Poker Face

2023 - 1 - 27

poker face tv show

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Poker Face review: Natasha Lyonne is magnetic in whodunnit series (The Guardian)

The detective series from Knives Out writer Rian Johnson puts a refreshing twist on the mystery-of-the-week structure.

Her Charlie has a savant’s ability for calling bullshit, but she’s winningly not a pro – she has a penchant for befriending people in their final hours and for explaining her hunches to the culprits’ faces. Poker Face may not be the harebrained, elaborate or sophisticated of murder mysteries, but it is never less than a good time. Poker Face’s riff on the episodic formula, a structure familiar to broadcast sitcoms and procedurals but less common on streaming platforms, and rarely with the sense of play evident here, is the show’s chief comfort and biggest limitation. Adorned with tinted aviator sunglasses and a distinctive sun-bleached mop, fond of digressions with a New York Jewish bent, Charlie is an easy hang in some rough yet warmly captured places. We meet Charlie, a human lie-detector quick to call bullshit, as a cocktail waitress in a Vegas casino, living in a trailer and hiding out from a slandered poker reputation (turns out, it’s suspicious to have a 100% accuracy read for bluffing). But fun, as in well-structured, confidently filmed visual treats with the aim of delivering pure, non-binged enjoyment?

Poker Face: Knives Out's Rian Johnson finds inspiration from TV's ... (Stuff.co.nz)

Starring Russian Doll's Natasha Lyonne, this is a truly episodic case-of-the-week mystery show a la Columbo, Magnum P.I. and The Rockford Files.

And back of that – which is the thing I love so much about playing her – is she really cares about the truth ultimately, which is something I identify with a great deal.” So, still, she has to go about solving that sort of suspicion and following that thread all the way through in a very human, practical way that's much more just a puzzle than it is a superpower,” she says. And I think I love that particular kind of a lone wolf who is somebody who is really floating above a situation, sort of trying to crack a riddle of some sort, but also very much an Everyman who's really got their nose to the grindstone and is figuring out the sounds of the streets,” she says. He just has to name the when and the where, and I'll be there. “And I love that as a ‘noir’ device in general, just the idea of these small pockets and eccentric figures. When you see it in black and white [it’s] actually the best indication of what the end result is going to be. So, the truth is, I wanted to get on the phone with him after I read it, and I feigned concern that there might not be enough to do. Her character champions the underdog, Lyonne says. “The way Rian has crafted it, is it's just enough that it kind of gets her in through the door, but it's not a superpower. But the other guy I love so much is Andy Sipowicz. The series, which is now screening on TVNZ+, was created by Rian Johnson. “I just love the guy.

'Poker Face': How Does Natasha Lyonne's Lie Detecting Work? (Variety)

'Poker Face' creator Rian Johnson and star Natasha Lyonne break down exactly how Charlie Cale's lie-detecting talent works.

But it’s also a little bit like ‘Magnum P.I.,’ where they did do that one episode that had flashbacks to his dad going off to war and it was really powerful. Someone she can’t read at all and she’s conscious of the fact that she can’t.” At the same time, I’m torn because it’s a little bit kind of like ‘Columbo,’ where you don’t want to actually meet his wife. Or, she sometimes finds that she says it in a situation where it was really bad that it was a reflex.” If this was a character that was going to live in all situations and, arguably, if she’d been this way ever since she was a kid, she would have figured out a way to almost hide it. “If someone says something that’s untrue, but they think that it’s the truth, that will read as truth to her.

Poker Face is a Crackling, Groovy Heirloom PI Show (CrimeReads)

There is something grizzled, world-weary, and wise about Charlie Cole (Natasha Lyonne), the protagonist of Poker Face, Peacock's new ten episode detective ...

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'Poker Face' Episode 1 Ending Explained: Hit 'Em Where It Hurts (Collider.com)

The first episode of Poker Face kicks off with Natasha Lyonne's Charlie Cale uncovering a murderous conspiracy at the seedy Frost Casino.

Charlie reveals that she recorded Sterling's conversation about his plan to cheat and sent it to the person that would “hit ‘em where it hurts.” The cops? While Natalie is on her way home, she gets a call from her friend and co-worker Charlie, which we learn is actually a return call to the one Charlie missed earlier that Natalie made right after she saw the computer. Charlie went to the crow’s nest as Sterling dealt with the situation and ordered the hit, returning to his meeting with Charlie as if nothing happened. Cliff and Natalie bring this up to Sterling (who is in a meeting with someone important) and he is disgusted at what he sees on the computer. “She did the right thing when she saw something awful, and she actually did something about it. Instead, Cliff grabs a gun from a safe, heads to Natalie’s house, and shoots her abusive husband in the head. He eventually spread the word that she was a cheater (which was a lie), and she was quickly blackballed. He gave her a job at the casino (his attempt of keeping her in a “cage”) and from then on, Charlie’s been a cocktail waitress. Charlie just has a “supernatural infallibility” about her that was finally noticed by Sterling’s father when she stepped foot in Frost Casino for the first time and went as far as studying her in tournaments. And frankly, her bare-bones lifestyle working at the casino is a lot less boring than when she was gambling and winning lots of money. She does have this pretty great gift of being able to tell exactly when someone is lying, a skill that has come in handy quite a few times in the past, and is poised to put her in danger in the future. When she’s not in her trailer, she’s working the floor as a cocktail waitress at the Frost Casino and usually sneaking drinks on the job.

In 'Poker Face,' Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne deal up a small ... (CNN)

Designed as a modern spin on an old formula, "Poker Face" represents another point of entry into TV detective shows, teaming Natasha Lyonne with "Knives ...

That said, “Poker Face” plays a pretty small-stakes game. Breezy but thin, it’s mildly fun but not quite a winning hand, defined as much by its guest stars as Lyonne in what’s basically a cross between “Murder, She Wrote” and “The Incredible Hulk” of the 1970s. For those who don’t remember the Hulk series that starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno, it basically employed a similar format, sending him from town to town, “The Fugitive” style, where he used his hidden powers to help people he encountered.

Where Was 'Poker Face' Filmed? Everything We Know About Rian ... (Decider)

Where was 'Poker Face' filmed? What to know about the filming locations for Rian Johnson's mystery-of-the-week series on Peacock starring Natasha Lyonne.

“And I think that what we wanted to do was really peel back and take a look at the heartland of America and the characters that are there, and really surprise people with where we could set these stories.” We were able to find places that could pass for Texas, the Southwest or The Adirondacks.” For Episode 3 we talked about the location needing to look and feel like Paris, Texas or The Last Picture Show,” Rhee explained.”…There were certain locations that we were trying to retrofit the episodes into because of the limitations we had. That means a significant portion of the stunning sets and locations you see on-screen were either crafted or found in New York. But after she’s forced to flee the state, she takes viewers on the road to a truck stop in New Mexico, a barbecue joint in Texas, on tour with a metal band, and more unique locations. In press materials for the show, Poker Face creator Rian Johnson explained, “We cut ourselves loose as far as the writing goes so that when you sit down to watch an episode, you have no idea where Charlie will end up next…

Poker Face Recap: You Can't Un-murder Someone (Vulture)

Chloë Sevigny guest stars as Ruby, the front woman of a once-popular metal band who is trying to recapture the old glory by any means necessary.

She and Cliff engage in a wee pursuit that ends when Charlie escapes into the concert and crowd-surfs to safety as “Sucker Punch” blasts, a moment of frothy TV delight that felt so much like TV I couldn’t help laughing. Rather than take her findings directly to the police, she sends them to the host of the podcast Murder Girl, whom Charlie met when Doxxxology stole her studio time in Kenosha. Turns out Gavin didn’t so much write the music to “Sucker Punch” but borrow it from the Benson theme tune. Charlie assumes Al acted alone to murder Gavin, which confused me because he’s low-key incompetent and Ruby moves through the world with the single-mindedness of a cold-hearted killer. Charlie vouches for Gavin with Ruby and is on hand to celebrate with him when Ruby offers the ultimate olive branch: permission to perform the primal scream that closes out “Staplehead.” She’s on hand when he puts his bare foot to his booby-trapped pedal. Gavin collected the words to “Sucker Punch” like he was populating the landfill of his own mind. I thought the crime and the criminal would be immediately evident, but Charlie still goes to the source to see what she can shake loose. Of the initial episode drop, “Rest in Metal” is the first in which the crime feels genuinely “getawaywithable” to me. A line of “Sucker Punch” is cribbed from a roadside- attraction pamphlet and forms a couplet with a morsel he found on the paper wrapper of a plastic straw. Some of that might be because Ruby, thanks to Sevigny’s steely interpretation of what it looks like to be a woman in despair, is the first killer we’ve met who really seems to have her whole heart in the game. For her DIY colleagues, the entirely inane tune is a source of admiration, but for the misfit rockers of Dox, it’s a reminder of the highs they once knew and are unlikely to recapture as they head deeper into their 40s. Yes, the song is the band’s claim to fame but it’s written and entirely owned by Belinda, their old drummer.

Poker Face Is an Argument for Episodic Television (The Escapist)

Poker Face on Peacock is an argument for episodic television as an art form, which has become bizarrely endangered in the age of streaming.

Columbo, a very obvious influence on the narrative structure of Poker Face, was a class-conscious show in which “ [killers were usually rich, powerful, and openly disdainful of this blue-collar bumbler who just wouldn’t go away](https://web.archive.org/web/20110514131008/http:/www.mysterynet.com/tv/profiles/columbo/).” The hero of Glass Onion, Helen (Janelle Monáe), is [a teacher](https://www.escapistmagazine.com/is-netflix-the-villain-of-glass-onion/). In “The Stall,” Charlie works at a Texas BBQ with a chef named George (Larry Brown) and comes to share his love of the form. Veteran television writer Ken Levine has argued that it has become accepted wisdom that “ [working-class sitcoms will seem too depressing](https://www.macleans.ca/culture/no-money-no-audience-2/).” Richard Beck has noted that most high-profile prestige shows were “ [targeted at educated professionals](https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/myths-of-the-golden-age-richard-beck-prestige-tv).” Portrayals of the working class in cinema, often in [awards fare like Hillbilly Elegy](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/30/how-hillbilly-elegy-tries-and-fails-to-show-the-real-america), often veered into grotesque parody. There is something inherently fascinating in all of this, in the idea that a television throwback can feel so fresh and exciting simply by existing in contrast to the dominant narrative form of the current moment. However, the series is also indebted to many of the “wandering hero” shows of the 1960s and 1970s, from The Fugitive to Kung Fu to The Incredible Hulk. In reality, while Cliff (Benjamin Bratt) pops up to hassle Charlie a few times during the season at the behest of his employer Frost (Ron Perlman), following the events of the premiere, most of Poker Face is just good old-fashioned episodic storytelling. While doing publicity for Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the director was asked if that was something that he was interested in doing more of, to which he simply replied: “ [No.](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/rian-johnson-reaches-for-another-knife)” This was something of a hurdle in getting the show commissioned. The trailer boasts that the series is “ [from the mind of Rian Johnson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x2NzusLAqk).” The cast includes a number of Johnson’s previous collaborators, including Adrien Brody, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Noah Segan. However, the dominant form of hour-long drama over the past decade — particularly high-profile prestige drama — has been “ [novelistic](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/books/review/are-the-new-golden-age-tv-shows-the-new-novels.html).” He wrote both [the season premiere and the season finale](https://directories.wga.org/project/1214561/poker-face/) and directed three of the first season’s 10 episodes.

Poker Face Recap: Little Miss Galahad (Vulture)

Despite the Columbo inspiration, Charlie is a drifter with a strange power, not a detective with any jurisdiction. A recap of “The Night Shift,” episode two ...

So she ends up doing the same thing she did in episode one: confronting a dangerous man with his crimes with no clear plan of what to do next. When Cliff stops at the convenience store that shares an address with the ATM Charlie used to withdraw her last 400 bucks, Sara riffs that she remembers that redhead, the one who said she was heading to Los Angeles to lose herself on the beach. Using her connex at the roadside diner, she takes the time to chase down the trucker whose footage would have captured the aftermath of the murder and hopefully set Marge free. Like a villain who thinks he’s too cute to be caught, Jed even mentions Hawai’i when Charlie asks what he will do with the $25,000 prize he claimed earlier in the morning. The last order of business is what to do with the body. Jed tells Damian he dreams of stowing away in the trunk of a car he fixes and hitching a ride to anywhere. To pay the mechanic to fix her car, she needs to use an ATM, and Marge has warned her there are only about four hours between when you alert the digital world to your location and when your enemies close down on you. Jed pushes Damian off the roof, though it will take a tire iron to the skull to finish him. As if to show how much Damian has disinvested in the idea of good luck, he scratches off his scratch-off to prove he shan’t care when it comes up a loser. He wants to warn Jed that he makes Sara uncomfortable, which makes Jed defensive, and I start worrying that Damian will die on the misbegotten hero’s errand. Now, she’s racing through the Southwest in her unreliable beater, trying to stay off the grid and ahead of Cliff — the man Sterling has dispatched to avenge his son’s death. In the series premiere, Charlie was a hapless cocktail waitress with a curious ability to read people — a mostly dormant skill that came suddenly handy when her close friend was murdered.

Poker Face

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