[7.9/10] Another winning episode. My favorite part of this one is how the audience’s sympathies shift with Charlie’s. (Or, at least, they do if you’re anything like me.)
At first, you love Irene and Joyce, even before you know their history. They are the bad girls of the nursing home which is, somehow, much cooler than it sounds. The two of them smoking weed, playing their boombox in the rec room, and otherwise causing trouble in a fairly safe and staid environment makes them adorable. I don’t know what it is about seniors acting like rebellious teenagers that's so much fun, but it’s infectious. So when you see their great friendship and mischievous attitude together, you’re nigh-instantly on their side.
By gum, they’re resourceful too! This may be the most clever (or at least elaborate) murder scheme we’ve gotten in the show so far. The combination of the cleverness of their zoo alibi and the vitals monitor switcheroo, and the physical dedication of Irene’s two story climb and enduring a taser, displays both their ingenuity and dedication to taking out this mysterious man.
So when Charlie bumps into them, it feels like kismet. They seem like old souls, meant to become pals. There’s something about their rebellious attitude and general resourcefulness that makes you think Charlie could become Irene and/or Joyce given another few decades. Their rapport is easy, and running gags like Charlie mining the lost and found add bits of joy to the proceedings.
The shit soon gets serious though. The notion of them as hippies who were not only imprisoned for thirty years for their youthful rebellion, but with Irene being maimed by a gunshot to the back while running away makes you not just like these women, but sympathize with them. Their story is a tragedy, and an injustice. I discerned pretty easily that Gabriel, their resistance movement’s leader, had sold them out. But hearing their story makes you understand why they wanted to kill him, and makes it seem like righteous vengeance for decades of their life and the use of Irene’s body parts.
What I didn’t peg, however, is that Gabriel was, depending on your point-of-view, the good guy in the situation. The twist that he wasn't just saving his own skin, but rather was trying to stop them from blowing up a bunch of teenagers, turns everything upside down, for the audience and for Charlie. Suddenly, Gabriel is the (at least more) sympathetic one, and these women seem like monsters, especially as their hits escalate. Charlie realizing, “Oh wait, you’re the assholes” at roughly the same time the viewer does is a cool move. I’d wondered if this would be the episode where Charlie allows the murder to go unsolved, but the change in the moral complexion of the situation means we stay on track here.
Speaking of which, I love the elements of this one apart from the main murder mystery. Charlie suddenly having a friend who owes her a favor in the FBI is a good chit for the show to cash in and a later date, and Simon Helberg plays well off of Natasha Lyonne as a more strait-laced agent of “the man” who nonetheless recognizes her instincts. Likewise, I appreciate Poker Face paying tribute to Murder She Wrote with Charlie consulting “The Fletchers”, a group of murder-mystery enthusiasts, to help piece together how Joyce and Irene might have done it. Not for nothing, the performances here are absolutely excellent. Part of why you get on board with Irene and Joyce is the gleeful, lived-in dynamic the two display with one another. A big part of why you sympathize with them is the grave way they recount their time in the underground, and the horrors that befell them thanks to the feds. And even Gabriel’s monologue about not regretting what he did, but wanting their forgiveness is acted near-perfectly. Judith Light, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Reed Birney all kill it, if you’ll pardon the expression.
My one complaint is that things get a little cartoony from there. The two women deciding to blow up their irksome busybody of a fellow resident with her own instapot is a solid enough callback to them planning to use pressure cookers to bomb a model U.N. meeting. But the fight between the deadly duo and Charlie can't seem to find the right balance between intense and comical, and the exploding golf cart feels like a bridge too far. I get the idea that the show wants to convey the depths of their murderous streak here, but it comes as too much.
Still, this is one of the most enjoyable episodes of an already enjoyable show, with great performances to lead the way, and some truly memorable characters, even if they break Charlie’s and our hearts by the time the credits roll.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-02-05T05:42:00Z
[7.9/10] Another winning episode. My favorite part of this one is how the audience’s sympathies shift with Charlie’s. (Or, at least, they do if you’re anything like me.)
At first, you love Irene and Joyce, even before you know their history. They are the bad girls of the nursing home which is, somehow, much cooler than it sounds. The two of them smoking weed, playing their boombox in the rec room, and otherwise causing trouble in a fairly safe and staid environment makes them adorable. I don’t know what it is about seniors acting like rebellious teenagers that's so much fun, but it’s infectious. So when you see their great friendship and mischievous attitude together, you’re nigh-instantly on their side.
By gum, they’re resourceful too! This may be the most clever (or at least elaborate) murder scheme we’ve gotten in the show so far. The combination of the cleverness of their zoo alibi and the vitals monitor switcheroo, and the physical dedication of Irene’s two story climb and enduring a taser, displays both their ingenuity and dedication to taking out this mysterious man.
So when Charlie bumps into them, it feels like kismet. They seem like old souls, meant to become pals. There’s something about their rebellious attitude and general resourcefulness that makes you think Charlie could become Irene and/or Joyce given another few decades. Their rapport is easy, and running gags like Charlie mining the lost and found add bits of joy to the proceedings.
The shit soon gets serious though. The notion of them as hippies who were not only imprisoned for thirty years for their youthful rebellion, but with Irene being maimed by a gunshot to the back while running away makes you not just like these women, but sympathize with them. Their story is a tragedy, and an injustice. I discerned pretty easily that Gabriel, their resistance movement’s leader, had sold them out. But hearing their story makes you understand why they wanted to kill him, and makes it seem like righteous vengeance for decades of their life and the use of Irene’s body parts.
What I didn’t peg, however, is that Gabriel was, depending on your point-of-view, the good guy in the situation. The twist that he wasn't just saving his own skin, but rather was trying to stop them from blowing up a bunch of teenagers, turns everything upside down, for the audience and for Charlie. Suddenly, Gabriel is the (at least more) sympathetic one, and these women seem like monsters, especially as their hits escalate. Charlie realizing, “Oh wait, you’re the assholes” at roughly the same time the viewer does is a cool move. I’d wondered if this would be the episode where Charlie allows the murder to go unsolved, but the change in the moral complexion of the situation means we stay on track here.
Speaking of which, I love the elements of this one apart from the main murder mystery. Charlie suddenly having a friend who owes her a favor in the FBI is a good chit for the show to cash in and a later date, and Simon Helberg plays well off of Natasha Lyonne as a more strait-laced agent of “the man” who nonetheless recognizes her instincts. Likewise, I appreciate Poker Face paying tribute to Murder She Wrote with Charlie consulting “The Fletchers”, a group of murder-mystery enthusiasts, to help piece together how Joyce and Irene might have done it.
Not for nothing, the performances here are absolutely excellent. Part of why you get on board with Irene and Joyce is the gleeful, lived-in dynamic the two display with one another. A big part of why you sympathize with them is the grave way they recount their time in the underground, and the horrors that befell them thanks to the feds. And even Gabriel’s monologue about not regretting what he did, but wanting their forgiveness is acted near-perfectly. Judith Light, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Reed Birney all kill it, if you’ll pardon the expression.
My one complaint is that things get a little cartoony from there. The two women deciding to blow up their irksome busybody of a fellow resident with her own instapot is a solid enough callback to them planning to use pressure cookers to bomb a model U.N. meeting. But the fight between the deadly duo and Charlie can't seem to find the right balance between intense and comical, and the exploding golf cart feels like a bridge too far. I get the idea that the show wants to convey the depths of their murderous streak here, but it comes as too much.
Still, this is one of the most enjoyable episodes of an already enjoyable show, with great performances to lead the way, and some truly memorable characters, even if they break Charlie’s and our hearts by the time the credits roll.