SPOILERS

“Time of the Monkey”

I had a chance to watch the fifth episode of Peacock’s new series, Poker Face yesterday, starring Natasha Lyonne. I had started to be concerned about the show. The last episode was my least favorite of the series so far and the formula had started to wear a little thin. I was hoping that it would right itself because I have really enjoyed the character of Charlie Cale and Lyonne’s portrayal of her.

I am happy to announce that I found episode five to be highly entertaining (though very unlikely) and that the series took the formula that it had been using and piqued it a bit, making it feel so much fresher than it had become.

Then, when you add a talented actor such as Judith Light to the cast as a guest star, things are destined to improve.

As in past episodes, we start off with the murder. This time, it was the wheelchair-bound Judith Light playing Irene, and S. Epatha Merkerson as Joyce, who were collaborating to murder a man at the old-age complex called Mossy Oaks. The manner in which they pulled off the murder was the part of the show that really required the viewer to suspend disbelief.

Getting past the actual murder itself, the format changed a little bit. The show did go back in time to show that Charlie was still there, but unlike previous episodes, Charlie did not befriend the eventual victim, she became friends with Joyce and Irene, the soon-to-be killers.

Turned out that Irene and Joyce were not just some cool old broads, but were domestic terrorists from the 1960s who used bombs to send their messages and had intended on targeting a group of high school students at a Model UN conference. They were stopped by a man they had been intimate with,named Gabriel and they wound up spending years in jail.

Of course, Gabriel, under his witness protection, was placed at Mossy Oaks, triggering the revenge-minded pair.

Charlie’s lie-detecting skills helped her uncover Gabriel’s “fake nephew” who was his FBI handler, played by Howard Wolowitz himself, Simon Helberg.

Charlie wound up in some dangerous situations as the two women were anything but push overs and the fight scene between them was a real hoot. Judith Light is an outstanding actor and she had several moments of excellence in this episode.

I enjoyed this episode a great deal and I am pleased that episode 4 seemed to be the exception for me.