenstammer (Fabian Alomar and Kathrine Narducci), explaining that he plans to host said service the following day. Greta was supposed to inform them of the rescheduling.
Heading for Divorce
Inside, Fred scolds Greta for her mistake. He asserts that this is his life’s work — his family business. They can’t afford to screw up. Greta reveals she wants a divorce. A crew member told her she could get work doing makeup in Miami.
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As for buying out her share of the funeral home, she has someone in mind who could scoop up the whole shebang and set up Fred for the rest of his life. Greta’s tired of feeling trapped in a death house, and Fred must feel the same way. Fred pivots, suggesting they have a baby. That’ll subvert the day-to-day formula for them. Greta’s insistent on that divorce, though. She needs a fresh start.
Greta refuses to continue talking things through. She leaves Fred with his thoughts. He asks a crew member when they’re leaving. We learn they have a hard out at 7 am the following morning, when they’ll break down the set and clean the funeral home.
Life Imitates Art
That night, Greta stumbles into the house, inebriated. She’s still hellbent on leaving for Miami. While upstairs, she sends Fred a pic of her packed bags. We hear Greta singing “Ring My Bell” to herself in the shower. Fred grabs her bags and moves them to where the film crew shot that scene.
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Greta searches for her bags upon getting out of the shower. When she finds them, though, Fred kills her by smacking her in the head with a fire poker. We see her blood splatter on the wall, but it’s in the same spot as the fake blood. RIP, Miami Mama.
Now, it’s time for the cleanup. Fred uses a metal detector while searching her luggage. He disposes of her toothbrush. He cremates her body. Then, Fred puts some of Greta’s remains in the urn for the film scene. The rest? He presses into a vinyl record: “Sleepwalk” by Santo & Johnny. The following morning, the crew packs everything up.
On Beach Time
Then, we check in with Charlie (Natasha Lyonne), who’s lounging on the beach. She regales a child with tales of her life, from experiencing peacefulness after not having heard from Beatrix Hasp or the five families in a few months to vaping in lieu of cigarettes. Charlie leaves to get batteries for her vape, making a beeline for Publix.
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There, she runs into Tommy (Kevin Corrigan), who asks her if a local film crew can use her precious car for their 1970s-set movie. He’ll pay her in cash. Once on set at Fred and Greta’s funeral home, a crew member asks Charlie if she’d like to play the corpse in the coffin during the scene we saw at the beginning of the episode. It pays. I love it when Charlie winds up being in the opening of an episode or tangentially tied to a murder scene.
Next, Charlie vapes in the casket during the take. The director asks for a reset as the power flickers off and on. Fred’s probably fuming right about now. After this, Charlie meets Greta, who’s chatting with other crew members about applying corpse makeup. Well, actually, it’s paint. She expresses interest in moving to Miami to pursue a career as an on set makeup artist. One person vows to hook her up with work. The gang decides to go out for drinks after they wrap for the day.
Sleepwalk
Later, Charlie meets Fred, who tells her all about the specialty (and quite niche) products they offer the bereaved, from putting remains in vinyl records (poor Greta) to putting them in mugs and picture frames. Fred is nothing if not entrepreneurial.
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That night, the crew, along with Charlie, Greta and Tommy, have drinks on the beach. Greta lets loose. She vents about Fred and how controlling he is. He’s already picked out their death song for the record she’ll undoubtedly be pressed into: “Sleepwalk.” We’re familiar with the tune. Greta gives Tommy her number. At one point, she and Charlie are belting out their rendition of “Ring My Bell.”
Once Charlie pulls into the parking lot of the funeral home, Greta begs Charlie to whisk her away to Miami. They can leave together the next morning. Charlie promises to join her on this journey. Of course, we know what happens to Greta after this scene.
She’s Gone
The next morning, Charlie waltzes into the funeral home. She asks Fred about Greta. Greta hasn’t answered her calls or texts. An emotional Fred tells her that Greta left him. She’s gone. Well, technically, he’s not lying. He believes Greta left with the film crew, which part of her did. Not a lie.
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Charlie ventures outside, where she hears “Sleepwalk.” Weird. She spies Fred dancing to it by himself in his office. She recalls what Greta told her about the tune. After this, Charlie returns for the funeral service for Granny Hoppenstammer. Charlie offers her condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Hoppenstammer while asking Fred again about Greta. Fred is visibly annoyed. He insists that Greta is with the film crew at their next shoot location.
So, Charlie moseys on over there. She reunites with Tommy. Tommy hasn’t heard from Greta, nor has Paige. They check with others on set, who convey the same thing. Tommy reveals Greta sent him a string of drunken texts the night before. However, she hasn’t responded to his “Good morning” text. Tommy offers to accompany Charlie back to the funeral home for some good ole-fashioned snooping.
The Truth
Fred hears their arrival, and we see he’s playing with Greta’s phone. He conceals it in his desk drawer. Tommy and Charlie search the building for clues as to what might have happened to Greta. Charlie doesn’t believe she left of her own volition. Fred searches the viewing room, so Charlie hops into a coffin. She spies a light bulb above her with blood on it. She tries to grab it but slips and falls. Fred sees her.
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Charlie goes into interrogation mode. She asks Fred about the bloody light bulb. She tells him that she played a corpse the day before, and the crew used a white sheet over the bulbs to ensure they wouldn’t get fake blood on them. Ergo, the blood on said bulb appeared after the crew wrapped and cleaned up. She’s right.
Suddenly, Tommy arrives, informing Charlie that Greta texted him back. He shows Charlie a photo of Greta in Miami. She traveled there overnight. After Tommy departs, Fred bursts into tears. Charlie comforts him and apologizes for wrongfully accusing him of murdering his wife.
Ring My Bell
After this, Charlie has tea with Fred. He reveals how far back this funeral home goes in his lineage. Also, he has family member remains in just about every object in his office, including the mug from which Charlie drinks. Yummy.
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Before Charlie leaves, she uses the restroom. There, she hears “Ring My Bell” playing. It’s Greta’s ringtone. She follows it to Fred’s desk drawer. Charlie pulls out Greta’s phone and successfully unlocks it. She finds the photo Greta supposedly sent Tommy in Greta’s gallery. It’s from 2022. Uh-oh.
Suddenly, Fred knocks Charlie unconscious. She wakes up in a wooden coffin. We’re made to believe she was buried alive in the nearby cemetery, but Fred is about to cremate her. We see the coffin moving on the conveyor belt toward the flaming incinerator. Charlie bangs on the coffin, begging Fred to let her out. She vows to keep his secret. She won’t tell a soul that he killed Greta.
Burn It All Down
Thankfully, Charlie rocks the coffin back and forth just enough so it falls off the conveyor belt. The coffin cracks open. Charlie scurries away as Fred chases her with a stabbing implement.
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Mind you, the incinerator is still on full blast. Charlie chucks her vape into the flames, causing an explosion. We see jars of formaldehyde go boom due to the heat. The fire spreads throughout the funeral home. Charlie tries to help Fred escape.
However, Fred is entranced by burning embers as they fall like snowflakes. He doesn’t want to leave. Fred knows he’s going to prison for murder, and this place is his life. He returns to his office, sitting at the desk while gazing at his father’s portrait.
Charlie escapes to her vehicle. Now without her vape, Charlie moves to light a cigarette. Suddenly, Beatrix (Rhea Perlman) appears behind Charlie. She presses a gun against Charlie’s temple.
I guess our girl couldn’t remain hidden from the five families for long.
RELATED: Read our Poker Face recaps
Poker Face drops new episodes every Thursday on Peacock.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
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