Escape from Shit Mountain
"Escape from Shit Mountain" is the ninth episode of the American murder mystery comedy-drama television series Poker Face.
After her friend is found dead, Charlie uncovers a plot where the owner's son ordered her murder to protect a powerful client.
Former trader Trey Nelson (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), having been placed under house arrest for insider trading, is warned by his parole officer that his ankle monitor will be deactivated for the night due to a blizzard.
Seizing the opportunity, Trey leaves his house to recklessly drive his Lamborghini Urus and accidentally hits a woman.
He places the woman in his trunk and drives to a motel owned by his friend Jimmy Silva (David Castañeda).
Back at the motel, the pair discuss their history together over Trey's favorite brand of coconut rum until they hear someone aggressively knocking on the door.
Charlie catches a kleptomaniac shoplifter (Stephanie Hsu) trying to steal her wallet, who goes by "Mortimer Bernstein", the name on the stolen credit card she carries.
Inspecting it, Charlie and Morty deduce that it possibly belongs to Chloe Jones, a local woman who went missing ten years earlier, and find that there is a $75,000 reward for information on her whereabouts.
Charlie notices Trey's ankle monitor and grows wary of him and Jimmy, while Morty is fixated over the reward money.
Charlie sees a "Jane Doe" tag on her wrist and bursts out laughing, elated to find that the world thinks she is dead.
However, in the hospital parking lot, Cliff (Benjamin Bratt) is seen talking with Sterling Frost Sr. on the phone, ready to ambush Charlie.
Johnson stated that the series would delve into "the type of fun, character driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching.
"[5] Benjamin Bratt also joined the series in the recurring role of Cliff, whose character chases Charlie after she ran away from the casino in the first episode.
[5] The episode featured appearances by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Stephanie Hsu, and David Castañeda, who were announced to guest star in April 2022.
[12] He explained his approach to portraying Trey, "What are the circumstances that led them to be making these bad choices... with this character, I didn't feel as obligated to find the complexity.
[14] From there, the writers came up with concepts on what would happen, with Wyatt Cain suggesting that the motel could be related to a car accident, which by itself led to the tree spot.
[15] Nora Zuckerman explained the episode's placement, "Because we leave Charlie in such a state that you can't just pick her up and move her to working with go karts.
Club gave the episode an "A–" grade and wrote, "For a penultimate hour, I'm thrilled we finally see a more profound payoff for her year on the road and a glimpse of her backstory.
Johnson is saving more details about Charlie's history for season two, but we forgive him because he helms a fantastic episode this week with 'Escape From Shit Mountain'.
It features Lyonne's best Poker Face performance to date, answers some burning questions, and, of course, welcomes some exciting guest stars–a PF trademark at this point, much like its inspiration, Columbo.
"[17] Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, "This one was just a masterclass in suspense, because Charlie is at such a seeming disadvantage this time: terribly injured, isolated, and outnumbered, especially since Hsu's Morty is mostly out for herself.
