"The Day of the Iguana" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American murder mysterycomedy-drama television series Poker Face. It is the 21st overall episode of the series and was written by consulting producer Andrew Sodroski, and directed by Ti West. It was released on Peacock on July 3, 2025.[1]
The series follows Charlie Cale, a woman with the ability to detect if people are lying, who is now embarking on a fresh start after criminal boss Beatrix Hasp cancels a hit on her. In the episode, Charlie decides to help Alex with a new oyster business at a wedding venue, when the groom is found murdered.
The episode received highly positive reviews from critics, with praise towards Theroux's guest appearance, tension and set-up for the season finale. However, some were mixed on the episode's lack of resolution.
Plot
In New York City, high school teacher Todd Tolocci (Justin Theroux) prepares to attend the wedding of his former student Kirby Kowalczyk (Haley Joel Osment), creator of an energy drink. At his house, he is visited by a man who claims to be a chauffeur to the wedding. As Todd briefly leaves to accommodate his bow tie, the man enters the house and chokes him to death, removing Todd's glass eye. After using a machine to flatten and liquefy Todd's body, the man dons facial prosthetics that make him resemble Todd. He drives to the wedding, intending to kill Kirby.
At the wedding, "Todd" notices Luca Clark (Simon Helberg) and other Federal agents surveiling the scene, and contacts his handler for not informing him. His handler asks him to find a "patsy" to blame for the assassination and he will receive a double payment. As he considers it, he runs into Alex (Patti Harrison), who is working as an oyster caterer for the wedding. After an encounter with Kirby, "Todd" disconnects the freezer that keeps Alex's oysters while she is gone. He intercepts Kirby in the bathroom and strangles him before injecting him with a sedative. "Todd" takes Kirby to a shack where the oysters are kept, and kills him by stabbing him in the eye with Alex's knife. Alex arrives at the boathouse to collect more oysters, and is shocked to find Kirby's corpse, before "Todd" knocks her unsconscious. He then drops them off in a boat, where Kirby's wife, Victoria Noble-Perdue, finds them. Alex wakes up holding the knife, and asserts that she did not kill Kirby.
A few days earlier, Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) is visited by Alex at her apartment, offering her to work with her at her new oyster shucking business, which will cater at the wedding. Unbeknownst to everyone, FBI agents Darville (Lili Taylor) and Milligan (Taylor Schilling) are helping Luca in surveiling the wedding. Charlie runs into Luca, who does not want to disclose the purpose of the stakeout. Noticing a gift from Beatrix Hasp, Charlie concludes that Kirby is Hasp's son. Luca finally reveals that Hasp's testimony granted her a livestream of Kirby's wedding, whom she has not seen since he was born. Kirby refuses to allow it and storms off to a nearby port. Charlie talks to him, convincing him that his mother arranged so much just to see him, convincing him to return. While Charlie drinks outside, she notices a man taking another man to the boathouse, believing they are drunk.
That night, Kirby's body is discovered and Charlie sees Alex proclaim her innocence and jump off the boat, aware that Alex is telling the truth. With the FBI looking for Alex for the murder, and Hasp's mob connections intending to track her for the murder, Alex manages to meet with Charlie in the venue. Using mascotcostumes, they sneak out and head to the boathouse to escape the area. Luca notices them and fails to convince Charlie to turn back. Upon reaching the port, they escape in Charlie's car, while Luca is reprimanded by his colleagues. As Charlie tries to find ways to help Alex, she realizes she can only ask Hasp herself for help. Checking her Instagram account, she manages to find her address in Greenville, Indiana. Back in the venue, Milligan tells Luca and Darville that the possible assassin might be the "Iguana", the deadliest assassin in the world. Luca realizes that the Iguana did not just plan Kirby's murder; he is following Charlie and Alex so they can lead him to Hasp. In Greenville, Hasp (Rhea Perlman) is seen at her house preparing food and taking pictures.
The series was announced in March 2021, with Rian Johnson serving as creator, writer, director and executive producer. Johnson stated that the series would delve into "the type of fun, character driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching."[2] The episode was written by consulting producer Andrew Sodroski, and directed by Ti West. This was Sodroski's first writing credit, and West's first directing credit for the show.[3]
Before the episode aired, Johnson said that the episode would be a two-parter season finale, "It's something that — in a really fun, unexpected way — caps the season. It's not just another Poker Face episode. It’s a finale-finale for the season. [...] It's almost like the last two are a two-parter. Ti West directed episode 11 and Natasha directed 12 [the finale], and you have two beautiful, beautiful brains concocting this one-two punch that is so surprising. We didn't even show it to the press."[4]
The announcement of the series included that Natasha Lyonne would serve as the main lead actress.[2] She was approached by Johnson about working on a procedural project together, with Lyonne as the lead character.[5] As Johnson explained, the role was "completely cut to measure for her."[6]
Due to the series' procedural aspects, the episodes feature several guest stars. Johnson was inspired by the amount of actors who guest starred on Columbo, wanting to deem each guest star as the star of the episode, which allowed them to attract many actors.[6] The episode featured guest appearances by Justin Theroux, Haley Joel Osment, Patti Harrison, and Taylor Schilling, who were announced to guest star in February and March 2025.[7][8]
Critical reception
"The Day of the Iguana" received highly positive reviews from critics. Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "A" grade and wrote, "“Day Of The Iguana” is a very funny episode — so much so that I'm going to have to consign most of the best lines to stray observations. And it features multiple kinds of terrible people. Sure, the Iguana is a ruthless assassin, but he's not the one serving wedding guests a signature cocktail made of vodka, botanicals, and Ballzilla."[9]
Louis Peitzman of Vulture gave the episode a 2 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It's not like there isn't fun to be had in “Day of the Iguana,” the penultimate episode of the season, but on a show that's made a name for itself with its throwback case-of-the-week format, the reveal that this installment is just set up for the finale is more than a little deflating. What is Poker Face if Charlie doesn’t solve a crime?"[10]
Ben Sherlock of Screen Rant wrote, "Poker Face usually resolves its mysteries of the week, well, within the week. But with sky-high stakes, returning characters, and a victim we already care about, this one is worth stretching out to a couple of episodes. It might be a bit unbelievable that Hasp, a notorious criminal hiding out in witness protection, would be careless enough to post a picture on Instagram with her address in plain sight. But it's an exciting setup for next week’s finale to feel truly climactic."[11] Melody McCune of Telltale TV gave the episode a 4.2 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "Poker Face Season 2 Episode 11, “Day of the Iguana,” artfully combines elements from the overarching narrative to create a thrilling penultimate outing. While there are fun comedic beats, the episode really leans into the thriller genre, throwing Charlie headfirst into a high-stakes, frightening adventure featuring her most powerful foe yet."[12]
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