Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Poker Face.On the previous episodeofPoker Face, our resident lie detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) took a detour to New Mexico and got swept up in solving the murder of Subway employee Damian (Brandon Micheal Hall) that was believed to be committed by the oddball trucker Marge (Hong Chau). Cale deduces that it was actually committed by Jeb (Colton Ryan), the mechanic at the shop where she took her car. Plus, let’s not forget that Cliff (Benjamin Bratt) is on the lookout for Charlie, but was thankfully diverted to Los Angeles when Sara (Megan Suri), a cashier Charlie befriended, purposely gives him the wrong information. Now, let’s drive and see where Episode 3 takes us, shall we?
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Brothers Who Barbecue
The mystery in “The Stall” involves brothers George (Larry Brown) and Taffy Doyle (Lil Rel Howery) who run a very popular BBQ hotspot in Texas. Taffy is an energetic and upbeat soul who loves his meat-centric lifestyle. Heck, he even hosts a popular radio show about the subject. His brother George, however, is having some second thoughts. He is leaving the lucrative family business and becoming a vegan because he doesn’t want to be a murderer. This throws quite the wrench into Taffy’s big beef rub deal, which he planned on closing with his brother. Taffy can’t afford to buy George out of his share of the company because he is not good with money like George, who assures him that he spoke with some money people who will make the deal fair.
Desperate and stressed, Taffy records himself praising George, who he calls the “real genius” of the operation, while alone in his car. Following this, Taffy shares a beer with his brother, who plans on heading to California for his post-meat life. Despite Taffy’s friendly pleas, George has his mind and heart set on a voyage of veganism. Taffy laments about how their father always made him feel less than George, but George reminds him that the big beef operation they run is all because of Taffy and George’s wife Mandy’s (Danielle Macdonald) drive and ingenuity. But, compliments don’t pay the bills. Taffy expresses his concern to Mandy, and they share a knowing glance.
Stuff gets sinister during the live radio show when Taffy plays the recorded clip of himself in the car praising his brother and sneaks out of the booth. Ironically, while that ode to George plays, Taffy goes to George’s trailer with the intention of murdering him. George is snoring on the floor and Taffy opens the windows and locks the door from the inside using his meat floss from the outside. Then, he sneaks a hose in through the window and connects the other end to the smoker, which in turn leaks gas into the trailer. A barking dog almost thwarts his plan, and in a panic, Taffy kills it with a log that he then throws in the fire. After nervously putting the dog on the side of the road, he returns to the booth in the nick of time (he coordinated the timing on his watch, as did Mandy) and hops on the mic to “continue” the “live” talk. He throws the handkerchief he used to wipe the blood off his boot into the fire as well and carries on as if he didn’t just kill his brother.
An Air Horn at the Symphony
Remember that barking dog? It hops into Charlie’s car while she gets gas and refuses to leave or quit barking. Not even pork rinds will sway this stray, so Charlie decides to continue on her journey with a canine companion. The only thing that seems to shut the dog up is right-wing commentary on the radio, which only enrages Charlie more. The dog finally wants to get out, and Charlie gladly lets it run free. The only problem is that it runs over to Boyle’s BBQ and eats some of the expensive meats. George says she can work a few shifts for them to make up for the damage since she’s out of cash.
George and Charlie surprisingly hit it off. At this time, George is all-in on the meat business, a stark contrast to how we were introduced to him earlier in the episode. There are only four ingredients that matter to them at the pit: meat, salt, pepper, and wood. He makes a point to go over the different types of wood they use (hickory, apple, mesquite, and cherry) and explains how an “alchemy” takes place during the stall period of smoking. He uses a special kind of wood—pecan—when smoking the tongue, his favorite part to eat. We also learn that Mandy typically stays at their house in town rather than with George in the trailer, but he insists it isn’t lonely as that’s when he does his best thinking.Thinking? How about movies?
Of course, Charlie has a secret stash of DVDs. She offers some up to George and tells him that she startedOkja, which is, as of where she left off, pretty cute. Well, if you know anything aboutBong Joon-ho’s 2017 filmOkja, you know that it becomes increasinglylesscute, as its story revolves around the horrific treatment of animals involved in the meatpacking industry. Andthatis what pushes George to become vegan. Now, when he looks at the food he’s prepared, he sees victims, not a delicious dinner.
The story jumps ahead a bit, with George smiling as he grills carrots and tells Charlie about how he told Taffy he was done with the business. He wants to live on the road, no strings attached, like Charlie, and is strangely comforted by the unknown. Right when he is about to tell Charlie something, Mandy yells for her to get back in the kitchen, and he assures her that he will tell her what he wanted to tell her later. (Famous last words.) Now evening, Taffy returns from the murder and tosses that handkerchief into the fire. While looking for paprika, Beto (Dylan Frederick) comes across George’s trailer, which is now becoming engulfed in flames.
It’s All About the Details
Charlie’s BS senses immediately detect foul play at the memorial service for George, especially when he says that carrying on the family business is what George would have wanted. Charlie’s very confused to learn that his death was ruled a suicide, as he was so happy about his meat-free future on the open road. Meanwhile, Mandy and Taffy have no problem making money off of George’s signature beef rub. While driving, Charlie finds her fascist dog passenger from before bleeding out on the side of the road.
The dog proves to be still alive (so Taffy actuallydidn’tkill him) and Charlie takes it to the vet and learns that it wasn’t hit by a car, but was beaten with wood, as evidenced by the wound and splinters stuck inside. As the veterinarian says that she noticed a tooth was missing, Charlie decides to smell and bite the extracted wood to identify which variety it was. While tasting and comparing quite a few pieces, she identifies the wood from the dog to be pecan, meaning the dog had to have been beaten nearby the pecan wood by George’s trailer. She confirms this to be the case when she finds a charred dog tooth in the pit.
Mandy decides that she’s going to be in charge of the finances from now on, and Taffy is just relieved that Dallas people are paid off, and that Mandy has covered their bases. Taffy is frustrated to see Charlie still lurking around the premises even though she quit. It’s even worse that she’s asking people questions, as she wants to get to the bottom of the attempted dog murder. Taffy reminds her that his brother died and that focusing on the dog is far less important, but we know he just doesn’t want to be found out for being the one to have beaten the dog. Charlie points out that it’s weird how the person must’ve moved the dog to the road after hurting it near George’s trailer with the pecan wood. Charlie takes this theory one step further, saying that she thinks the dog saw “malfeasance” in regard to George’s death, and the person in question beat the dog in order to “silence” it. Don’t worry, though. She knows dogs can’t talk.
One thing that is especially “off” to Charlie is the fact that George said that he’d tell her what he wanted to tell her later, but died before he could tell her. She knew that he was telling the truth when he said that, and so has a hard time believing he died by suicide. Taffy tries to change the subject, saying he would give everything up to bring George back, a totally blatant lie that she immediately identifies as bullsh*t. Right when she wants to leave with the healing dog and put it all behind her, she decides to go to the trailer and look around. She finds an open map of California, an indicator that George was planning his future. She also notices something strange around the inside lock: a red line of residue.
Even though the story is that George locked himself inside, the floss ring makes Charlie think otherwise. Mandy catches her around the trailer, and she explains about her lie-detecting abilities. Mandy says Taffy had a solid alibi about being in the radio booth, making Charlie snoop. She gets a copy of the previous night’s radio show and realizes it’s pretty weird that there is a large chunk of time when Taffy talks about sausage and doesn’t take any calls. She tells this to Mandy and says how, if that was pre-recorded, he had time to sneak out and kill George. But, there was still something missing…paprika.
Why would Mandy lie about not knowing where the paprika was the other night? She claims it was hectic, and she wanted Beto to find it. Charlie confronts Taffy and says that it was strange he washed out the bottle of beer in George’s trailer and that it was also weird that the sound of the train that always passes by wasn’t picked up on the radio show recording she got. That’s because he muted the microphone when he went to kill George. She also has Austin (Shane Paul McGhie), the man of many radio voices, fake a call to Mandy as Taffy saying that Charlie has enough evidence pinned on them, prompting her to lash out and say he shouldn’t have beaten that dog and gotten off track. Charlie drags out her accusatory conversation with Taffy (or, should we say, does “the stall”) and the cops arrive to arrest Taffy with the help of Mandy. But, before she can get away with it, she and the cop hear her “conversation” with Austin (who she thought was Taffy), and it was revealed that she was in on it as well. Where, oh where, will Charlie Cale drive to next?
