S01.E03: The Stall

[shantown]

Quote

Charlie takes a job at a family-run Texas BBQ joint and must use her perception skills to sniff out the truth behind a shocking death.

Streams January 26 on Peacock

[AnimeMania]

Lil Rel Howery as Taffy Boyle
Larry Brown as George Boyle, Texas BBQ pitmaster
Ben Beckley as Attorney
Elsa Kennedy as BBQ Counter Worker
Danielle MacDonald as Mandy
Shane Paul McGhie as Austin

Edited January 26, 2023 by AnimeMania

[Snazzy Daisy]

 

[Irlandesa]

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

I did not recognize Danielle McDonald in this episode until I read the credits here.  I do enjoy her. If you liked her in this somewhat western feeling show, check out The Tourist. 

 

[akg]

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

And he ends up adopted at the end which made me happy (even MAGA dogs deserve a home).

[Absurda]

Anyone else kinda bummed that the dog stayed and didn't become her permanent sidekick?  I loved his cute little bandage that DID NOT match his personality at all.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I dread the murders so much, they're so harsh.  But I really ended up liking the story and was smiling by the end.

This is like Murder she Wrote.

On 1/26/2023 at 10:13 PM, Irlandesa said:

I did not recognize Danielle McDonald in this episode until I read the credits here.  I do enjoy her. If you liked her in this somewhat western feeling show, check out The Tourist. 

I really liked her in "Dumplin" I thought she was fantastic.  Less so here, but it was a much less meaty role.  (Ugh, pun wasn't intended.)

Edited January 28, 2023 by Ms Blue Jay

[susannot]

I didn't quite get how the radio DJ helped solve the murder.  Guess I'll re-watch the episode unless someone can explain.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, susannot said:

I didn't quite get how the radio DJ helped solve the murder.  Guess I'll re-watch the episode unless someone can explain.

He gave Charlie recordings of Taffy's radio show.  She listened to them and noted the differences between the show done on the night of George's murder and previous nights--no train in the background, the long-winded answer to the only listener call-in question.  She deduced it was a recording and not Taffy talking live. She then took it upon herself to see if Taffy could sneak out of the radio station, kill George, assault the dog, and get back in the 16 minutes Taffy was talking about sausage.  

[SHD]

Nice misdirect at the start when the guy says "I'm a murderer" when he opened the grill. I was thinking he burned a body in there but really it was just his sudden aversion to meat!

[akg]

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

He gave Charlie recordings of Taffy's radio show

The radio guy also called the wife using Taffy's voice which prompted her to turn her co-conspirator over to the police. The call was recorded and he played her confession during his MAGA show (knowing the cops would be listening which was a nice touch) so the wife would be arrested as well.

[susannot]

12 minutes ago, akg said:

The radio guy also called the wife using Taffy's voice which prompted her to turn her co-conspirator over to the police. The call was recorded and he played her confession during his MAGA show (knowing the cops would be listening which was a nice touch) so the wife would be arrested as well.

Thanks!!  That's the part that I missed.  I really liked the character of the radio guy.  All those different voices!!

[akg]

19 minutes ago, susannot said:

All those different voices!!

And the corresponding knowledge! The kind of people who would listen to a quilting program on the radio would be able to identify him as a fake pretty quickly so he's done some research.

[Ms Blue Jay]

6 hours ago, susannot said:

I didn't quite get how the radio DJ helped solve the murder.  Guess I'll re-watch the episode unless someone can explain.

He also imitated Lil Rel on the phone to Danielle MacDonald, so that they could produce her confession on tape.

4 hours ago, SHD said:

Nice misdirect at the start when the guy says "I'm a murderer" when he opened the grill. I was thinking he burned a body in there but really it was just his sudden aversion to meat!

I'm kind of scared to watch Okja now.  Come on, it made him stop wanting to eat meat forever?!

[Zaffy]

oh that Maga dog stole the spotlight in this episode! loved it! he will be so happy in his new home.

[susannot]

12 minutes ago, Zaffy said:

oh that Maga dog stole the spotlight in this episode! loved it! he will be so happy in his new home.

Charlie's dialogue with the MAGA dog was hilarious, and made episode 3 my favorite of the first 4.

[shapeshifter]

Natasha Lyonne was the guest today on the Saturday NPR comedy news quiz Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. 
During the interview portion, Peter Sagal compared the character of Charlie Cale to that of Columbo——who Lyonne admitted she appreciated——and, OMG, when I watched "The Stall" this evening, every time Natasha/Charlie spoke throughout this entire episode it seemed like she was totally doing an impersonation of Columbo, with the writing of Charlie's lines completely supporting the Columbo-esque persona. 

[Paloma]

On 1/26/2023 at 10:13 PM, Irlandesa said:

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

I didn't know it was coming and was really upset--almost stopped watching also. 

 

7 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm kind of scared to watch Okja now.  Come on, it made him stop wanting to eat meat forever?!

I can understand why Okja made him stop wanting to eat or cook meat forever. It was a really good movie, but hard to watch if you care about animals (even though the animals are not real--I don't want to say more in case you decide to watch it).

This episode really showed the Columbo-like aspects of Charlie's character, and it was entertaining even though I didn't figure things out before the explanation. But it kind of bothers me that in each episode so far (and this is likely going to be the way it works in all), she confronts the guilty party when they are alone or in a situation where she could easily be killed before the police arrive. How does she know the person won't just kill her as soon as they realize she has figured things out? Clearly they are capable of murder and don't think they will be caught.

 

10 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

when I watched "The Stall" this evening, every time Natasha/Charlie spoke throughout this entire episode it seemed like she was totally doing an impersonation of Columbo, with the writing of Charlie's lines completely supporting the Columbo-esque persona.

I was writing something similar but your comment showed up first--great minds, etc.

[shapeshifter]

3 minutes ago, Paloma said:

But it kind of bothers me that in each episode so far (and this is likely going to be the way it works in all), she confronts the guilty party when they are alone or in a situation where she could easily be killed before the police arrive. How does she know the person won't just kill her as soon as they realize she has figured things out? Clearly they are capable of murder and don't think they will be caught.

And this👆 is exactly what Jessica Fletcher does in almost every of the 264 episodes of Murder She Wrote.
No matter how many times I've seen Jessica confront the killer alone, often at night, typically in a deserted location——even though I know her police friends are waiting in the wings——I still worry about her well-being and think she's being foolish. 
Since we just met Charlie, and Charlie does not have a good rapport with the police, the stakes are higher. 

Similarly, after this episode, I don't think anyone needs to worry about a dog being killed. 
Although I did think that was what happened at first.

[Paloma]

13 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Since we just met Charlie, and Charlie does not have a good rapport with the police, the stakes are higher. 

Not only does she not have a good rapport with the police, she has to worry that any encounter with the police could put the casino enforcer and his boss on her trail. In this episode and the previous episode, she apparently left town without talking to the police, just as they were arriving on the scene, and I assume that is what will happen each time. You would think that the police would want to follow up with a key witness, but maybe they don't care (at least in Nowheresville USA) if the proof just falls into their hands. It strains credibility, but I can go with it.

 

[susannot]

Columbo always did the same thing.  Meaning confronted the guilty party, often alone, often at night.  I always assumed that no one tried to kill him because he was a police detective.  In Jessica's Fletcher's case , she was a beloved local celebrity.  I wonder if Rian and Natasha will play with this idea. I suspect she will face more killers as time goes on, who will regard her as a disposable piece of trash.  Taffy in Ep. 3 called her a vagabond.  We'll see what else people call her.  I'll bet also Cliff will pay for info about her.

[justmehere]

On 1/26/2023 at 8:13 PM, Irlandesa said:

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

Yes. And all the barbecue...

Glad the dog found a home.

17 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I dread the murders so much, they're so harsh. 

Yeah, again - so cold and selfish over money. Actually, money has been the theme through the first 3. Interesting.

[Paloma]

20 hours ago, SHD said:

Nice misdirect at the start when the guy says "I'm a murderer" when he opened the grill.

That reminds me that I like the way the writers use a difference in perspective when the story goes back in time to include Charlie. When this technique was used in the first episode, I was initially confused, but now I expect it in each episode and so far think it is well done. This technique could be used as an easy writing crutch to solve a mystery, but here it also amplifies the story and the characters.  

[meira.hand]

My favorite scene was the brilliant use of music to convey the different types of woods she was smelling/tasting to compare with the sliver the vet took from the dog's wound.

16 hours ago, Paloma said:

23 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I'm kind of scared to watch Okja now.  Come on, it made him stop wanting to eat meat forever?!

I can understand why Okja made him stop wanting to eat or cook meat forever. It was a really good movie, but hard to watch if you care about animals (even though the animals are not real--I don't want to say more in case you decide to watch it).

I also liked that they did not use the obvious trope of sweet animal movie that would usually only affect children. Okja si such a powerful movie that you can see how even a grownup will be affected by it.

[Twilight Man]

21 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Natasha Lyonne was the guest today on the Saturday NPR comedy news quiz Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. 
During the interview portion, Peter Sagal compared the character of Charlie Cale to that of Columbo——who Lyonne admitted she appreciated——and, OMG, when I watched "The Stall" this evening, every time Natasha/Charlie spoke throughout this entire episode it seemed like she was totally doing an impersonation of Columbo, with the writing of Charlie's lines completely supporting the Columbo-esque persona. 

That's what I keep thinking every time I hear "Charlie" talk --- "Is she just doing a Columbo impression??"

On 1/28/2023 at 10:06 AM, Ohiopirate02 said:

He gave Charlie recordings of Taffy's radio show.  She listened to them and noted the differences between the show done on the night of George's murder and previous nights--no train in the background, ........ She deduced it was a recording and not Taffy talking live. She then took it upon herself to see if Taffy could sneak out of the radio station, kill George, assault the dog, and get back in the 16 minutes Taffy was talking about sausage.

Speaking of Columbo and NOT hearing something in the background.   Yeah, this episode's conclusion made me remember this classic gem.

[twoods]

Still liking this show, but I hate how all the victims are such likable people. Maybe throw in a douche or two, but then I guess she wouldn’t care about their murder.

Edited January 30, 2023 by twoods

[SomeTameGazelle]

22 minutes ago, twoods said:

Still liking this show, but I hate how all the victims are such likable people. Maybe throw in a douche or two, but then I guess she wouldn’t care about their murder.

I was really hoping that George might survive the attempt but that was before I had grasped that Mandy was in on it.

[PurpleTentacle]

Of course the little hitchhiker loved conservative talk radio with all the dog whistles in it.

I didn't love that there were two smell-based clues that were integral to Charlie solving the case, in a trailer that was just recently filled with smoke. No way she could detect a minty smell or an abscence of smell on the beer bottle in that thing. All she would have smelled would have been smoke.

Other than that, it was an entertaining episode.

[PurpleTentacle]

On 1/27/2023 at 4:13 AM, Irlandesa said:

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

Well the dog is racist, homophobix, anti-semetic, etc. If it had to happen to any dog then this one.

23 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And this👆 is exactly what Jessica Fletcher does in almost every of the 264 episodes of Murder She Wrote.

Yeah but Jessica Fletcher is the real killer and is just framing innocent people for her crimes. So she knows that these people won't really harm her, because she is the actual danger.

2 hours ago, Twilight Man said:

That's what I keep thinking every time I hear "Charlie" talk --- "Is she just doing a Columbo impression??"

Nah, she always sounds like that. Also now that you mention it, she is always a bit columboesc.

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, twoods said:

Still liking this show, but I hate how all the victims are such likable people. Maybe throw in a douche or two, but then I guess she wouldn’t care about their murder.

It's heartbreaking.

[Milburn Stone]

I felt like I saw elements of at least four different Columbo episodes in this one.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

[Haleth]

Yes, Charlie is definitely related to Columbo.  It also occurred to me that Natasha Lyonne is a ringer for Carole Channing.  She looks like her and has the same speech affect, turning s into sh.

I was pretty upset when MAGA dog appeared dead, should have known he's too mean to die.  Glad he found a home with the very talented radio guy.

This show does a great job establishing the victim a real person before he/she is killed.  The intro to the characters takes up a lot of time but is really necessary for us to be truly sympathetic.

RIP BBQ place.  No one left to run it.

[paigow]

5 hours ago, Haleth said:

RIP BBQ place.  No one left to run it.

Beto is still there...

[Milburn Stone]

Here are the Columbo things in this episode that I can remember:

1. Business partner wants out, other partner can't afford to buy him out, threatening dissolution of the business.

2. Killer plots to establish alibi with a pre-recording that is meant to pass for live.

3. Alibi is broken not because of a sound that happens in the background of the recording, but a sound that doesn't happen.

I'm sure there's a fourth. :)

[paigow]

1 hour ago, Milburn Stone said:

Here are the Columbo things in this episode that I can remember:

1. Business partner wants out, other partner can't afford to buy him out, threatening dissolution of the business.

2. Killer plots to establish alibi with a pre-recording that is meant to pass for live.

3. Alibi is broken not because of a sound that happens in the background of the recording, but a sound that doesn't happen.

I'm sure there's a fourth. :)

Not exactly the same... but magician has alibi of being on stage when murder occurred...

[Black Knight]

19 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

1. Business partner wants out, other partner can't afford to buy him out, threatening dissolution of the business.

That wasn't really the issue. Like George said, they'd be able to work it out, and he'd already contacted someone to help with that. The real problem was that that would have necessitated going over the books, and Taffy didn't want the bridge loan and whatever other financial shenanigans he'd pulled coming to light.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 1/29/2023 at 7:46 PM, Twilight Man said:

Speaking of Columbo and NOT hearing something in the background.   Yeah, this episode's conclusion made me remember this classic gem.

On 1/30/2023 at 7:17 PM, Milburn Stone said:

I felt like I saw elements of at least four different Columbo episodes in this one.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

It is also an homage to the famous Sherlock Homes story The Adventure of Silver Blaze in which Holmes solves a murder due to the "curious incident of the dog in the night-time" (the "curious incident" is a missing sound; the dog in question did not bark).  In this episode, Charlie only realizes that there is a murder because of a "curious incident of a dog in the night-time" (although here it is caused by a dog that did bark) and she solves it because of a missing sound (the train).

Edited February 2, 2023 by ItCouldBeWorse

[arc]

On 1/28/2023 at 8:15 AM, akg said:

The radio guy also called the wife using Taffy's voice which prompted her to turn her co-conspirator over to the police. The call was recorded and he played her confession during his MAGA show (knowing the cops would be listening which was a nice touch) so the wife would be arrested as well.

It's neatly tied together, though I wonder how the wife (Mandy) could have plausibly accused Taffy without implicating herself at all.

I've seen some people say Charlie is an inadvertent angel of death who causes a lot of these murders that happen around her. But George was living on borrowed time anyways, between Taffy being reckless with the restaurant's money and Taffy having an affair with Mandy.

I don't like how Charlie has been so open about her superpower, but it is very fun to watch people who know about it figure out how to misdirect her with non-lying statements.

[akg]

1 hour ago, arc said:

I wonder how the wife (Mandy) could have plausibly accused Taffy without implicating herself at all.

She helped plan but her role in the actual murder could all be explained away. She asked the question that cued up Taffy's lecture on the radio but, as she explained to Charlie, she and Taffy did that kind of thing regularly for advertising. If Taffy requested a lead in to talk about sausage, why would she find that strange? I think the only other thing she did as part of the plot was send someone to discover her husband which the cops wouldn't have any reason to question. Charlie only did because she'd been there and then recognized the lie the wife told to explain not being able to find the spice. Once Taffy started talking, the wife might have needed to defend herself but she had a pretty good story all lined up.

[Accidental Martyr]

This article gives a lot of background on the ties between Poker Face and Columbo.

https://time.com/6250496/poker-face-columbo-influences/

[arc]

19 hours ago, akg said:

She helped plan but her role in the actual murder could all be explained away. She asked the question that cued up Taffy's lecture on the radio but, as she explained to Charlie, she and Taffy did that kind of thing regularly for advertising. If Taffy requested a lead in to talk about sausage, why would she find that strange? I think the only other thing she did as part of the plot was send someone to discover her husband which the cops wouldn't have any reason to question.

Right, but that is all about her not knowing what was going on. How would she tell the cops a story that Taffy did it? She just had a feeling? I guess she could lead with the missing train horn from the broadcast but that is not a whole lot.

[SoMuchTV]

On 1/28/2023 at 10:20 PM, Paloma said:

I can understand why Okja made him stop wanting to eat or cook meat forever. It was a really good movie, but hard to watch if you care about animals (even though the animals are not real--I don't want to say more in case you decide to watch it).

Probably didn’t hurt that she also gave him Babe and Charlotte’s Web. 

[peachmangosteen]

On 1/26/2023 at 10:13 PM, Irlandesa said:

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

I keep telling myself I'm done with this show because honestly I just don't like it but then another person talks about how good it is and I'm like fuck maybe I should give it another try but once he hit the dog I was like nope I'm done. But now I have to yet again rethink this. Dammit lol!

[Paloma]

1 hour ago, peachmangosteen said:

On 1/26/2023 at 10:13 PM, Irlandesa said:

Fair warning to animal lovers, if you're reading this before you see the episode, there's some doggie violence in this one but the dog does live.  But for a moment I almost walked away.

I keep telling myself I'm done with this show because honestly I just don't like it but then another person talks about how good it is and I'm like fuck maybe I should give it another try but once he hit the dog I was like nope I'm done. But now I have to yet again rethink this. Dammit lol!

I'm hoping that there will be no more animal abuse (even if only suggested) in the remaining episodes. If something similar happens again, I will definitely be out despite otherwise enjoying the show.

[desertflower]

On 1/29/2023 at 8:04 PM, twoods said:

Still liking this show, but I hate how all the victims are such likable people. Maybe throw in a douche or two, but then I guess she wouldn’t care about their murder.

Yes, this is the tough part for me. I love her character, and the crime solving aspect is entertaining, but knowing that one of the characters we are meeting is going to get killed (and so far likable ones) adds an uncomfortable feeling of dread to the first part of the episodes. But once Charlie shows up and does her thing I love it. I just have to stretch these episodes out and not get overloaded on the sad murders. 

[Black Knight]

19 hours ago, desertflower said:

I love her character, and the crime solving aspect is entertaining, but knowing that one of the characters we are meeting is going to get killed (and so far likable ones) adds an uncomfortable feeling of dread to the first part of the episodes.

Yes, this show reminds me of Cold Case in that way. The victims on that show were mostly sympathetic people too. It's easier to take when seeing an episode one week at a time, as opposed to watching four episodes close together, so this will probably smooth out now that we're past the initial dump of eps.

[driver18]

On 1/29/2023 at 10:10 PM, PurpleTentacle said:

Of course the little hitchhiker loved conservative talk radio with all the dog whistles in it.

I didn't love that there were two smell-based clues that were integral to Charlie solving the case, in a trailer that was just recently filled with smoke. No way she could detect a minty smell or an abscence of smell on the beer bottle in that thing. All she would have smelled would have been smoke.

Other than that, it was an entertaining episode.

The floss was originally cinnamon flavored and that's just how it was described. She simply noticed, as did viewers, that the floss left a red mark.on the door. It was the color not the scent.

As for the beer bottle, Charlie specifically pointed out that even if she could smell smell something it wouldn't matter because she was no expert. So, yeah, she wasn't an expert.

Edited February 5, 2023 by driver18

[arc]

1 hour ago, driver18 said:

The floss was originally cinnamon flavored and that's just how it was described. She simply noticed, as did viewers, that the floss left a red mark.on the door. It was the color not the scent.

Indeed, but that raises another question: who in the world wants floss that can leave red marks behind?

[paigow]

44 minutes ago, arc said:

Indeed, but that raises another question: who in the world wants floss that can leave red marks behind?

Taffy got a really good deal... 

[pasdetrois]

As each episode begins I am excited to be introduced to great talent - the guest actors. Every one a gem thus far.

The BBQ joint, with its outdoor picnic tables, gingham, great music, and cheery little lights, was very nostalgic for me. That there was my childhood post-church meal.

I wonder if Charlie will head to Louisiana. There are casinos, alligators, voodoo, spooky bayous, and more great food. She could get herself in quite the pickle.