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Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Episode 9 of Poker Face.Poker Face is one of the best things currently on television. It’s so simple and yet marries Natasha Lyonne‘s inherent Peter Falk energy in such a way that it feels like a modern-day Columbo while also still being original and completely its own. The series, which was created by Rian Johnson — who also directs several episodes — introduces us to wayward waitress Charlie Cale (Lyonne) as she travels state-to-state, inadvertently getting tangled up in whatever murder crosses her path. While the series is based around Charlie’s journey, it has some obvious traits that we’ve come to know and associate with every Rian Johnson project.
From the start of his career, Johnson has included two actors in everything he’s ever done. Both Noah Segan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have been in each of Johnson’s film (and now television show) projects in some way, shape, or form. Sometimes, it’s in a starring role — like Gordon-Levitt in Looper, or both he and Segan in Brick. From Brick, Johnson also directed The Brothers Bloom, where both Segan and Gordon-Levitt featured in smaller roles. That kicked off an obvious trend; if the two weren’t leads, they were at least there. Said trend also gave us Gordon-Levitt as Detective Hardrock on the television in Knives Out or as the hourly dong in Glass Onion. These professional and personal partnerships gave us so many amazing cameos and bigger roles, which naturally leads us to Poker Face.
The joy of Poker Face‘s specific storytelling format is that it allows guest stars to have bigger roles in the series, which leaves room for both of Johnson’s longtime collaborators to appear as characters. Segan first showed up in the series pilot, playing a local Nevada sheriff who was working for Adrian Brody‘s Sterling and didn’t want to take Charlie seriously. But Episode 9, titled “Escape from Shit Mountain,” brings Gordon-Levitt into the fold in a completely new direction for him — both as an actor and as a character in the Poker Face world.
In Poker Face, Joseph Gordon-Levitt Proves It’s Good to Be Bad
To be clear, Gordon-Levitt has played a “bad” guy before, but there’s always a charming element to his characters, especially with his work with Johnson — but Poker Face allows him to play an even more different component of evil. As Trey Mendez, Gordon-Levitt is bringing us his take on a man who doesn’t care who he hurts, as long as his own path of destruction can still happen. After accidentally hitting Charlie with his car, Trey drags his “best friend” Jimmy (David Castañeda) into his mess and forces him to help, despite Jimmy not wanting to. From Trey’s perspective, he doesn’t care who he hurts in the process, since he’s just trying to cover his own tracks. For lack of a better way of explaining it, Trey is irredeemable, which is a change in pace for the way that many feel about Gordon-Levitt’s previous characters, and that’s one of many reasons why this episode of Poker Face is such a fascinating one.
Johnson also returns as director for Episode 9, which isn’t surprising since he also directed the episode that featured Segan. The introduction to this story is a highlight of how not only Gordon-Levitt can carry scenes completely on his own, but also how Johnson can give us a glimpse into the world in which his characters exist with the bare minimum of interaction or dialogue. For the entire beginning of the episode, Trey is on house arrest and just going about his day, not tipping his delivery drivers and playing VR games to pass the time. He’s clearly in trouble, evidenced by the ankle monitor he’s wearing, but he’s also living a life of privileged luxury.
When freedom finally does come for Trey, uniquely, all it does is cause pain and destruction for those who come in his path. He drives while drunk, hits Charlie, and leans on Jimmy to try and cover up his tracks instead of taking any accountability — until he’s forced into it. It’s just such a different character that we’ve seen from Gordon-Levitt as a whole, especially considering his past collaborations with Johnson, but that’s why their friendship and work shine. They can expand what audiences expect from them working together, and they can challenge each other as creatives. “Escape From Shit Mountain” is visible proof of that.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson Are an Actor/Director Team That Always Works
There are so many actor/director relationships out there that work, but there are some that don’t, and even while they join forces over and over it doesn’t have the same magical effect. In the case of Johnson and Gordon-Levitt, we watched them grow from 2005’s Brick, and they each have their own careers independent of one another but return to work together time and time again.
Working collaborations are tricky. Some come from people realizing they have chemistry on set and going from there and others, like this team, come from years of friendship before working together and growing in the business with one another. We wait on the edge of our seats to see what roles Gordon-Levitt and Segan are going to play in Johnson’s projects, and we cheer for them when they show up because their presence isn’t just a glorified cameo — it’s a genuine joy to see them.
Poker Face ultimately gave both Segan and Gordon-Levitt room to grow and have fun with their characters. They always have a new role to put their own spin on, and it’s a joy that Johnson continues to give us with his work. Episode 9 of Poker Face really was a masterclass in why these types of relationships — both personal and professional — work so well, because the proof is right there on the screen in the end.
Find out how to watch Poker Face‘s season finale this week on Peacock.
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