What a brilliant little series, and episode this was.
"Here's Okja, I've only seen the first half, cute movie"
I love this show. A real old fashioned series setup, with the star bringing things bang up to date. I love the way the setup of each episode presents the clues that Charlie will later use to solve the case.
Stylish, funny and an easy watch. What's not to like?
[7.5/10] “The Stall” is an interesting installment, because my reaction to it was opposite to the first two episodes of Poker Face. For those, my reaction was, “Yes, yes, the mystery is certainly cool, but I’m having more fun just spending time with these characters.” And yet, for “The Stall” the characters are perfectly fine, but I was more captivated by how Charlie solved the mystery.
That's not to say the characters are bad by any stretch of the imagination. Getting Lil Rel Howery of Get Out fame is a boon, and he’s perfectly cast as Taffy, the showboating entrepreneurial half of a brother-run barbecue company. His more sensitive and meticulous sibling, George, has a strong but sensitive presence all his own. And George’s wife, Mandy, does the “steel behind the southern smile” bit well. The setting of an outdoor picnic bench restaurant and mobile home works to mix up the show’s rotating set of backdrops.
The catch is that the details here -- wife conspires and cheats with her husband’s brother when he threatens to bring down their golden goose -- is a bit stock as crime drama plots go. The real flash comes in how Taffy and Mandy pull it off, with a nice alibi in the form of Taffy doing his radio show via recording during the murder, with a live call-in before and after to give plausible deniability, and some creative (and poetic) logistics in the form of Taffy locking his brother’s door from the outside using his trademark dental floss and poisoning George with the exhaust from his own smoker.
The one character-focused element of this one I really liked was Charlie’s interactions with the “fascist dog” who proves to be the break in the case. Her being annoyed by, but also protective of, the yappy little mutt turns out to be a lot of fun. It adds texture to the story, beyond the pup’s relevance to the mystery plot, since seeing Charlie rail against but also look after the pup is alternatingly hilarious and adorable.
But what I really like here is how Charlie ends up investigating and solving the case. Her fast friendship with George is a little too quickfire (as is inevitable for any of these single-serving stories), but you buy their bond enough for George’s “listen to the symphony” message about tastes and smells to sink in. The composer for this one deserves an award, because the way the score sells Charlie’s internal ability to tell where the wood lodged in the dog’s skull came from, not to mention recognize Taffy’s involvement in the door-locking, through little stings and melodies that expertly convey what she’s thinking and detecting.
Likewise, I love the involvement of Austin, the bored theater major at the radio station who puts on different voices to populate an entire programming block’s worth of different personalities. The entire time Charlie was figuring out what happened here, I wondered to myself how she would turn this all into proof enough to convict the evildoers, since it’s largely circumstantial and tough to meet evidentiary standards with.
But Austin is the perfect cinch. Setting up his voice-changing abilities, and then using him to imitate Taffy to (1.) get Mandy to turn on him and then (2.) use Mandy’s own recorded phone conversation with “Taffy” to incriminate her is beautiful. It’s a little too neat and easy, but Charlie taking George’s lesson on “the stall” in a different metaphorical direction, holding Taffy in place with rhetorical cul de sacs long enough for Mandy to show up and sic the cops on him, is a fun enough tribute to the deceased to help the medicine go down.
Throw in some other nice details like George having his vegan change of heart thanks to a bevy of “friendly pig” movies, and the fascist pup ending up cuddled at Austin’s feet, and you have a Poker Face episode that diverts from the previous two, by setting up a mystery and ploy that's more fun than the people and place it occupies. Like someone at a barbecue buffet, I appreciate the variety!
The Okja gag was so good. And, as someone who didn't touch beef or pork or any other mammal meat since i saw it, i can totally relate.
Not as good as the fist two, still enjoyable
Wow, this show is growing on me really fast. Another great episode.
Well, it looks like every police department Charlie comes across is very incompetent because they keep leaving evidence behind which then she finds of course and then solves the crime.
the same plot as the previous episode all over again, someone died and she was fortunately in the crime scene at the right moment, how convenient. seems like the series is headed in that repetitive unoriginal direction.
that’s too bad because the firsts part of the episodes aren’t that bad if you forget the terrible dog-bark.mp3 being spammed and the terrible after effects
had to go political. sad
I found the radio DJ impersonating someone else to get a confession way too convenient. Deus ex machina.
The maga dog! And then the okja impact!
This show is genius.
HOWEVER three is a pattern and I dislike that in the three episodes so far the victim has been a person of color, like switch it up a little, and all the victims have to be the kindest nicest people on earth? Can it not be just a random person? And all of the cases gotta be homicide? Can’t we have a robbery? Kidnap?
This was one of the most fun episodes of TV I recall watching. Series is nothing more than an Incredible Hulk or A Team for the 21st century (stranger rolls into town, rights a wrong, then moves on) but it does it very well. And I for one love the "woke" aspects, anything that says FU to the modern day nazipublicans is good with me. Now, to take to Okju challenge, see if it will turn this lifelong carnivore around.
Somehow I am incredibly engrossed with every single story in this series to the point where Charlie could be removed and I would be just as invested. Love Charlie and I’m glad she’s around, but I think it’s a testament to the character building that every single cold open gets me hooked.
They could have spared the maga joke, and I'm not even an american citizen, I don't care about politics, it just added nothing, it was there just for the controversy. Nonetheless nice episode, tematic though it's getting kind of repetitive and a little far fetched.
Pre John Wick, the film idiom was always, "NEVER kill the dog"! You can kill the spouse, the lover, the mean boss, hell, if they're bad enough, you can even get away with killing the kids, but, never, ever, kill the dog cuz you'll lose the audience. (and have PETA on your azz)
In the case of this episode, killing the dog may not have sunk the entire story, but, had the "little fascist" mutt completely assumed room temperature prior to its discovery by Charlie, wouldn't she have discovered the key clue that caused her to becoming so invested in sleuthing the apparent suicide of her new wood guru / pit-master friend, George. Perhaps, but, it wouldn't have felt as organic as the way into the case, as well as highlighting Charlies capacity for compassion and justice for more than only wrongly accused humans. Also, had the little beastie NOT exited her car and despoiled the tasty meals of the Boyles BBQ customers, she would have had no reason to hire on, and thus, we wouldn't have been treated to the Cliff Notes lesson on the importance and merits of various types of hardwoods in relation to their transporting generous portions of animal proteins and by-products on the slow train to Flavor-town, this being a key element in the solving of the mystery.
Once again we were shown how the murder was committed, but, in a way, Charlie may have actually been the impetus for the crime, or, at least the spur in the ribs of the horse, as SHE was the one who gave meat mogul George the DVD's which anthropomorphized his former culets, ribs, and briskets into friends he could no longer feel good about exploiting, even if he was REALLY good at making them tender, tasty, and OH so delicious.
Throw in a trifling, melanin deficient wife with a hankering for money and a second helping of dark meat, as well as a brother with the gift of gab but a lack of culinary chops, and voilà, you've got a recipe for murder, smokehouse style. After all, it's Texas, and ain't nobody cueing up to nosh on smoked carrots and celery.
Once again the side characters again played a key role in the caper, as Shane Paul McGhie's bored voice actor extraordinaire "Hanky T Pickins" (but I go by Austin) puts the sub in subterfuge with his talent for mimicry that both exposed Mandy's trifliness, as well as her penchant for self preservation. And, lets not forget his love for down on their luck, but formerly fascist dogs, that, might actually not be fascist, but, simply a BLM supporter. (..It's just JOKES y'all!)
All in all, another good episode. If they keep this up, they might just get a few more seasons, as long as Natasha is willing.
Charly bliss for the win
Shout by LieslBlockedParent2023-03-09T12:28:29Z
I loved the instrument noises while Charlie was trying the different pieces of wood. So clever!