Poker Face (TV Series) Exit Stage Death (2023) User Reviews

Exit Stage Death

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 11 February 2023]

I still approve of this show and am glad that we have it on the airwaves, but this episode just did not quite do it for me. A little bit too similar to the episode about the band that we just had two weeks ago.

Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows may be entertaining in their own right, but together it made for an awkward pairing and the casting never worked.

They can't all be winners, but the good news is that the show remains very easy to watch even when the storylines are not standout quality. That speaks to the power of this show and my hope that we get a second season of it coming up next year.

"Don't you think we should start spending some of that 'She Trade' money?"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 14 March 2023]

This episode follows the pattern of the ones before it, perhaps closest to 'Rest in Metal' in the way it moves forward and the way in which Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) solves the murder at the center of the story. For the viewer, a lot of misdirection is used to convince that Michael Graves (Tim Meadows) and Kathleen Townsend (Ellen Barkin) hate each other. When it's revealed that they were actually a scheming couple in love, it comes as a complete surprise. The rigging of the spotlight by Kathleen and the substitution of dry ice for the metal bolt in the trap door by Michael really made it seem like they were trying to do each other in. I have to say, the way Michael's wife Ava (Jameela Jamil) fell through the trap door was really well done with her head snapping back on the stage floor. Makes me wonder how they did that. What I would question though, would be Ava's running up on stage when Michael faked his heart attack, predicting that would have been nearly impossible. As grim as all the plotting by the murderers was, there were enough humorous bits to maintain the tenor of the series, like Charlie talking to the actors through the refrigerator door, and especially the way she intruded on stage as a 'Ghost of Pensacola' to prevent Rebecca (Audrey Corsa) from eating a peanut butter tasty treat. As usual, Charlie doesn't hang around to take credit for solving a murder mystery, content in the knowledge that the microphone she planted would do in the conspirators.

"And so now I too become just another ghost of Pensacola."

[MarvinDarwin · 7/10 · 25 November 2023]

As the other reviewers have pointed out, this episode's main plot is quite goofy, convoluted, and at times non-sensical. The episode is also similar to the ones before and I find it unlikely that Charlie would always end up in these murderous situations (which is a slight issue I have with the show in general).

There are, however, quite a few comedic moments that deliver and aren't dragged out to the point where they're no longer funny. Charlie not caring a bit about theater conventions when trying to warn the actors of the supposed conspiracy was quite amusing to witness.

For me, the highlight of the episode was its ending. I believe the final scene with the monologue was masterfully done. Hearing the monologue (which is delivered wonderfully), Charlie tears up, signifying that now she believes the actress. Without a single additional word, we know that Kathleen truly becomes "just another ghost." A silly episode for sure, but in my opinion, it ends on a high note.

Dont hide love

[AvionPrince16 · 8/10 · 6 March 2023]

An episode pretty interesting where we follow a couple that basically hide their love and try to make people think they hate each other: i have been pretty surprised when i saw that they loved each other and that was pretty unexpected. We understand that they wanted to kill the other wife of the man. They did it but things get complicated when an actor of the theatre blackmailed them after discovered everything.

I need to say that i really enjoyed the episode even if it had the same structure that the others. But with this one i really like the story and the script. It have interesting shots and the writing make us want to know more about it and to know how Charlie will resolve it. And i found this one a little bit more believable: the tricks and the behind the scenes with the actors who hide some secrets. I really enjoyed it surprisely. And i like also the comedy side who made me laughed a lot of times during the episode. Still like the visuals, the work arround lights, the set design. The murder case is a little bit more believable and how Charlie will solve it was not really illogical and weird like other episodes. That s why i enjoyed it i guess. I love also the actors who played Kathleen and Michael and offered us the hate speech and was pretty convincing. So yeah another case resolved.

I bless the rains down in Africa

[keablewine · 9/10 · 22 March 2023]

I have and ambient play list for this, yet I was relaxed. I used to tune out to death metal to get "stuff" done. Nothing beats a good rain storm, or a rainstorm on a tin roof. Trains with thunderstorms, if you can get the right quality. Some of them make obvious loop errors and I wake up when there is a pause.

Don't get me wrong, this was not a sleeper episode by no means. I just felt a kinship to the main character when she started putting in ear buds. I had a moment, "i'm not the only one!" obviously there is a massive amount of channels devoted to white noise. 4 hour to 10 hour to 24 hour. The looping though wakes me up every time.

I'm a big fan of the main victim of this show, which is also the lead. Russian Dolls, Orange is the new Black. I have seen great things from her. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Exit Stage Death

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 27 July 2023]

It's the War of the Roses. The main characters are called Michael and Kathleen!

Kathleen Townsend (Ellen Barkin) and Michael Graves (Tim Meadows) are two bickering but washed up actors. Only Michael has married a rich young wife Ava (Jameela Jamil.)

Needing money and success. Kathleen persuades Michael to reunite for a one night performance of a tragic play.

Only the arguing and insults just continue. On the night of the play both actors set a death trap to kill each other. Instead Ava dies and Paul the stage manager gets blamed for the accidental death.

Charlie who works in catering at the theatre wants to clear Paul's name.

What I liked about the episode was that it was not clear who the victim could be. Also Charlie is not the first one to figure out the killer.

I noted this was a Charlie lite episode, it was a while before sh appears. Then again the star power is provided by Ellen Barkin. At the end I did wonder if Exit Stage Death was a literal title.

Woof.

[bryannoonan · 1/10 · 20 March 2023]

What happened here? This episode is a mess, and fails to hit all the marks the other episodes hit. I don't fault the acting, so much as the editing, writing and directing. The pacing is awful, the connections Charlie's makes are haphazard and illogical, and, despite an interesting premise, the overall arc of the ploy simply doesn't work. This episode should have been canned, that's how little I think of this episode. I've been watching this series with friends and family, and I felt guilty for watching ahead of them on this particular episode. Now I don't, I feel like a martyr. Now I can tell them to skip this drivel. Frankly, I'm a hero.

Ugh.

[marysl · 1/10 · 10 March 2023]

This one episode is a real mess. The premise is preposterous and it seems like it was made as part of a different series. To go from the previous episode, which was TV at its best, to this one, was a real let-down. If this has been the first episode of the show that I had watched, I never would've continued on to other episodes. It's terribly written and poorly acted by Ellen Barkin and Tim Meadows. And it is beneath the talents of Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne. It definitely doesn't belong in the excellent lineup of other Poker Face episodes. If I had known, I would have skipped it altogether.

Not again, please

[Muldino · 5/10 · 25 January 2024]

I like Poker Face, I really do. I am binging the series since yesterday and have watched most episodes back to back.

For all the good story telling so far in all the episodes, there is one trope that just keeps repeating itself that has really started to annoy me, and now during the 6th episode it just happened too often for my taste - the fact that the first thing Charlie does when discovering a crime is blindly running immediately to the perpetrator and telling them about her suspicions.

I just don't get why the writers think this is a great idea for a story plot point if it is repeated again and again. One maybe, or twice across the whole season, would be ok as it creates tension and puts her in immediate "danger". But it has begun to wear off to a point that it pi**es me off. Now I find it difficult to enjoy everything else that makes the series interesting, including the usually great cast.