Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for Poker Face season 2, episode 3, "Whack-A-Mole"!

Charlie Cale has finally been found by Beatrix Hasp, though she's not as dangerous as she initially appears when with Richard Kind's Jeffrey, in Poker Face season 2. Hasp, played by four-time Emmy winner Rhea Perlman, was previously set up in the season 1 finale in which she, along with the heads of the five major crime families, threatened to hunt her down in the wake of Sterling Frost Sr.'s death. After narrowly eluding her hitmen in the first two episodes of the new season, episode 2 ended with Hasp surprising Charlie as she escaped the inferno that was Giancarlo Esposito's funeral home.

Poker Face season 2 episode 3, entitled "What-A-Mole", sees Hasp taking Charlie hostage and forcing her to help weed out the mole in her organization, subsequently meeting three of Hasp's enforcers and her husband, Jeffrey. Despite being married to the leader of a crime family, Jeffrey generally abstains from Beatrix's work, instead being an affable and ing husband to her. As the investigation continues, and tensions rise as Hasp and her crew try to flee the country, Jeffrey will find himself caught between the crosshairs of his wife and the FBI.

In honor of the episode's premiere, ScreenRant interviewed Richard Kind to discuss Poker Face season 2 episode 3. The star shared his praise for Natasha Lyonne's dedication both in front of and behind the camera on the show, as well as the sharp writing that helped him embrace the guileless personality of Jeffrey. He also explained how his reunion with Perlman made the show more fun, getting to honor his friendship with Stephen Sondheim, and a reflection on Inside Out.

Poker Face Was A Series Of Reunions For Kind, Though One Proved Very Special

"We Have A Nice Time..."

Kind is just one of many major guest stars in Poker Face season 2 episode 3, with the roster not only including Perlman, but also John Mulaney as a corrupt FBI agent, Chris Bauer, R.J. Brown, Gregg Bello and Simon Helberg reprising his role as Agent Clark. With Jeffrey being a doting husband to Beatrix, a sense of connection had to be felt between Kind and Perlman, which was easier for the two than some may think, as they had not only worked together before, but have remained close friends since.

"The very first Broadway play I ever did was a play called The Tale of the Allergist's Wife," Kind explained, "and playing The Allergist was me, and playing the Allergist's Wife was Rhea Perlman. One of the greatest bits of advice that was ever given to me was by Tony Roberts, who preceded me in the play. He said, 'The key to this guy is love your wife, and if you love her, the audience will love her, and the audience will love you.' I have taken that to many different roles, even if I'm not married."

After describing Roberts' advice as being "a positive and good way" to approach a character, Kind went on to acknowledge that the Broadway play, on which they worked 25 years ago together, helped him to "practice loving Rhea Perlman". He did, though, also note that he had been a fan of her work prior to The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, particularly that of Cheers. Even before reuniting on Poker Face, the two had "seen each other quite a bit over the years", expressing that "I adore her, and I think she adores me", making it "second nature" to play husband and wife.

Another major reunion for Kind on the show was that of Helberg, with the two having previously starred together in A Serious Man alongside lead Michael Stuhlbarg. In reflecting on that experience, Kind denoted that "we happen to like each other", while also praising that "I respect" the Big Bang Theory alum. "I've had dinner with him a few times, and I know him and his wife", Kind warmly explained.

Episode 3's Unique Sense Of Humor Had Kind In Stitches

Its Stephen Sondheim Moment Held Special Meaning For The Star

With the show mixing the comedy and whodunnit genres, Poker Face certainly presents a unique sense of humor for not just viewers, but for the cast themselves. Kind praised the base concept of his and Perlman's characters as being ripe with potential for humor, saying "the comedy is right there on the paper". After humorously itting "I don't entirely know" if he would believe there being a female mob boss and doting husband in real life, he "bought into it entirely" thanks to the show's writing.

"I said, 'I know where to go, where to play this, and there's no guile to this man,'," Kind explained. "He lives to serve his wife and actually lives to serve everybody. Just make things right. That's a lovely person to be, especially in this world."

Another humorous element to come from Kind's episode is during one of his interactions with Helberg's Agent Clark, with the two realizing they share a love of musicals, particularly those of the late Stephen Sondheim, reciting a portion of Into the Woods while Mulaney's Agent Clyde-Otis attempts to spy on their conversation. Beyond just having a theatrical background, this moment proved particularly special for Kind as he "was in an original Sondheim play" and remained friends with him after that.

I got to work with him, and I used to see him at parties and stuff, because I live in New York. To honor him in this way, that he became the object of our love, and two very disparate personalities coming together in the front seat of that car and talking about it, it just made me laugh. It just made me laugh that an FBI guy is talking about it, or is sharing his love of Sondheim, that just kills me.

Kind Wanted To "Honor" His Friendship With Lyonne While Working On The Show

"...I Have To Honor Her As A Producer..."

As previously shared with us by showrunner Tony Tost, some Poker Face castings come through his, Rian Johnson or Natasha Lyonne's friendships with stars, with Kind being one of the latter's, having "known her for years and years". "She makes me laugh", Kind beamed. "I adore her energy. It's like you said, it's very vibrant. She's a real broad, and I happen to love broads. I think they're great. She is as close to a guy as you're gonna get. Doesn't put up with any s--t, is very funny and very hard-working."

He went on to acknowledge that it's "a lot of responsibility" to not only be the main character of a series, but to essentially be its namesake, describing Charlie as Poker Face and her being "the tentpole that all this craziness goes around". This, in turn, led to his mindset that "I have to honor my friendship" through his work on the episode, as well as "honor her as a producer, and the tough work that she's doing as a producer".

Also, the tough work that she has to do with each and every scene by letting us affect her. She's both very giving as a character, and has to be the recipient of all of us, because her character runs the show. Not her, her character runs the show. It's an interesting thing.

Kind Deliberately Didn't Ask For An Inside Out 2 Return For A Key Reason

He Does, Though, Have An Idea For "A Good TV Series"

Looking beyond Poker Face season 2, one of Kind's more notable roles in the past decade was that of imaginary friend Bing Bong in the first Inside Out. Though having sacrificed himself to help Joy escape the Memory Dump, there were some hopes from fans about the possibility of his return for Inside Out 2, which became the highest-grossing animated film of all time before being sured by Ne Zha 2.

When asked whether he had any conversations with the team at Pixar about his return, Kind confirmed he never had talks with anyone about coming back for Inside Out 2. Though humorously itting "we all know what happened to Bing Bong", he did clarify that a more genuine reason for not coming back was that one thing he doesn't do in his career is "ask friends for work, or even intimate friends for work", pointing to his friendship with Pete Docter, co-writer/director of the first film and now Pixar CCO. He also noted Bing Bong's ending would've made a sequel appearance "a false reality".

In looking to the future of the franchise, Kind was somewhat cautious about whether he would want Bing Bong to come back, as he likes "how he exists already in the world", and that "the purity is already set" for his character, thus "why screw with it?". However, Kind did reveal his pitch for an Inside Out TV prequel, which would be set when "Ellie was three or four years old" and would see her and Bing Bong "go all around the world and have adventures".

The star did it that "it's very expensive to do the kind of animation that Pixar does", which could prove a major hurdle in getting the studio's interest in the Inside Out prequel show idea. That said, Kind still expressed that it "would be fun to find out what their adventures were" and that it "would be a good TV series".

More About Poker Face Season 2

Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

Check out our previous Poker Face season 2 interview with showrunner Tony Tost!

The first three episodes of Poker Face season 2 are now streaming on Peacock, with new episodes airing Thursdays!