Poker Face Recap: Ashes to Ashes

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Shall we pause for a moment to honor Natasha Lyonne? I find myself saying this at least once a week, but the second episode of the second season of Poker Face truly showcases her versatility and unique traits. As Charlie, she brings out aspects of the character we seldom see, yet every bit of “Last Looks” bears Lyonne’s signature as its director and co-writer. Who else but her would cleverly incorporate nods to the 1980 Dennis Hopper film Out of the Blue and its cult star, Linda Manz?

The story begins in a 1970s-inspired setting at a funeral home, where it appears a man brutally kills his wife with a fireplace poker – but this isn’t a real crime; it’s a scene being filmed for a movie. This production is set in 1973, and the director intentionally chooses this era to establish the atmosphere. It’s important to watch characters like Fred (portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito), who reluctantly allows his real-life funeral home to be used for filming, and Fred’s wife Greta (played by Katie Holmes), who is growing weary of the mortuary business and finds excitement in movie production. Fred is stern and emphasizes their true purpose: helping people deal with genuine grief and loss. In contrast, Greta seems eager to leave her current life, as indicated by her forgetting to inform the Hoppenstammers, a vibrant biker family, about the rescheduled funeral due to the movie shooting.

Following another speech by Fred about their life being a “sanctuary for the dignity of death,” Greta feels fed up and proposes a divorce. A makeup artist from the movie has suggested job opportunities in Miami, and she’s eager to leave this “discouraging haunted hellhole.” However, Fred, who is a long-time funeral director, sees no other way for them outside their death-focused lives. He ominously states, “There is no escape.” But there might be an alternative to divorce – it’s just not one Greta would find appealing. Watching the murder scene being filmed upstairs triggers violent thoughts in Fred’s mind. No matter how much blood gets splattered on the walls during filming, everything returns to its original state after a reset. And when the crew finishes at 7 a.m. the next day, they’ll clean and tidy up the set. Handy!

That night, Greta comes home late and drunk, showing no interest in listening to Fred’s apologies or discussing staying put. Instead, she makes a firm decision, as evident when she sends Fred a picture of her packed bags via text. While Greta is taking a lively shower singing “Ring My Bell” — bravo, Katie Holmes — Fred moves the suitcases to the downstairs area, strategically placing them where the murder scene occurs later. Once Greta reaches her destination, he sneaks up behind her and brutally strikes her head with a fireplace poker. The blood spatter coincides with what’s already on the wall (quite convenient!), and he leaves the bloody poker next to the other bloodied pokers. Disposing of the body is straightforward — this is a funeral parlor! Fred cremates Greta and mixes her ashes into a record that plays Santo & Johnny’s 1959 hit “Sleep Walk.” When the crew arrives as scheduled and begins dismantling the set (and the evidence of Greta’s murder) the following morning, it appears that Fred has successfully executed the perfect crime.

It’s usually not until Charlie Cale appears that things seem to fall into place. Upon finding her, she’s relaxing on the beach wearing a vibrant Hawaiian shirt and drinking soda from a whimsical hat. A young child is nearby, listening somewhat as she discusses how it’s been three months since she heard anything from Beatrix Hasp or the five families. She’s taken up a self-improvement journey, trading cigarettes for a vape with a cotton candy flavor. However, these vapes require batteries, leading Charlie to make a significant trip to Publix and cross paths with Tommy (Kevin Corrigan). He has an interest in her 1969 Plymouth Barracuda, which would be ideal for his upcoming period film set in 1973. Before long, Charlie is at the funeral home where she steps into a new role, earning cash by posing as a corpse with fake throat stitches while vaping. When the actor playing the deceased contracts COVID, Charlie finds herself in the perfect position for another acting gig. The director seems unbothered by the cotton candy-scented smoke rising from the supposedly lifeless body.

Regardless of where she travels, Charlie appears to forge connections easily. Unluckily, one of these bonds is formed with Greta, who confesses that she attended cosmetology school to work on living people but ended up painting makeup on deceased bodies after meeting Fred. In an incredibly tragic twist of fate, he was the one who cremated her parents following a car accident that left her an orphaned 25-year-old. Since then, they’ve been inseparable. Charlie also develops a bond with Fred due to being the only one on the crew who shows genuine interest in his work. He shares with her all the advancements in cremation science. It’s often misunderstood that dead bodies are transformed into ashes; in reality, they are pulverized bone fragments that resemble ash and can be incorporated into various items: stained glass, cufflinks, fireworks, and even records. However, Greta doesn’t want to become a record herself. During their night out drinking, she tells Charlie about Fred’s chosen song, “Sleep Walk,” to press her remains into. She expresses her feelings by saying, “It’s like I’m already dead.” Later, she launches into a rant about the song, slide guitar, and cultural appropriation. When the night ends, Greta asks Charlie to pick her up the next morning to take her to Miami.

In a scenario we’re familiar with, Greta isn’t around when I encounter Charlie. Fred informs me that Greta has departed from him, but my curiosity is sparked when I witness him dancing to “Sleep Walk.” I decide to confront him at the Hoppenstammer funeral, where he inquires about Mama Banshee carrying anything with a battery due to potential explosions in the furnace. Fred repeats the same tale there. He maintains to Charlie that Greta left with the film crew and indeed, she did. However, this doesn’t exactly alleviate my concerns because substances can be infused into various items. I link up with the crew at a new location, where Tommy verifies that no one has spotted Greta for the entire day. She was quite tipsy and bombarding Tommy’s phone with calls the previous night, but her responses to his messages since then have been absent. While I converse with Paige from set dec, she confirms that the team cleaned up the gruesome mess at the house earlier that day. They assure me the blood was artificial, but I remain uneasy. Consequently, Tommy and I decide to revisit the death house for a closer investigation.

As I crouched in the coffin, evading Fred’s grasp on the movie set, my eyes caught a crimson droplet on the lightbulb hovering above me. This sight was all it took to challenge Fred. He tried to dismiss it as leftover prop blood, but I knew I had been in that very coffin for an entire day yesterday, and the lights were covered with silk cloth. “This film production provided you with the ideal disguise,” I told him, “a means to halt her, to imprison her eternally within a song of your choosing.”

I couldn’t help but admire Charlie’s fierce determination – it was clear she had been close to Greta, and understandably angry! Yet, before she could extract from Fred an admission of guilt regarding his wife’s death, Tommy barged in with a Miami beach selfie allegedly sent by Greta. Charlie’s apologetic demeanor in this situation was endearing as she tried to console the tearful Fred. However, when left alone in his office, she heard Greta’s “Ring My Bell” ringtone and found her phone stashed away in a desk drawer. As I discovered that the selfie dated back to 2022, Fred appeared behind me and rendered me unconscious with a blow.

The ending scene of the episode is brilliantly executed, commencing with Charlie waking up trapped within a coffin, destined to be incinerated inside a furnace. Lyonne portrays an intensity of panic and desperation in Charlie that we haven’t seen before, making the scene truly chilling. Despite managing to escape at the last moment, Fred stands ready to attack. As a director, Lyonne transforms this into a gripping horror sequence, then transitions it into a high-speed action movie sequence when Charlie recalls the rule about batteries in the furnace and hurls her vape in. The subsequent explosion filled with cotton candy aroma pushes both Charlie and Fred back, but she fails to move him from the burning house. Since all of his loved ones’ remains have been incorporated into the surrounding items, they are now ashes indeed. Sitting tranquilly upstairs while everything around him burns, the parallel to Hitchcock’s Rebecca seems intentional (though that film didn’t end with pyrotechnics made of deceased individuals).

1) Charlie has a slight burn yet remains active. She returns to her vehicle and takes out a cigarette – her vaporizer is ruined, but she deserves this break. This time it’s not Beatrix’s minions causing trouble, but Beatrix Hasp herself, who steps out from the backseat with a gun pointed at Charlie. Rhea Perlman makes her show debut here, although her distinctive voice had already left an impact. “You shouldn’t be smoking that, Charlie Cale,” Beatrix warns. “Cigarettes can be deadly.” Of course, guns are too, but it seems Beatrix isn’t planning to shoot Charlie immediately. They have some outstanding matters to address first.

Just One More Thing

Discussing the choice of setting the movie in 1973 by the PAs is an enjoyable nod to Charlie’s vintage detective approach. One of them comments, “Modern technology like iPhones, DNA evidence, etc., makes solving murders far too straightforward.

Giancarlo Esposito consistently shines in his villain roles, but Katie Holmes’ portrayal of Greta truly brings her to life. She adds a deep emotional depth to the line, “What kind of life is it among the dead?” This sentiment strongly impacts Charlie.

– What strikes me about Holmes is her exceptionally bright smile, which to be honest, seems somewhat unnatural for her character. I wish they would cast actors with more realistic dental work! Alas, it appears I’m fighting a losing battle.

In a subtle political tone, Charlie made interesting references to Hunter S. Thompson during her speech at the beach. She lamented to a young boy that he didn’t seem to grasp these references, expressing regret. Her point was that it’s crucial to preserve literature, especially in Florida libraries.

One enduring delight in watching Poker Face is Charlie’s obscure allusions. I haven’t watched Out of the Blue, but I understand it’s a movie that Lyonne feels deeply about. Interestingly, she and Chloë Sevigny (a friend of hers who played a murderer in the previous season) even launched a crowdfunding campaign to restore this film.

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2025-05-08 16:47