The fifth episode of “Poker Face” brings us to yet another adventure of Charlie, who has a habit of getting involved in cases and spoiling the plans of people acting with criminal intentions, wherever she goes. So, let’s see what kinds of people she encounters this time and if she is able to unravel the mystery that comes her way.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Were Irene And Joyce?
Both Irene Smothers and Joyce Carter were probably the most free-spirited and fun-loving people Charlie had met in the Mossy Oaks retirement home. Charlie started hanging out with them, and it seemed like their past was more interesting than their personalities. Irene was in college when she met Joyce for the first time. She said that her life changed after that, and she got a real purpose and started working towards it with complete vigor. Joyce introduced her to Gabriel, the magnetic cult leader, who was running a group, the sole purpose of which was to protest against oppressive government policies and fight for equality (that is what Charlie’s perception was after hearing their stories).
Irene became a part of their group, and they had some good times together. The ladies told Charlie that they had garnered so much fame that a band called the Droopy Hues had put their picture on the cover of their album. One day the police conducted a raid at their base, and their plans and everything else got destroyed. Gabriel went and opened the front door, and though they didn’t see him getting killed, the sound of the gunshot was enough to make them realize that their leader had died. Irene got shot in the back, and she ended up losing her legs. Irene and Joyce were still the lucky ones who survived and were sent to prison.
People in Mossy Oaks had warned Charlie about getting too close to Irene and Joyce, who enjoyed a notorious reputation among the other members. But Charlie believed in what she saw, and as far as her judgment went, she believed in the narratives that both of them were political prisoners who had dared to raise their voices against a fascist regime and had been convicted for the same. In people’s eyes, they were felons, but Charlie knew that they only wanted the world to be a better place to live in. They were rebels but not without a cause, and Charlie couldn’t help but notice a lot of similarities between their lives and hers. Charlie was a victim of a capitalist society as well. She had stood up for her friend and fought to get her justice, but in turn, she had made powerful enemies who were after her life. Throughout the four episodes of “Poker Face,” we saw how Charlie had a knack for remembering the details and connecting the dots, and the 5th episode was no exception. Charlie stumbled on certain details, and she realized that the truth wasn’t as simple and straightforward as she had been told.
‘Poker Face’ Episode 5: Ending Explained: Was Charlie Able To Get Irene And Joyce Arrested?
One day Irene and Joyce noticed a very familiar face entering the premises of their retirement home. They instantly realized that it was their leader, Gabriel, who had somehow survived. They were elated to be reunited with him, but they were not anticipating what he was going to tell them. Gabriel was a police informant, and he had given them a tip about an attack planned by the group.
On that fateful day, when the police came, Gabriel went out and quietly sat in the police van while bullets were fired at his group members. Gabriel himself told these things to Irene and Joyce and asked for their forgiveness. Both the ladies said that they forgave him, but obviously, that term didn’t mean anything to them. They had every intention of killing him, and that is what they did. Residents of Mossy Oaks wore an electronic bracelet that functioned similar to a smartwatch and was primarily used by medics to monitor their health. Any spike in heartbeats was registered on it, and the medics were instantly alerted in case of an emergency.
Irene and Joyce created the perfect alibi for themselves so that the authorities couldn’t even think about them being involved in the crime. Irene somehow managed to escape from the window of the washroom and climb the plant ladder, which led to Gabriel’s room. She then injected him with Nitrous Oxide, which she obtained from the man who used to deliver gardening supplies to the retirement home. Joyce had been holding the washroom door shut so that no one could enter and see that Irene was not present. A zoo trip was planned later that day, and both Irene and Joyce went there. Irene had stolen the bracelet from Gabriel, and in the zoo, she wore it, and Joyce gave her a shock through a taser gun. The spike was registered on the electronic bracelet, and the medics at the retirement home thought that Gabriel had gotten a heart attack, though, in reality, he had been dead since a couple of hours earlier.
Charlie got to know that the guy pretending to be Gabriel’s nephew was actually a witness protection officer named Luca Clark, who had been entrusted with the responsibility of keeping him safe. Gabriel, who had taken the pseudonym Ben, had become the prime witness in the case against Irene and Joyce, which is why his identity was kept concealed. During his funeral, Charlie saw his picture from his youth, and she recognized that he was the same guy whom she had seen on the poster of Droopy Hues. Still, Charlie was not able to believe that Irene and Joyce were capable of killing someone, but slowly, all the dots started to connect.
Charlie began snooping around, and from asking the gardener about nitrous oxide to inspecting Gabriel’s electronic bracelet, she gathered enough evidence to prove that Irene and Joyce had murdered Gabriel. Charlie was devastated to know that they had been sent to prison because they were planning to bomb the facility that was hosting a model United Nations competition for the youth. Irene and Joyce tried to justify their point by telling her that the kids were the fascist offspring who would eventually take the place of the oppressors sitting in the government, but it was not enough to convince Charlie.
Once again, though Charlie knew who the culprit was, it was not enough to incriminate them. She realized that she needed to lay a trap and catch them red-handed. Charlie confronted them, telling them that she knew everything. When Irene and Joyce heard that she hadn’t said anything to Luca Clark yet, they tried to kill her. Charlie, obviously, had told Luca and his convoy to wait outside and enter only when they noticed a spike on the bracelet. Charlie entered into a fist-fight with both ladies, and she used the taser gun on herself. The cops entered and took Irene and Joyce under arrest. Irene and Joyce had planted a bomb on the club car they knew Charlie was going to use. But once again, Charlie escaped her doom and jumped off it before it blasted and broke into pieces.
Charlie solved the case and made sure that justice was served. She is still on the run, though, and the upcoming episodes will tell us how far she could go before getting caught by Cliff, who was after her like a predator is after its prey.
