Poker Face (TV Series) Time of the Monkey (2023) User Reviews

Generational Gap Humor

[noelsfilm · 9/10 · 10 February 2023]

The setting for this whodunit vignette is an old folks home. The episode opens with hilarious zingers and generational gap humor. The entire series is composed of excellent cinematography and this episode is no exception. There is a story element that may come up later in the series but for the most part this episode didn't continue or further the overarching narrative. That's totally fine with me. I'm very much enjoying this series and the standalone episode format.

Natasha Lyonne is always a treat but the supporting cast was phenomenal as well. The writing really played humorous on this one and the ensemble clicked well and really knocked it out of the park. I can't wait to see what's next.

Great acting

[theresarebeck · 9/10 · 22 June 2023]

Natasha Lyon, Judith Light and Epatha Merkerson in scenes together? I'm in heaven and clearly so are they. This is what I watchbtv for: great actors playing with a good script and each other. The only thing I want more of is Benjamin Bratt. Kudos to everyone.

I also as usual appreciate the idiosyncratic locations and set up for the murder. The whole series reminds me of Rockford files-heavy on character, less obsessed with tricky or violent plotting. I am looking forward to the development of Poker Face's back story, maybe a family member or two. Maybe a two parter? Bring it! This is a special show. (More Benjamin Bratt...)

Best episode so far!

[drneilgibson · 9/10 · 1 August 2023]

As with most of the Poker Face episodes there is comedic dark humour that clearly some people don't get, but I'm loving this series and, for me, Time of The Monkey was one of the best episodes yet.

At first I was a little taken back by the salty language from the care home couple, (Actually this is closer to real life than some may care to admit!). It was refreshing to know from the start that the writers were not scared of shaking things up somewhat.

Poker Face is in the style of Columbo but it's been cleverly sufficiently modernised to capture current audiences. Natasha Lyonne is fantastic as Charlie, she deserves an award for her performance.

I hope there will be a new season of this show!

Unbelievably Good

[petersgd · 10/10 · 4 February 2023]

I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time. Light and. Merkerson are absolutely brilliant together, and the writing is truly excellent. I've enjoyed the entire series, but this one clearly stands out as the best in the series so far. The jokes go by at such a rapid pace that I'm sure I missed some of them, but it was so good that I have no compunction about watching it again (and again) until I catch them all. Any time you can work in a joke about the multitude of Skargards working in film, I know I have found a show worthy of my attention.

Bravo to everyone involved-a truly worthy effort!

Don't Miss This Episode

[prsue · 10/10 · 7 February 2023]

I totally agree with Petersgd. This was the best of the first 4 episodes and the others were pretty good but this one was genius. So funny and I also loved the Skarsgard joke. Wondering if Petersgd is Peter Skarsgard :). The mafia-type guy in the car with the FBI guy was another brilliant bit and great casting. I grew up in the 60s and the writers must have as well, or watched lots of 60s movies to get the lingo right. I hope this show, this episode and Natasha are nominated for Emmys. If you enjoy Natasha in this show you must also watch at least the first season of "Russian Doll" on Netflix.

Once a domestic terrorist...

[siamese920 · 8/10 · 5 February 2023]

For sheer entertainment value, the fight scene with Charlie and the two ladies was pretty good. The exploding pressure cooker that got the busybody tattletale wasn't bad either. I just can't say that about the rest of the episode. I found it hard to believe (plot hole perhaps?) that the FBI agent guarding someone in the Witness Protection program wouldn't have done his due diligence before allowing Gabriel to move in to the nursing home with the two women he had loved and betrayed. That doesn't exactly instill confidence in our recently beleaguered FBI, and I don't buy it. However, it was nice to see Simon Helberg who played Howard Wolowitz on the Big Bang Theory again. This series has done a great job of pulling in known actors. I hope this continues. There were some clever machinations by the two ladies. They nearly pulled it off, but again, Charlie was there to put the pieces together. Good job!

Uproarious!

[warmweather · 8/10 · 30 May 2023]

Lots of pieces that weren't plausible, but what an entertaining nod to the past. I grew up during those Nixon times and some points about plausible relationships and misguided efforts to give it to the man were on point. As usual, I enjoyed the cast, and Charlie's persona. And the soundtrack was terrific. Such an inventive story line in general, I could suspend disbelief along the way. These episodes give me the same vibe as did Colombo, McMillan & Wife, Ironsides, and McCloud. Anyway, one has to be old to remember those, which I am. Such clever set pieces in Poker Face. The fight scene at the end had me in stitches.

Best episode!

[deedeereads · 10/10 · 5 January 2024]

This was incredibly entertaining. The killers need their own show spun off. I would watch a whole season of them and their way of dealing justice. At this stage in their life they don't bother you unless you bother them. Then they come at you with everything they got. With intensity and cleverness if they have time. Otherwise it's pure instinctual survival behavior. The start of the show is so benign. Seems like it might even be a bit of a dud setting. That would be wrong. The casting was perfect. The main character even seemed to take a back seat to the killers. For real. All the episodes were good but this one really stands out. More with those killers please.

Best episode of the series

[lbowdls · 9/10 · 4 May 2024]

I haven't really been enthralled in this show like so many. The episodes have been okay but have had flaws, and not that entertaining.

People have ridiculously compared this show and Natasha Lyonne's character to Columbo. But there's only one Peter Falk and Columbo. And she is no Columbo!

However, this episode I really enjoyed. It had great twists and turns (unlike most of the other episodes) right to the last seconds, and didn't have to rely solely on Lyonne's grating personality.

And the guest acting cast of great veteran actors was a massive reason why this episode played so much better, to me, than the previous four. I hope some other episodes might continue to be better as well.

Time of the Monkey

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 11 July 2023]

Charlie is working at the Mossy Oaks retirement home. She has made friends with two rebellious old ladies Irene Smothers (Judith Light) and Joyce Carter (S. Epatha Merkerson.)

Both ladies recognise a new resident who has checked into the retirement home under the name of Ben. He was accompanied by his nephew. The quickly plan to kill Ben.

When Ben dies, Charlie finds out that his 'nephew' is a FBI agent called Luca (Simon Helberg.) Ben was under witness protection. Over 50 years earlier he was a hippy cult leader under the name of Gabriel. He had ratted out Irene and Joyce who spent time in prison. The two ladies thought Gabriel was shot dead by the police.

You get the impression that Irene and Joyce would be two sympathetic old women let down by hard line Nixon era law enforcement.

They turn out to be nasty pieces planning to kill Charlie for knowing too much.

Poker Face evolves a bit as Charlie makes a friend of Luca. He is happy that he finally got something to do than babysit someone on witness protection. He also recognises Charlie's talent's in crime detection.

Something tells me this is not the last we see of Luca.

This is a well acted story by the three guest leads with a shocking denouement.

Episode 5

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 5 February 2023]

This episode flipped the script a little bit on not just Poker Face but all procedurals in general. They made it seem like the bad guys were good guys in the beginning, but the roles got shifted in a hurry. The idea of our lead not knowing what Model United Nations was and thinking it was "some sort of baby UN" was great.

We also got a chaotic and over the top fight, one of the elements that we missed in the last batch of episodes.

Peacock has something good on their hands here, but it is disappointing after a 4 episode launch we now only get one installment per week for the duration of its run.

Descent into absurdity

[jennachaplinca · 3/10 · 8 June 2023]

First of all: Workers at retirement homes do not wheel dead residents in black bags through the lounge.

Next: Workers do not decline to reveal personal information when asked (they could get fired) but then do so when asked again.

Next: Retirement homes have more than one restroom! There's no need for residents to line up when they are in the lounge; if they really have to go then they just go to their own room!

Next: Stupid plot; 60s "revolutionaries" did not hatch plots to blow up privileged kids with nail bombs. NO THEY DID NOT.

This show started off as 'OK' (maybe even a 6) but has rapidly descended into absurdity. Episode 2 was OK but I would not recommend going beyond that, and certainly would not recommend watching this garbage episode.

"We were gonna set the world on fire."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 13 March 2023]

I'm surprised at some of the vitriol leveled against this episode from the standpoint of perceived bias against liberalism. It appears that some viewers had already forgotten about the MAGA dog that Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) railed against in the third episode, 'The Stall'. Seems to me this series is an equal opportunity basher when it comes to depicting ideologies. Aside from that, this story was the most humorous one of the series so far with those television Nazis, The Fletchers, and the Pervy Pete guy (Sprague Theobald). Charlie is forced to do an about face when Irene Smothers (Judith Light) and Joyce Harris (S. Epatha Merkerson) admitted to their plan to blow up high school students to make a point against capitalism back in the heady days of the Seventies. Her tactic of confronting a couple of murderers finally caught up with her as well, this time the women went on the attack to eliminate someone who could do them in. I thought zapping herself was kind of extreme, but it got the response Charlie expected and presumably set up in advance. Aside from that, I did have to question Joyce's ability to climb two stories to kill Ben (Reed Birney) using only her hand strength. That's one concession I have to make to the credibility of the story. And I thought the orangutan should have gotten more screen time, given the title of the program.

Say, doesn't Simon Helberg portraying FBI special agent Luca Clark look like he could be Jerry Seinfeld's brother?

The two dangerous womens

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 24 February 2023]

So i need to say that even it have the same structure of the last episode and we still dont know why Charlie get in there and get involved in this case. But i need to say that i really enjoyed the music, the sound design, the set design also but i really enjoyed the work of tht lights and all the visuals: it still pretty pleasant to watch even if its the same murder thing. So we follow two womens who get pretty dangerous and we will know more abou them with their flashbacks and their lovers. The story was quite interesting and we will really understand pretty fast that these two womens are really dangerous and do everything to make what they desire to do. We still follow Charlie and she meets a new friend from the FBI that maybe we will see more in other episodes. The story was interesting to know more about these womens and their bands. I like also when the episode get a little bit sexual(talk about dicks and perv stuff) i mean its pretty honest about daily life. So yeah Charlie resolved once again the murders and get away for another case. I hope with a different structure. Good episode anyway. Even if i feel the writing sometimes get pretty lazy (the old woman who saw the two womens get tazed was pretty convenient). And still have some moments who feel pretty illogical and lack of sense. But the episode was quite funny. Be more sexual please like the first episode of the show. It add some more interest and can make some interesting things in the writing process.

most cartoonish villains I've seen outside of a cartoon

[rdbluedibs · 1/10 · 15 February 2023]

It had such a strong start and went downhill in an instant. "Model UN"? Really?? Why does TV have to paint all leftists and anti-fascists as ruthless child-killers with no sense of reason or compassion? This episode feels like it came straight out of the McCarthy era. This episode could pass the Hayes code. It would be one thing if they played it from the cult perspective rather than the political perspective. If they played it as a Manson-esque cult, then at least taking such drastic and inane terrorist actions might've made sense. Cults often get out of hand and take violent and irrational action. Leftists and/or 60's-era hippies generally do not. (However, if this is what they were going for, it's incredibly inappropriate of them to make a black character a part of their mirror to the white supremacist Manson cult!) But instead of going for the cult angle, they went from the political angle. I understand that the choice to say they were trying to bomb the MODEL UN was meant to get a laugh out of you. And it did! For a minute. But this idea that someone being anti-fascist and anti-establishment means they would enact senseless violence against innocent people just because of their proximity to people in power truly feels like some Trump-era propaganda. And then to have Charlie working with the FBI? Doesn't she hate cops? What is even going on in this episode. And if she now has a tie with the FBI, specifically someone IN WITNESS PROTECTION, why would she not go to THEM about the people hunting her down? She now has an out that makes the whole premise of the show null and void. I really thought this episode would be going in a different direction, with her protecting the people who killed the man that ruined their lives, up until it was revealed that their "criminal backstory" was something out of a James Bond villain monolog... It makes no sense! And this could've been a really nuanced episode, but instead it soured me on the whole show, which I'd been loving so far.

What were they thinking?

[lawrence-104 · 1/10 · 31 May 2023]

One reviewer compared this episode to Ironsides, etc. I think the comparison is apt in so far as the shows of that era (I believe Hawaii 5-0 was another one) completely failed to capture the efforts to end the Vietnam War ... This episode is like we are back then in all the unrealistic, pro American government, ways that made the offerings at that time so despicable in the eyes of those of us demonstrating against the war. The plot was someone's fantasy that had no grasp of reality other than to make heroes of the FBI, the police, and informants. Not all of us have forgotten the actions of the FBI (Cointelpro) and the police, informants, e.g., the murder of Fred Hampton. An interesting reference, never quite explained as far as I could see was to Bedford (Hills I assume) a prison in New York where some of the women of the Weather underground served time. As to our hero's off the cuff remark that she did not support "The Man" is not to be taken seriously.

But never mind, real history is forgotten and so let's have fun with the past and make sure that we are on the side of law and order. And pretense that Poker Face has a stake in the truth, disappeared with me with this episode ...

Horrible, Absurd, Poorly Written almost Comical

[Deanfrazi · 1/10 · 16 February 2023]

We are supposed to believe the ridiculous scene where a 65+ year old, paraplegic woman can climb a 20-foot trellis with just arm strength lifting her body weight and then boost her body through a window and land on the floor with a huge thud. All the while, her victim is not woken by all the noise she makes landing in the room, crawling on the floor to his bed, breathing and talking a few inches from his face. This show has the potential to be excellent. This episode was zany, half-witted and an insult to the intelligence of the viewing audience. The need for excessive cussing and sexual terms throughout the entire show just degrades the script and is mundane. I question the writers, who come across as young and excessive video gamers.

Worst episode thus far

[WordtwisterMN · 3/10 · 20 February 2023]

Enjoyed the other episodes, but this one was horribly written. The schemes the two main characters go through to commit a murder on the person who put them away are not even possible. But worse is how fast the case is solved by Charlie. I was literally rolling my eyes as she was 'going through the bad script writing' of how fast she solved the case. There is no way in real life Charlie would have been able to figure out the bracelet switch. Not only that, to actually catch the guy with the bracelets while he ran the stats for her at a moment's notice would have never happened. The script was an insult to our intelligence after so many other episodes of the show were so well-written. The ending was extremely cartoonish as well. I'll keep watching, and hopefully the next episode will get back to some form of reality.

Embarrassing

[Peaceful211 · 3/10 · 22 July 2023]

Oh what is going on? What happened to the office the charts excellent writing of the first few episodes? I was thrilled that Is doing such an incredible show. You know it's bad when the sexual jokes and cussing are the writers' attempts to provide cheap, easy humor. And when it's (gasp!) OLD people making the sexual jokes and doing the cussing, it's supposed to be oh so hilarious. It's not. Elderly women giving the finger? It's been done so many times. It's just not funny. It's lazy writing. It's '80s teen sex comedy level entertainment. "D*** like a fire hydrant," shout TWO older people. This cast deserves better.

Godawful

[joeyford-55342 · 1/10 · 15 May 2023]

It makes me sad because this series pilot was really good. Then the 2nd episode was a little worse. The 3rd was bad And the 1st time they started attacking conservatives and meetings and christians. The 4th was really bad. Episode was the worst yet. There a couple of terrible things that were not thought clearly. 1st a 80 year old woman in a wheelchair cannot do a 100 pull UPS. That is what is required for what they had A silly, silly episode. Secondly you cannot hot wire a electric golf cart to blow up when you start it. Is a gasoline driven car you are thinking of period Lastly, The lead character fighting off people has gotten hilarious. She outruns them and outs fight them even though she is at the very bottom of the chain for that For that stuff. I am afraid this show has become unwatchably bad.

Yuk...so vulgar...and major implausibility

[joegrady-53004 · 1/10 · 8 February 2023]

This was episode 5, so I gave it some leeway, but yuk. The first 4 episodes were excellent. However, they use the "C" word to refer to their senior citizen cohorts in the first scene? Really? Completely unnecessary. The writers were really lazy on this one with the vulgarity of dialogue.

The two main caricatures are embarrassingly melodramatic, even for a TV show.

Then, you try to pass off a senior citizen lady in a wheel chair being able to 1) go out a bathroom window herself 2) pull herself up a trelliss two stories, and into a window without being seen or heard by any passersby or even the intended victim?

Once poker face joins the party, the show takes on its somewhat usual pace and frivolity; however, the lazily dialogued vulgarity continues.

If this was episode one, it would not have even made it to green light. Whoever approved this episodic script was drunk.