Poker Face Season 2 Episode 5 Review: A More Grounded Watch

After the events of the last episode, Charlie finds herself in the baseball field investigating a rookie baseball player’s death. Although everyone thinks that it’s a freak accident, Charlie realises that there’s something fishy going on and decides to investigate. Poker Face Season 3 Episode 5 has a runtime of 48 minutes.

Poker Face Season 2 Episode 5 Recap

The episode starts at a baseball game taking place in Montgomery, but star player Russ is having a terrible day on the field. Well, he gets fired as well. That night, at the bar, a desperate Russ decides to get his teammates to bet on themselves losing and make bank. However, the next day, Russ is swapped out by a newcomer, Felix Domingo, who threatens to throw their entire betting game off the hook. The others, desperate to throw the rookie off his game, lace his gum with acid, which only makes Felix play better.

Felix does play phenomenally well, although the others desperately try to make themselves lose. As their fans are left heartbroken, though, the players celebrate their greatest victory ever. Later that night, Russ learns that the spiked gum was still in Felix’s possession and rushes off to get rid of it, only to be confronted by Felix, who knows exactly what they did. He blackmails him to get all the money, and Russ seems to have no other options but to comply.

Angry, he throws a baseball straight at Felix at 101mph, rendering Felix dead. With his fastball talents now back, he decides to get rid of the evidence of his crime and stages it like an accident.

We then go to Charlie, who is still trying to find inspiration and has somehow taken up an office job, and while trying to make a printer work, is smacked on the head by a baseball. She ends up at the ballpark with the ball and ends up taking a job there. During the next game, she gets to know everything about the team and its players and later strikes up a conversation with Russ at the bar. The next day, after the game, she meets Felix as well and has the weirdest conversation with him and then has an acid trip after eating the LSD-laced gum.

Also Read: Forget You Not Review: Emotionally Devastating and Memorable

After having a vivid hallucination (involving B.J. Novak) about Hiram Lubinski, who asks her to save the ballpark, and then is told immediately after that Rambo killed Felix. As an investigation starts on Felix’s death, Charlie tells Lucille about the LSD in the gum, but it comes out negative. Charlie vows to look into the matter further, unwilling to believe that Felix wasn’t high. While talking to the coach, the news of the betting win reaches Charlie, who realises that something smells fishy.

After learning that the fastball that killed Felix was going at over 100mph, Charlie tests Rambo out and talks to Russ about the fastball and catches him in a lie when he mentions that his fastball is gone. She later confronts him with all the facts before his last game and lets it slip that there’s going to be a Big League scout in the stands, making him question whether or not he really wants to throw his game off or take this one in a million chance of doing something with his talent.

Also Read: Fear Street: Prom Queen Review: Stupid End is Stupid

On the pitch, he has to make a choice, and he chooses to play his game. After one dud of a throw, Russ throws a 101mph ball, leaving everyone stunned, including the policeman whom Charlie had mentioned to be a scout. Realising there is no way out, he decides to go out with a bang.

Poker Face Season 2 Episode 5 Review

I think Hometown Hero is a more grounded, relatable episode that plays with the psychological aspects of sports. However, I found the episode to be a bit dull and uneventful, and the most interesting part of the story was when Russ realises that the scout is actually a policeman. Everything else in this episode seemed a bit obvious. I also think that after the madness that was the last episode, this one is quite mild and doesn’t live up to the insanity of it all. The hallucination sequence was cringy, and I don’t know why we had to watch it. It wasn’t funny either.

However, I did enjoy the deeper story taking place here that a lot of people will relate to. As mentioned above, I think the episode was quite grounded. Russ is growing old and realising that his time is ending, as he is being replaced by a younger player, which feels heartbreaking. Watching time pass you by must be difficult, especially in a highly competitive field like sports. Making an incorrect decision and then sinking under just to justify it is also a difficult thing to watch happen, especially when it happens to good people.

Either way, I did enjoy the episode regardless, just missed the laxative eating croc level of insanity, I guess!

Also Read: Poker Face Season 1 Review