Poker Face season 2 finale ending explained: Who is the Iguana? Major plot twist threatens the essence of the show

Poker Face season 2 finale kicks off right where the penultimate episode left off, with Charlie and Alex driving to Greenville, Indiana, to find Beatrix Hasp—away from the FBI agents, the mob, and the most notorious serial killer, aka the Iguana. At least, that's what Charlie thinks, that she's running away from the Iguana, because, unknown to her, the assassin has been right under her nose.

The second season of Poker Face brought its most unexpected twist to date—a couple of twists that no one expected. First, the Iguana turns out to be Alex herself, Charlie's friend. Secondly, Alex can lie to Charlie, and the latter doesn't even know it.

What is teased as a major confrontation with Beatrix Hasp didn't happen because the mob boss is nothing but a footnote in the Poker Face season 2 finale. It's Charlie vs. Alex, a decorated assassin and the biggest sociopath there is, or so she claims.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for the Poker Face season 2 finale. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Poker Face season 2 finale reveals Alex is the Iguana

Alex is the Iguana in the Poker Face season 2 finale (Image via Peacock)

The Poker Face season 2 finale episode reveals that the Iguana storyline has been going on for not only two episodes, but for the last four episodes of the series. Everything is simply happening in the background, and no one, not even Charlie, who supposedly has an infallible bullsh*t meter, is any wiser.

Alex, a character first seen in the final moments of Poker Face season 2 episode 9 and who becomes Charlie's new best friend in New York, turns out to be the legendary Iguana. No one at this point knows anything about her, not even her gender, except that she's a notorious assassin who is a master at disguise.

She's recruited to kill Beatrix Hasp before she can testify against everyone in the mob. But for Alex, aka Iguana or Iggy for short, a mob hit is boring, and she's done with boring stuff. That is, until her agent presents her with Charlie's info, the only one who has a connection with Hasp, and as Alex's manager tells her, no one can lie to Charlie.

Killing Hasp is the easy part of the job, but what entices Alex is the work she has to do to get Charlie's trust. She tells Charlie in the Poker Face season 2 finale that she accepted the hit on Hasp because of Charlie, because she finds Charlie a challenge. It has renewed her, so as a bored assassin, she grabs the opportunity.

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How does Alex being the Iguana threaten the magic of Poker Face?

Charlie finds out that Alex can lie to ger in the Poker Face season 2 finale (Image via Peacock)

Alex's real identity coming out in the Poker Face season 2 finale is the biggest twist the series has featured so far. But as jaw-dropping as it is, it also threatens the essence of the series. Throughout the show, Charlie's lie-detectiing skill has been her superpower—no one should be able to lie to her, especially in front of her face.

However, Alex has been able to do it. She has lied to Charlie countless times in the last four episodes of Poker Face season 2. As she reveals in the finale, the only truth she has told her was during their first meeting, that she was at the lowest point in her life. It hasn't been easy for Alex to lie to Charlie, as she admits in the Poker Face season 2 finale.

She says that it has involved suppressing the very thing that makes her human, but the fact remains that she is able to do it. That said, Charlie ends the second season of the show with a comeback: Alex can only lie to her because she's not trying to find out if Alex is lying or not. During their game of two truths and a lie, Charlie is able to spot Alex's bullsh*t.

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Is Alex dead or alive at the end of the Poker Face season 2 finale?

If Charlie can tell if Alex is lying from her two truths and a lie game, she's not going to drive the car off a cliff. Charlie wins, but just as Alex breaks, the car's brakes malfunction. Thankfully for Charlie, she gets out of the car just before it falls down the cliff. It's all touch and go for a while, with Charlie hanging on for dear life, Luca arrives to save her.

Charlie and Alex play two truths and a lie (Image via Peacock)

Meanwhile, the car crashes and explodes at the bottom. However, in another twist, there's no one there. It means that Alex is able to miraculously get out of the car before it explodes, which means she's alive. Unlike Charlie, Alex is a master at disguise, so it won't be difficult for her to hide herself from anyone.

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Poker Face season 2 finale ends with Charlie Cale back to where she was when the season started

Charlie Cale kicked off Poker Face season 2 running from town to town after Beatrix Hasp put a hit on her head. With the mob after her, Charlie had to frequently move places in the first three episodes of the series, until her deal with Hasp in Poker Face season 2 episode 3.

And just as she has started to settle into life in New York, in the final moments of the Poker Face season 2 finale, the show's bumbling detective returns to her nomadic lifestyle. The mob may not be after her, but she's now a wanted woman in the eyes of the FBI. Although it is never her intention to have Hasp killed, the fact of the matter is that she's the reason the Iguana has found and was able to kill Hasp.

As Agent Luca tells her before he allows her to escape, she is wanted for aiding and abetting a serial killer and had an FBI witness killed. It's something that Luca can't help her get out of. And while he's allowing her to escape this time, he promises that he will arrest her next time—he's bound by duty to arrest her.

So, with the FBI after her, Charlie Cale is back to hiding. Her next stop will be Wichita, but it's unclear how long she will stay there until she is forced to flee to another town again as the FBI comes after her.

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Catch all episodes of seasons 1 and 2 of Poker Face streaming on Peacock.