But the most amazing thing about Kathleen-after the murder has been discovered-and Barkin’s performance is that when she is on, she can elevate any material, including this fun, but ridiculous, play. The play is basically a parody of a Tennessee Williams play, a sort of A Streetcar Named Desire without wit and nuance. She is also able to pull off the multiple extended monologues from the in-show play they are performing, Ghosts of Pensacola. Barkin, who is a tremendously talented and probably underrated actress, is able to pull it all off. She also has to be believable as a second-rate actress who (as Charlie confirms) does not convey “truth” in her craft.
It is essential to dislike Kathleen, think that she is both interested in and capable of killing Michael, and believe that she is a good enough actress to have convinced everyone, including Ava, that she hates Michael.
PICTURE PERFECT MYSTERIES EXIT STAGE DEATH SERIES
The Guest StarsĮllen Barkin and Tim Meadows are probably the most essential guest stars on the series yet, particularly Barkin.
It is farce at the highest level, and once again, shouldn’t really work, but somehow all the elements come together exactly as they planned. It turns out that the two old partners are still lovers (they are named after Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas after all) and they conspired to make it look like they were fighting and set up a bunch of death traps on stage that led, in a wild series of events, to Ava’s death. Kathleen convinces Michael to do an old play, Ghosts of Pensacola, with her one more time, and from there Ava winds up dead. Michael has since married Ava (Jameela Jamil) who is extremely wealthy. Michael and Katleen used to star together on Spooky and the Cop (between this show and Brazos over on Only Murders in the Building current shows are creating more ’80s detective shows that I would want to watch than there are real ones) but have fallen on hard times since the show ended.
The plot itself is ridiculous, and I have enjoyed this about a few of the Poker Face plotlines-they don’t all use Charlie’s (Natasha Lyonne) superpower of knowing about lies to solve the murder, because some people like Kathleen Townsend (Ellen Barkin) and Michael Graves (Tim Meadows) are so terrible at doing murder and covering their tracks that all it takes is someone mildly interested to look at what happened and the whole scheme falls apart like a pasteboard prop wall. From the once famous television stars coming back for one last bite of glory to the completely checked out crew and actively disinterested waitstaff-except for the obligatory super fan-the way Poker Face S1E6 utilized the trappings of life on the lower levels of theater stage was perfect. Everything about the little dinner theatre feels right. “Exit Stage Death” centers around the stage, specifically the fictional Seneca Lake Dinner theater near Chicago, and makes tremendous use of the setting. Though, as I am neither Johnson nor Lyonne, the results may vary. It is definitely a testament to the creative team behind the show that they have been able to make this show work for each of the first six episodes.Īs I noted last week, my plan with these recaps is to have them follow a formula and hope that the same alchemical magic that pervades the show also applies to them.
The format of Poker Face is great, and that rehash of the familiar helps, but it can only go so far. The guest cast is impeccable, but they can only do so much with the characters they are given.īut, in “Exit Stage Death” Lyonne is off-screen for at least the first 30 minutes and then has very limited screen time even after that, Johnson isn’t directing, and the guest characters are unbearably awful, and yet somehow the show still has that amazing vibe that has made critics fall in love with it. Rian Johnson is the showrunner sure, but he isn’t directing every episode. The format-watching the murder happen first- means that the show’s biggest plus, Natasha Lyonne, is off-screen for the first 20 minutes nearly every week. Poker Face S1E6, “Exit Stage Death,” really makes me wonder how it is that the series works so well because sometimes, in episodes like this one, the elements feel like they should not fit together. The following recap contains spoilers for Poker Face S1E6, “Exit Stage Death” (written by Chris Downey and directed by Ben Sinclair)
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