Sumith Prasad
The ninth episode of Peacock’s thriller series ‘Poker Face,’ titled ‘Escape from Shit Mountain,’ follows Charlie Cale’s journey through the “Magic Mountains.” She meets a hiker named Luke and forms an endearing relationship with him, which gets threatened by the fierce winter that troubles her. Trey, a convicted felon, accidentally hits her while driving a Lamborghini at night, paving the way for multiple murders. Charlie’s encounter with Trey also gives Sterling Frost Sr. an opportunity to capture her. Will the casino owner make use of the same through his right-hand man Cliff? Let us share our thoughts regarding the same! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Poker Face Episode 9 Recap
‘Escape from Shit Mountain’ begins with the introduction of Trey Nelson, who is placed under house arrest after getting convicted of insider trading. When Trey’s ankle monitor gets switched off for a night, he takes advantage of the same to drive around the snow-covered region to escape from his frustrating routine and mundane life. While Trey is locked up in his house, Charlie arrives in the region and falls in love with Luke, who adores mountains and woods. Luke makes Charlie immerse herself in the beauty of the same but she fails to tolerate the region when winter suffocates her. She meets Morty Bernstein, a kleptomaniac, and they both decide to escape from the place and end up in Denver.
Amid Charlie and Morty’s journey to Denver, they nearly hit a deer, only for Charlie to crash their car into the snow to avoid killing the animal. Morty leaves for the nearest gas station to find a tow truck and Charlie gets hit by Trey’s car. Believing that Charlie is dead, Trey takes her to a motel run by his friend Jimmy and they both dump her in a makeshift grave under a tree. Charlie eventually emerges from the grave with the help of a human bone. Morty ends up at the motel at the same time. She comes across the bone and they realize that the same belongs to Chloe Jones, a missing girl. Eyeing the monetary reward for passing any information about Chloe, Morty decides to let the cops know about the bone.
Trey offers his Lamborghini car to Morty in return for not involving the cops. Although she agrees to the deal, Trey kills her to avoid any risk. He then turns against Charlie, who lets Jimmy know that Trey killed his friend Chloe. Jimmy stops trusting Trey and comes in between him and Charlie. Trey kills his best friend and stabs Charlie, only to dump both of them in the same grave. He returns to his house by the time his ankle monitor switches on but he notices that the same isn’t attached to him. The monitor switches on at the grave, held by Charlie. The authorities track the same and rescue her. They also find the bodies of Jimmy and Morty, only for Trey to get charged with murders.
Poker Face Episode 9 Ending: Will Cliff Capture or Kill Charlie? Why Doesn’t Charlie Get Identified?
Ever since Charlie runs away from Las Vegas, Nevada, causing the death of Sterling Frost Jr., his father Sterling Frost Sr. instructs his right-hand man Cliff to pursue and capture her. He nearly catches her while she is in New Mexico but every time he gets extremely close to her, she finds a way to escape. Charlie may not be able to run away this time since she is bedridden with multiple fractures in her body. She is able to lie down in bed only because of the medical attention she is receiving, making it nearly impossible for her to drive away from Cliff.
However, Charlie garners a lifeline to save herself from Sterling Frost Sr. and avoid a tragic death. When the authorities find Morty’s body inside a crashed car, they conclude that the dead woman is Charlie. Ever since meeting Charlie, Morty tries to steal the former’s wallet multiple times, only to fail each time. But she succeeds in stealing the same right before striking a deal with Trey to run away in his car. She must have kept the wallet inside the car without knowing that she would get killed in a few seconds. Along with her body, the officials find Charlie’s wallet, in which they may have found her driving license or any other ID card, which makes them conclude that Charlie is dead.
When Cliff arrives in Denver, he comes across the news that Charlie is dead. He informs Sterling Sr. that her attempts to run away from them have come to an end. Cliff is expected to inspect and accept Morty’s dead body to bury the same in the name of his master. Since Morty’s face must have gotten distorted enough for the authorities to not realize that she isn’t Charlie, Cliff may not recognize that the dead woman isn’t Charlie right away. But since he knows her face, their encounter at the same hospital cannot be ruled out. If that happens, they may have two options in front of them.
If Cliff is undoubtedly loyal to Sterling Sr., he may take her to the casino owner so that the latter can exact his vengeance on Charlie for causing the death of his son Sterling Jr. by killing her. If that’s the case, Charlie may need to find a way to escape from them despite her ill health. Otherwise, Charlie and Cliff may team up and take advantage of the former’s “official” death. Cliff may not be hundred percent loyal to the casino owner since he may know that the latter will not hesitate for a second to kill even him if he ends up standing against him. Due to the same reason, he may not be highly motivated to kill Charlie or cause her death.
Since Charlie is already dead to the world, Cliff may let her run away under the condition that she will never come close to Sterling Sr. Since she is an insignificant being in the eyes of the casino owner, he may not worry about her anymore when Cliff and the authorities tell him that she is dead.
Why Did Trey Kill Chloe?
When Morty realizes that the stick Charlie carried from the grave is a bone that belongs to the missing Chloe, Trey tries his best to stop the two women from involving the authorities. He even kills Morty to make sure that Chloe’s death will remain a secret. But Charlie’s suspicion that Trey killed Chloe unravels the mystery behind the latter’s death. Trey tells Jimmy that he didn’t kill Chloe, only for the human lie detector to pick up on the same and conclude that he killed her. After killing Morty, Trey tells Jimmy about the same and adds that he will not allow a woman to “go crazy on him again,” making it evident that he has a history with a woman before Morty.
Jimmy connects the dots and realizes that Trey killed his friend Chloe. Trey and Chloe were seemingly a couple. From Trey’s words, it is clear that Chloe used to “go crazy on” him while they were together. Although the convicted criminal doesn’t reveal what exactly his former girlfriend did, it can be anything that unsettled him. Since Trey is a cold-blooded murderer who doesn’t even hesitate to shoot point-blank at his best friend, even a typical fight between the boyfriend and girlfriend might have motivated Trey to kill Chloe. After killing her, he took her body to Jimmy and told him that she died after using the drugs the motel owner gave them, making him feel guilty enough to hide/bury the body in “the spot” along with his best friend.
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