Poker Face Season 2, Episode 6
"Sloppy Joseph"
Writer: Kate Thulin
Director: Adam Arkin
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Eva Jade Halford, Callum Vinson, David Krumholtz, Margo Martindale
Over the course of 16 episodes, Charlie has had her fair share of encounters with truly awful people. She's dealt with real mobsters, murderers, and the morally bankrupt — but none of them quite compare with to the pint-sized sociopath at the center of this week's episode, "Sloppy Joseph."
Charlie goes toe-to-toe (she can't go nose-to-nose due to the size difference) with Stephanie Pierce (Eva Jade Halford), giving us perhaps one of our most unsettling villains yet. Stephanie is a gold-star obsessed, ambitious child prodigy who has a pathological need to win. She also has an unnerving willingness to destroy anyone who threatens her perfect record. Over-achieving isn't just a personality trait for this youngster, it's her deadly weapon.
Luckily, not a single child is murdered over the course of this murder mystery. Instead, the victim is a gerbil named Joseph Gerbils (yeah, you heard that one right). The rodent met its tragic end during the Good Hope Academy Talent Show.
But how did we get there?
We begin with a glimpse into Stephanie's world. A self-described achiever, the child boasts the most gold stars in her class, racking them up for best penmanship, best singing voice, best diorama, and best manners. She's the kind of kid who doesn't just want to win … she needs to win. When she loses a school spelling bee on the word "abracadabra" (despite her attempts to classify it as an onomatopoeia, not a word), her world is shaken. Her opponent, Elijah, a quiet boy with a love for magic and 30 freshly earned stars, becomes her new target.
Rather than accept defeat, Stephanie takes to the internet to search for ways to destroy a young boy's self-esteem. (As one does.) The answer? Humiliate him when he does his magic trick in front of the entire school. Stephanie plants an embarrassing photo of Elijah in the talent show's slideshow, distracting him from being able to double check that the box to guide Joseph Gerbils to safety is right side up. He rushes to change the photo and does so just in time, though that means not being able to keep Joseph safe. On stage, what should be an innocent illusion ends in a blood-soaked disaster when Elijah swings a hammer expecting to make his gerbil disappear. To be fair, he did make the gerbil disappear.
Now, flashback to Charlie's introduction into the episode. She's the school lunch lady just looking for a little structure and a little purpose. But when she sees the fallout from the talent show and gets to know Elijah's devastated dad JB (by David Krumholtz), her instincts kick in. Something doesn't add up. And as always, when something doesn't feel right, Charlie can't help but dig deeper.
Charlie tries to cheer up JB about Elijah's mishap. However, the kid's dad doesn't think it was a mistake. It was sabotage. Only a few people had access to the storage closet where Elijah's props were kept, so suspicion narrows quickly.
Charlie's first big clue comes quite literally from her own pocket: a gold star embellishment she finds on the floor while emptying her apron for a petty cash inspection from Principal Dr. Hamm (Margot Martindale). At the time, it seems innocuous, but it connects directly to Stephanie; the star popped off of her school uniform while she was snooping around Elijah's magic equipment. Charlie's radar for dishonesty kicks into high gear when she speaks to Stephanie, and her doubts are confirmed when the young overachiever — in a power move worthy of any adult villain — eats the gold star in front of her.
From there, Charlie enlists the help of a young computer wiz and turns to the school computer system to uncover the baby photo of Elijah. Watching the recording of the talent show, she notes that Elijah ran off stage to change it, the reason he didn't double check his equipment. It's the final proof she needs to tie Stephanie to both emotional sabotage and tampering with the act. But before Charlie can present her findings, Stephanie gets ahead of her by showing the principal a video of Charlie smack talking the student. Charlie is fired.
Well, almost. After learning that Stephanie has been blackmailing Dr. Hamm over her secret gambling habit, and in return running the school like a pre-teen mob boss, Charlie devises a classic bait-and-trap.
She sets up a lovely return to the school for Elijah. Stephanie freaks out and looks to frame JB for the missing petty cash. When Stephanie plants stolen petty cash in JB's coat to frame him, Charlie is ready with her phone and snaps the damning photo. "Now that's one for the slideshow," she quips.
With the truth exposed and the school united in support of Elijah, Charlie not only clears JB's name but gives Elijah the moment he was robbed of with a heartwarming, makeshift magic show and a school-wide solidarity gesture. Stephanie, meanwhile, is defeated for now … but her icy promise to "find you when I grow up" has Charlie drive off in search of another job.
"Sloppy Joseph" is a strong episode of Poker Face, even if it's not its funniest outing. It's one that manages to be deeply unsettling despite the fact that no humans are murdered and most of the main players are children. It's a tightly constructed mystery with a chilling antagonist in pint-sized perfectionist Stephanie and it leans into emotional sabotage and psychological warfare in a way that feels darker than many of the show's actual homicides. Margot Martindale and David Krumholtz are a delight and the episode has a surprising amount of thematic weight so the episode balances absurdity with genuine menace.
But alas, we hit the road once again.
Next: Poker Face Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: Heat, Actually
If you haven't already, consider supporting worker-owned media by subscribing to Pop Heist. We are ad-free and operating outside the algorithm, so all dollars go directly to paying the staff members and writers who make articles like this one possible.
