REVIEW: Season 2 Episode 8 Is ‘Poker Face’ At Its Most Morally Corrupt And Entertaining

This review contains spoilers for Poker Face.

In The Sleazy Georgian, Poker Face delivers a slick con-artist caper that’s as morally corrupt as it is wildly entertaining. The eighth episode of the second season pairs guest stars John Cho and Melanie Lynskey in a tale layered with deceit, desperation, and just enough heart to keep you invested. 

The episode opens in a hotel bar where Regina (Lynskey), a warm but wary employee of the National Orphan Fund, meets Guy (Cho), a suave stranger seemingly up to no good. What begins as flirty quickly escalates to an over-the-top tale involving a deposed Georgian monarch, a bag of cash, and a hotel room where shady underground money exchange happens.

Guy claims he’s helping a former Georgian ruler in exile, who has billions of dollars in cash in Georgian Lari. He’s supposedly forced to live in a studio flat using banknotes as a coffee table, so Guy helps him out. He’s built trust exchanging small amounts, including 5,000 to 10,000 dollars at a time, but today, he’s taking the leap with a bag containing 400,000 in cash. It’s ridiculous, but brilliant. And it only gets messier from there.

Lynskey brings a curious tension to Regina. She’s clearly out of her depth, yet strangely confident, in a situation that would have any sane individual running from. “I just look like someone who would go to a stranger’s bedroom,” she says, before casually remaining in a room with a man who has a gun. Cho, meanwhile, oozes charm as Guy, a ‘businessman’ who will deceive you as much as he does Regina. Things go from zero to noir when bullets start flying, money is taken, and people aren’t who they say they are.

As always, Charlie saunters into this chaos with perfect timing and even better timing on her wisecracks. This week, she's using coupons for free breakfasts in hotels that pay no mind to what she's handing over, because, of course, she is.

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What’s most satisfying here is the show’s commitment to emotional ambiguity. Regina’s downfall is as much self-inflicted as it is tragic. She ignores every red flag in her pursuit of something - money? freedom? validation? - and it costs her everything. The show lets the con play out to show how quickly good intentions can be weaponised by the wrong crowd.

As the double-crosses stack up, Charlie makes a characteristically rogue decision to outwit the cons at their own game. There’s a satisfying moment when it’s revealed she’s orchestrated a final twist with the help of two supposedly dead side characters (who are, in fact, married - adorably so). Not only does she con the conmen, but she also ensures the 20,000-dollar cut taken from Regina goes to the orphan charity, restoring a shred of justice in an otherwise sleazy affair.

Megan Amram’s script is sharp and full of darkly funny moments, while Mimi Cave’s direction keeps the tone balanced between noir and absurdism. If there’s one flaw, it’s the minor suspension of disbelief required for some of the plot leaps. Would someone really lay out a six-figure scam to a woman he just met in a bar? Probably not. Would you, as the woman, fall for it? As Charlie herself says, bullshit. But with performances this good and twists this thrilling, I’m more than willing to play along.

Rating: ★★★★☆

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About Poker Face

Premiere Date: May 8 2025

Episode Count: 12

Executive Producer/Showrunner: Tony Tost, Ram Bergman, Nena Rodrigue, Adam Arkin, Nora Zuckerman, Lilla Zuckerman

Writer: Laura Deeley, Alice Ju, Natasha Lyonne, Wyatt Cain, Tony Tost, Kate Thulin, Taofik Kolade, Megan Amram, Tea Ho, Raphie Cantor, Andrew Sodroski

Director: Rian Johnson, Natasha Lyonne, Miguel Arteta, Lucky McKee, John Dahl, Adam Arkin, Mimi Cave, Adamma Ebo, Clea Duvall, Ti West

Production: Animal Pictures, T-Street

Distribution: Peacock

Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Adrienne C. Moore, Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Ben Marshall, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Cliff "Method Man" Smith, Corey Hawkins, Cynthia Erivo, David Alan Grier, David Krumholtz, Favionte "GaTa" Ganter, Ego Nwodim, Gaby Hoffmann, Geraldine Viswanathan, Giancarlo Espositio, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, John Cho, John Mulaney, Justin Theroux, Katherine Narducci, Katie Holmes, Kevin Corrigan, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Tom, Lili Taylor, Margo Martindale, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Leggero, Patti Harrison, Rhea Perlman, Richard Kind, Sam Richardson, Sherry Cola, Simon Helberg, Simon Rex, Taylor Schilling

Synopsis: Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.