Sumith Prasad
The sixth episode of Peacock’s thriller series ‘Poker Face,’ titled ‘Exit Stage Death,’ follows Charlie Cale’s arrival in Chicago as she continues her run from Sterling Frost Sr. She ends up as a waitress in a dinner theatre while two has-been performers named Kathleen and Michael rehearse for a play. Charlie soon gets astounded when an apparent accident occurs during the opening night of the play, which causes the death of Ava, Michael’s wife. The engrossing episode progresses through Charlie’s efforts to unravel the mystery behind the death. If you are up for a detailed take on the ending of the episode, here’s what we can share! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Poker Face Episode 6 Recap
‘Exit Stage Death’ begins with Kathleen meeting Michael, her former co-star, to propose performing together in a play. Michael, who married a self-made businesswoman named Ava, doesn’t want to act along with his nemesis, especially while cherishing the fortunes of his partner. When Ava asks him to accept the proposal, Michael agrees, and the rehearsal for the play starts. Kathleen takes advantage of Michael’s contract to push him to the limits. When he proclaims that he is going to quit the play, Kathleen threatens to “cash in” his contract. Michael agrees to remain a part of the play but threatens Kathleen by informing her that he is planning to reveal sensitive information about her in his autobiography.
During the opening night of the play, Kathleen loosens a big light for it to fall when Michael is on the stage. Michael uses a piece of dry ice to bolt the trap door through which Kathleen is supposed to fall from the stage with a bed underneath the same. The actor removes the bed for the actress to die. During the performance, the light falls right in front of Michael, who suffers from physical distress. Ava runs to the stage to give him his medication but she steps into the trap door, falls to the ground, and gets killed. Kathleen and Michael return to the green room and celebrate the success of their murder plot, indicating that their hate for each other was just a pretense and their intention was to kill Ava all along.
Charlie, who has been working at the dinner theatre as a waitress, initially thinks that Ava’s death is an accident. The stage director Phil blames himself for the death that happened during a production he directed. While Charlie consoles Phil, she realizes that Ava didn’t die due to an accident.
Poker Face Episode 6 Ending: How Does Charlie Solve Ava’s Murder?
When Ava dies after falling through the trap door, Charlie initially thinks that Phil might have forgotten to bolt the door properly and that’s how she must have died. She starts to be suspicious about the death when she sees the chart in which Phil recorded double-checking the parts of the stage. Charlie realizes that Phil did bolt the trap door, which leads her to the conclusion that Ava was murdered. To know more about the same, she checks the video footage of the day and sees smoke emanating from the trap door. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that Ava’s killer replaced the metal bolt with a piece of dry ice.
Although Charlie realizes that Ava was killed, her priority turns out to be protecting Kathleen, the real target of the killer in her mind. She tries her best to convince Kathleen that her life is threatened and that’s when she comes across the inflammation on Michael’s hand. She compares the inflammation on her hand, caused by a piece of dry ice, with Michael and finds out that Michael is the one who changed the bolts of the trap door. But the trap door is only half of the puzzle since the light that fell to the stage is the one that kickstarted a series of actions that resulted in Ava’s murder.
Charlie climbs above the stage to find out more about the fallen light and sees a piece of material from Kathleen’s shoes where the light was placed. She connects the dots and realizes that Kathleen and Michael plotted Ava’s murder together. Charlie gets the final confirmation from Rebecca, who lies about Ava’s murder. When the human lie detector comes across Rebecca’s demand for money in Kathleen’s green room, Charlie perceives that Ava was killed by the two performers, solving the murder.
Are Kathleen and Michael Arrested?
When Charlie solves Ava’s murder, she hides a microphone in the green room of Kathleen. During a break from the performance, Kathleen and Michael get into the green room and talks about Ava’s murder, only for the police officers to listen to the same and consider the conversation as their confession to the crime. Even after realizing that they are doomed, the two performers get back to the stage to finish the play. After the completion of the same, Michael most likely gets arrested by the police officers in the audience. Kathleen, however, may have escaped from the arrest.
After finishing the play, Kathleen falls through the trap door as part of her performance. Although there is a possibility that cops have been waiting for her under the stage to arrest her, the actress may have used the same as a way to escape from getting captured. If there aren’t any police officers under the stage, she must have run away through the trap door, leaving Michael to the authorities. If that isn’t the case, she may have chosen death over captivity and the ill-reputation.
Before getting back to the stage, Kathleen must have removed the bed from under the stage for her to fall and die the same way Ava died. She must have preferred death over living the rest of her life as a murderer, possibly locked up in a cell while the public celebrate her downfall.
Why Do Kathleen and Michael Kill Ava?
Michael and Kathleen’s relationship start when they both had been a part of a renowned TV show. Around the same time, they learn a lot of secrets about each other. However, they eventually got separated and their relationship turned sore, at least in front of the public and their closest acquaintances. They both suffer from financial misfortunes, which led Kathleen to theatre for garnering donations and Michael to act for advertisements. They eventually got together and wanted to celebrate the rest of their lives but their financial status stopped them until Michael captivated Ava.
Michael married Ava, a self-made businesswoman, eyeing her money. After getting married to Ava, Michael plotted her murder with Kathleen to garner the businesswoman’s wealth so that the former co-stars can cherish their togetherness. They nearly succeed in materializing their plan but Charlie comes in their way and kills their dream of getting away with the murder.
Read More: When and Where Does Poker Face Take Place?
