Plot: Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week collection following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has a rare potential to find out when somebody is mendacity. She hits the highway along with her Plymouth Barracuda and with each cease encounters a brand new solid of characters and unusual crimes she will be able to’t assist however resolve.
Assessment: Whereas Rian Johnson revived the whodunit on the large display with Knives Out and the Netflix sequel Glass Onion, his charmingly retro small-screen collection Poker Face has really confirmed its value within the tried-and-true style. Echoing basic exhibits like Columbo and The Rockford Information, Poker Face‘s first season centered on Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), who solved mysteries whereas on the run from gangsters trying to kill her. The overarching narrative of the primary season was partaking, however the standalone mysteries boasting well-known visitor stars turned Poker Face into must-watch programming. After a two-year wait, Poker Face is again with one other ten mysteries, with much more recognizable actors becoming a member of Natasha Lyonne and Rian Johnson for a enjoyable tour into entertaining homicide yarns with a unusual humorousness. Whereas it will not be the marquee collection that different platforms financial institution on, Poker Face is a blast from begin to end and provides us one thing enjoyable and humorous to sink into slightly than wallowing in stark drama or brutal actuality.
The formulation of Poker Face stays the identical as within the first season. Charlie Cale has the uncanny potential to detect whether or not somebody is mendacity along with her signature catchphrase “bullshit” ringing out each time she senses an utterance of untruth. The overarching narrative connects every standalone episode from final season with Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) changing Sterling Frost Sr (Ron Perlman, no relation) because the particular person looking down Charlie. Over the primary few episodes of the season, Charlie is on the run from goons despatched by Hasp, who observe her by way of the mysteries she will get concerned in, however that thread transitions after just a few episodes to a unique arc for the protagonist. How and why this narrative shift happens units up the place Poker Face might head within the third season and past, and connects to Charlie’s new sidekick, Alex, performed by Patti Harrison, who can not lie. The chemistry between Natasha Lyonne and Harrison is nice for the collection. It really works to alter the dynamic of getting Charlie work together with all-new supporting gamers from episode to episode.
The collection harkens again to a bygone period of tv when standalone episodes had been the usual slightly than the serialized drama that has change into a staple of status collection like The Final of Us, Fallout, and past. The localized solid and script afford the inventive expertise to attempt various things with out worrying an excessive amount of about price by containing every episode as a one-off story. Poker Face‘s cast this season is impressive with the guests including Cynthia Ervio, Kumail Nanjiani, Giancarlo Esposito, Richard Kind, John Mulaney, John Cho, Adrienne C. Moore, Alia Shawkat, Awkwafina, Ben Marshall, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Corey Hawkins, David Alan Grier, David Krumholtz, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, Ego Nwodim, Gaby Hoffmann, Geraldine Viswanathan, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, Justin Theroux, Kathrine Narducci, Katie Holmes, Kevin Corrigan, Lauren Tom, Lili Taylor, Margo Martindale, Melanie Lynskey, Natasha Leggero, Patti Harrison, Rhea Perlman, Sam Richardson, Sherry Cola, Simon Helberg, Simon Rex, Taylor Schilling, and Steve Buscemi as Charlie’s CB radio buddy. The pairings of those actors additionally give the dynamic a enjoyable twist, with Cynthia Erivo enjoying a number of characters in a single episode, with actors you wouldn’t in any other case see sharing the display, like Giancarlo Esposito and Katie Holmes, providing enjoyable scene companions.
If the season has any shortcomings, it could be that the formulation doesn’t all the time give the actors sufficient time to inhabit their roles. Some make nice use of the restricted display time and have enjoyable with their roles, however every chapter’s one-hour working time prevents us from getting too comfy with them. It’s fascinating how the villain shouldn’t be all the time the actor you count on it to be, with a number of the extra recognizable actors being the sufferer slightly than the perpetrator. Poker Face shouldn’t be all the time a whodunit, as we all the time know who the killer is within the first act of the episode, leaving the appeal of the thriller as to how Charlie will resolve it. Natasha Lyonne’s easy appeal and charisma make Charlie probably the most fascinating characters on tv, and this season provides the actress extra freedom to be zany, wacky, and foolish. The lighter strategy this season could underwhelm some. Nonetheless, I preferred that I didn’t should wallow in unhappy and miserable storylines, however can have enjoyable with the intense colours and assorted locations Charlie Cale will get to go to over these ten episodes.
Whereas Rian Johnson returns to direct this season, he has handed over showrunner duties to Tony Tost. Tost is finest identified for writing the A&E collection Longmire, USA’s Damnation, AMC’s The Terror, and the 2023 movie Americana starring Sydney Sweeney. Tost oversees a a lot lighter second season, which retains the formulation that Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne have partnered on, with the actress helming a number of episodes this season, together with the finale. Writers this season embody Laura Deeley, Alice Ju, Wyatt Cain, Kate Thulin, Taofik Kolade, Megan Amram, Tea Ho, Raphie Cantor, Andrew Sodroski, and Lyonne herself. The episodes are all distinctive bits of enjoyable with twists on the formulation, typically negating Charlie’s lie-detecting abilities and forcing her to make use of different ways to unravel the thriller she is confronted with. The appeal of those advanced deaths additionally provides the collection sequences that function homages to all the things from Michael Mann’s Warmth to Johnson’s personal Knives Out, and it nonetheless leaves me with hope that we may even see Charlie workforce up with Benoit Blanc sometime.
In a time after we want a collection that’s simply enjoyable, mild, and pleasant whereas nonetheless giving us wonderful writing and performing, Poker Face is difficult to high. Natasha Lyonne is as soon as once more a improbable lead character that we are able to love to observe, and Rian Johnson proves that he was destined to relaunch the thriller style for a brand new technology. Whereas the shift within the overarching narrative could also be jarring for some viewers who preferred the momentum and cliffhanger ending we had on the finish of season one, this sophomore run opens up the potential for Poker Face to maintain itself recent and discover extra tales with out the constraints of what began Charlie’s journey within the first place. These ten episodes are a improbable and enjoyable watch. I hope we don’t have to attend one other two years for this nice present’s subsequent season.
Poker Face season two premieres with three episodes on Could eighth on Peacock.
Supply:
JoBlo.com
