Poker Face Season 2, Episode 10
"The Big Pump"
Writer: Ralphie Cantor
Director: Clea DuVall
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Jason Ritter, Patti Harrison, Natasha Leggero
Poker Face threw a curveball earlier this season when the storyline I assumed would stretch across the entire season with the threat from Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) and The Five Families wrapped up after just three episodes. By the end of that initial trio, Charlie was no longer on the run, and the series pivoted into a looser, more introspective rhythm. Her road trip became less about survival and more about self-discovery. Along the way, she crossed paths with Good Buddy (Steve Buscemi), who offered her some much-needed wisdom and a place to crash.
Now, as we head into the final three episodes of the season, it looks like Poker Face might finally be shifting gears again, this time setting up a throughline that could carry us to the finale.
Let's start with the usual set-up of the howcatchem.
Rodney (Jason Ritter) is a member of The Brick House, a gym named after its intimidating owner Brick (Cliff "Method Man" Smith). Despite frequent workouts, Rodney has seen minimal progress compared to the other regulars. With his high school reunion approaching, and the looming presence of a former bully turned firefighter (a guy who's literally paid to stay in shape), he's desperate for a shortcut.
Brick claims the gym only uses "100% natural ingredients," but that's a flexible truth. Through a black-market scheme involving his wife, who works at the Brooklyn Birth Clinic, he supplies his top clients with breast milk to help them bulk up.
Eager to see results, Rodney pushes for the premium product. Brick tries to oblige, but his wife warns she's overdrawn on supply and can't provide more. As a compromise, he hands off some lower-tier protein powder instead. It doesn't take long for Rodney, who, as it turns out, is a city health inspector, to realize that his shakes don't measure up to the others.
Side note: the gag revealing Rodney's profession is the episode's comedic highlight. When Brick asks his wife how she knows what Rodney does for a living, we smash cut to Rodney introducing himself with, "Hi, I'm a health inspector."
Fueled by both pride and principle, the aspiring bodybuilder confronts Brick, not for getting shorted but because the whole operation is a massive health code violation. The argument escalates into a physical fight, punctuated by gym smartwatches announcing that both men are "in the zone." In the end, Brick crushes Rodney's throat with a weight and stages the scene to look like a tragic bench press accident.
Still in Brooklyn, Charlie wakes up with a stiff neck after an aggressive yawn. While grabbing coffee, she runs into Alex (Patti Harrison), the woman who "paid it forward" in the last episode. Charlie returns the favor by buying her coffee, and the two strike up a conversation. They spot a flyer for The Brick House, a local gym offering "spinal realignment" services. Intrigued, they check it out together and sign up for a 7-day free trial.
While working out, they meet Rodney, a health inspector and devoted gym regular who quickly stops Alex from bench pressing without a spotter.
Alex seems to appreciate the company of Charlie a little more than our protagonist. When the two show up for "leg day" and find out that Rodney died, Charlie doesn't want to look into it. She's a little over the whole "solving murders" thing. It's a poignant beat for the show. Charlie's weariness over everything she gets caught up in has taken its toll on her. For once, she'd just like to let things lie.
But Alex is sure something happened. Rodney wouldn't bench press without a spotter. The new friend asks Charlie if she'll go work out with her but it's a polite no. Charlie is used to being a lone wolf and might want to keep it that way.
Brick, whose reason for selling the breast milk was to keep the gym afloat, realizes that his insurance rates are about to go up. He asks his wife to steal more milk but she won't do it. She's "not going to jail so Kevin can stay yolked," she says. Brick resorts to feeding his clients baby formula which only causes them to have stomach issues.
Charlie surprises Alex by showing up to work out with her. "Let's not make a whole thing of it," she mutters with a smile, trying to downplay what is clearly a soft gesture of connection. But once they're inside The Brick House again, the red flags start piling up. One gym-goer burps and complains the milk tastes off. It's not the "good stuff," he says, but Brick blames it on the donor's diet. Meanwhile, Brick lies to Charlie that Kevin is angry that the cooldown machine is broken and realizes he's lying. Alex wants to know how she knows that. The on-screen caption reads "23 seconds later" and Charlie has confessed her ability to detect lies to her new friend.
Still, she can't help but raise an eyebrow when she casually mentions to Brick how strange it is that Rodney didn't have a spotter. Brick gives a canned "tragic" response that Charlie recognizes as bullshit. He knows Rodney wasn't alone.
The clues begin to stack. In the sauna, Charlie and Alex overhear Brick telling someone mention that the gym only sells natural supplements. While that wasn't a lie before, it is now. A visit to Brick's office reveals baby formula and stacks of unpaid bills. "His wife works at that baby doctor place," Charlie clocks. When Brick catches them snooping, Charlie awkwardly claims they were just looking for the sauna.
Charlie tries one more time to drop the whole thing but the clues keep piling up. Things all come together when she smells a baby's breast milk burp and realizes it was the same as Kevin's from the day before. Charlie can't let it go.
She heads back to the gym and confronts Brick, only to get locked in the sauna once he realizes she's onto him. She sends an SOS message in the form of "HALP" via her gym watch to Alex who comes to her rescue. Together, they try to fend off Brick but he's too strong (likely fueled by breast milk). It's not until Brick's wife finds him that it's revealed he killed Rodney to save the business. She consoles him but secretly lets Charlie and Alex call the cops. It's actually a very sweet way of getting out of the situation.
Alex and Charlie go back to the coffee shop and chat late into the night. Charlie thinks Alex is the most honest person she's ever met. While Charlie could certainly find herself on the road next episode, it also feels like she might have planted some roots in New York City. God knows it would be a perfect city for the many hijinks of Charlie Cale.
"The Big Pump" is a great episode. I think it might be one of the highest quality written episodes of the season with great line reads from nearly every cameo appearance. I'm delighted to see Patti Harrison get a bit of a recurring spot in the show and am intrigued by where things are left for Charlie Cale, who seems desperate to figure out herself and to find a sense of community.
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