Poker Face is back in full form on Peacock, and the crime comedy drama is just as funny in season two as it was in season one. Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie, a woman with a special gift: she can look at or hear someone and immediately tell if they’re lying. Using this human lie detector talent helps Charlie in a lot of ways, but it also gets her into trouble.
Going on the run from a mafia boss demanding she work for her, Charlie travels from city to city, state to state, taking odd jobs and helping solve murders. In Season 2, Episode 4, “The Taste of Human Blood,” Charlie makes a new friend. It’s one who is only heard, not seen, and the voice is instantly recognizable.
Charlie Meets “Good Buddy” on the Radio
In Season 2, Episode 4, Charlie is relaxing in her car, feet up, tinkering with a radio. She’s switching channels, trying to see if there’s anyone out there she can talk to. She finally hears a voice on the other end. It’s a truck driver who is always on the road like her. They strike up a conversation when he quotes a line from the 1980 movie Out of the Blue, believing she was doing the same. “Punk is not sexual, it’s just aggression,” he says. The film is about Cindy “Cebe” Barnes (Linda Manz), a rebellious tomboy who goes on the run to try and escape her problematic home life, a fitting comparison to Charlie.
“Always nice to hear from a fellow Hopper-head,” Charlie replies, referring to Dennis Hopper being the director of and starring in that movie. She immediately gives him the name “good buddy” and asks about his situation. He drives a rig, traveling through one mile marker at a time. He asks about her location, and she notes that she’s in a place that “feels like the ending, but it’s still the middle.”
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“Good buddy” continues his conversation with Charlie as they dive into more philosophical topics about life, the journey, and the destination. “There is no destination,” he says. “There is only the highway.” The conversation is short as “good buddy” needs to get back to work and pay attention to the road. But his invitation for Charlie to find him on that channel most anytime suggests this might not be the last that viewers, and Charlie, hear from her new traveling friend.
Who Is the Voice of “Good Buddy”?
Who is that voice? It’s none other than Steve Buscemi, a surprise cameo on the show. He wasn’t initially announced as being among the cast, and he technically isn’t, since he’s only heard. Might Charlie ever meet his character in person? Fans will have to wait and see. For now, “good buddy” could be one constant in Charlie’s nomadic lifestyle. As she travels, meets and befriends new people, then leaves to do it all over again, Charlie doesn’t really have anyone to talk to throughout her journey.
While she has friends like Luca (Simon Helberg), with whom she reconnected in Season 2, Episode 3, “Whack-A-Mole,” he’s busy with his own job. And they only talk when they happen to cross paths. In episode three, Luca struck a deal to put Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) in witness protection in exchange for her testimony, and he asked that she cancel the hit on Charlie. While he’ll go to bat for her, they aren’t the type of friends who would chit-chat about life over a radio or even meet for coffee, though he would certainly love to do so.
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Nonetheless, because of Luca, Charlie is now free to roam as she pleases without worry of being hunted down, and that also means being less paranoid about talking to random strangers while she drives. There are no more men in black suits (who are terrible shots) chasing her down at every turn. For the first time, she’s completely free. And like “good buddy,” she chooses this life on the road. He might do so to pay the bills, but she does it because it gives her a sense of purpose.
For someone like Charlie, who is on the run, he could be a viable sounding board, someone to regale the crazy tales of the new jobs she has taken on, people she has met, and the murders she has become embroiled with. Will she reveal her secret superpower to “good buddy”? That remains to be seen. For now, he’s a voice of reason, a philosophical soul to reach out to when Charlie needs clarity, reassurance, or simply someone to listen.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
