A New Lease on Death

"A New Lease on Death" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American murder mystery comedy-drama television series Poker Face. It is the nineteenth overall episode of the series and was written by executive story editor Tea Ho and producer Wyatt Cain, and directed by Adamma Ebo. It was released on Peacock on June 19, 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 moves in to an apartment in Brooklyn to take care of a friend's apartment, when she finds that one of the tenants died in a freak accident.

The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances and tone, although some considered the episode's themes as less interesting than previous episodes.

Madeline "Maddy" Saint Marie (Awkwafina) accompanies her grandmother Anne (Lauren Tom), a retired poetry professor, into assigning her as co-owner of their rent-controlled apartment in Brooklyn, as only spouses and children can inherit the property. While stopping to buy food, Anne runs into a woman named Kate Forster (Alia Shawkat), taking an interest in her. Two weeks later, Maddy is shocked to find Anne having sex with Kate in the apartment. Anne explains that she is happily in a relationship with Kate, and shocks Maddy by stating that she is moving in with them. Kate's presence annoys Maddy, particularly as she has loud sex with Anne.

Annoyed, Maddy asks a contact to investigate Kate by stealing her ID. One day, she confronts her, having realized that her real name is Amelia Peek, a felon with three arrest warrants. Concluding that she is only with Anne for the apartment, Maddy warns her to leave town or she will report her to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Amelia reluctantly agrees, but asks for one last day with Anne to say goodbye. Instead, she orchestrates the laundry room to make it appear like a machine's shaky spin cycle caused an accident. She asks Maddy to just pick up her laundry as a last favor, locking her in the laundry room. A bottle of bleach drops out, mixing with a spilled descaler, causing Maddy to die from a chlorine gas.

A few weeks earlier, Charlie arrives in Brooklyn, after Good Buddy (Steve Buscemi) asked her to take care of his apartment while he is away. She often avoids superintendent Otto (David Alan Grier), who does not like subletters on the premises. While picking up groceries, she runs into "Kate", immediately recognizing her as a liar who tries to get refunds from the owner. She walks into the laundry room, accidentally getting locked with Maddy. As the women become acquainted, Maddy's attempt to open the door cause it to fall down. Charlie spends time with Maddy and Anne, often watching Jeopardy! with them. She lands a job as a CAPTCHA technician, meeting a woman named Alex (Patti Harrison) who gives her a free cup of coffee that they accidentally gave to her.

Returning to the building, Charlie finds authorities evacuating the building, with another tenant revealing that Maddy died in a freak accident in the laundry room. When she delivers a pineapple to a grief-stricken Anne, she is surprised to see "Kate", who reveals that they will soon be engaged. When she investigates the laundry room, Charlie is told by Otto that he actually fixed the door prior to Maddy's death, and she immediately suspects sabotage. She grabs the doorknob and asks the store owner about the purchase; due to his face blindness, he can only say that the person often asked for refunds on food. Having recognized Maddy's friend, librarian Ricardo, as the source behind her real identity, Amelia confronts him at knifepoint, threatening him into staying silent. When Charlie arrives to question him, Amelia activates a fire alarm and silently warns Ricardo. He subsequently leaves on his motorcycle, refusing to answer Charlie's questions.

Amelia returns to the apartment, gleeful that she now will own it. However, she finds Otto showing the house to a prospector, realizing that Anne has decided to list the apartment as she finds it pointless without Maddy. Amelia then returns to the laundry room, intending to have Anne killed, but finds Charlie talking with Anne when she returns. Anne states that Charlie told her about her real identity, which she denies. She convinces Anne to go to the laundry room, while she talks Charlie into leaving. As Charlie explains how she solved it, Amelia pushes her down a window. However, it is revealed that Charlie used a firefighter's help in setting up an inflatable jumping cushion down below. Anne also shows up with a witness recording Amelia's attempt to kill Charlie, leading to her arrest. As Anne packs her belongings, she gives a poetry book to Charlie for helping her expose Amelia.

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 executive story editor Tea Ho and producer Wyatt Cain, and directed by Adamma Ebo. This was Ho's first writing credit, Cain's third writing credit, and Ebo's first directing credit for the show.^[3]

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.^[4] As Johnson explained, the role was "completely cut to measure for her."^[5]

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.^[5] The episode featured guest appearances by Awkwafina, Patti Harrison and Alia Shawkat, who were announced to guest star in November 2024 and February 2025.^[6][7][8] Lauren Tom also guest stars, having been introduced to the series through executive producer Adam Arkin. When she was offered the role of Anne, she accepted it, saying "I just thought, 'Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have so much fun working with my friends!’ Also, meeting Awkwafina because I had never worked with her before, so I was super jazzed. And, I got to do my first lesbian sex scene!"^[9]

"A New Lease on Death" received positive reviews from critics. Noel Murray of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "I confess that part of the reason “A New Lease On Death” never fully sparked for me is that I'm not that keenly interested in or amused by New Yorkers' real-estate woes. I get that it's a reliable source for drama, comedy and satire; it just strikes me as a rather insular subject, aimed at New Yorkers only."^[10]

Alan Sepinwall wrote, "Despite an impressive guest star roster — Awkwafina, Alia Shawkat, Lauren Tom, David Alan Grier, Harrison, etc. — “A New Lease on Death” was less exciting than the last few, in part because it overlapped too much with the last few. This is two con artist stories in a row, and two of the last three episodes where the plot winds up mirroring a movie one or more of the characters is obsessed with. And while I know that it's a trope of this genre for the victim to foolishly threaten their killer with exposure, rather than simply exposing them, Poker Face is usually better about finding a new spin on the old tropes than what happened here."^[11] Louis Peitzman of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The idea of Charlie not on the road is an intriguing prospect, but something about this episode didn't entirely click for me. In part, it's that it feels a little like we're watching a pilot for a new series, creating an odd vibe this far into the season. But it's also that the case of the week is not as tight as I've come to expect, with a very sloppy killer depicted as a criminal mastermind."^[12]

Ben Sherlock of Screen Rant wrote, "Poker Face's mysteries-of-the-week are almost always compelling, but this one is more emotionally involving than most of the others."^[13] Melody McCune of Telltale TV gave the episode a 3.6 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The show's reverence for cinema really shines through in every frame, from storytelling homages to various classic films to even this week's nod to Michael Clayton. The plot moves at a nice clip, too. Beyond that, the episode's greatest strength is the cast's performances. Sometimes, that's all one needs — good acting (and maybe a rent-controlled penthouse in NYC)."^[14]

TVLine named Alia Shawkat as a honorable mention for the "Performer of the Week" for the week of June 21, 2025, for her performance in the episode. The site wrote, "Poker Face has a grand tradition of bringing in familiar faces for juicy guest roles, and Alia Shawkat sunk her teeth into a good one this week as murderous grifter Kate. Setting her sights on that ultimate New York City prize — a cheap rent-controlled apartment — Kate wooed retired professor Anne to get her hands on the lease, with a smiling Shawkat laying down a barrage of phony love-bombing. But Kate needed to get Anne's granddaughter out of the way first, and Shawkat was downright frightening as Kate plotted to knock her off in secret. When Charlie got on the case, Kate even tried to woo her, too, and Shawkat nimbly toggled between seductress and killer before finally getting caught. Kate will go down as one of Charlie Cale's most formidable adversaries yet, though, thanks to Shawkat's deliciously sinister turn."^[15]

• "A New Lease on Death" at IMDb