Support Us
Sign Up
Natasha Lyonne’s accidental detective, Charlie Cale, is back on the case in season 2 of Rian Johnson’s Columbo-esque murder-mystery series, Poker Face. The show continues to follow a pretty tight death-of-the-week set-up as Charlie travels through America, accidentally getting caught up in murder, con artists, and accidents.
Poker Face revolves around Charlie’s nifty little party trick. She is a human lie detector who can instantly tell when someone is being dishonest. This forces her to become a detective in unusual cases where a body turns up. Her natural skill is an easy way out of any plot and can sometimes take the fun detective work out of a case.
Season one saw Charlie forced to go on the run after getting herself entangled with the mob while working in a Las Vegas casino. On the run across America, she ended up getting involved in various unusual settings and meeting numerous colorful characters. In between these self-contained stories, there was the overarching plot of the mob hunting Charlie down.
Season two doesn’t have any overarching themes or bigger plot threads. Every episode is a totally separate story, which could be watched in any order. The only common link is Charlie’s need to find something in her life, which leads her to work in a school, a baseball stadium, and as a takeaway delivery driver. It feels much simpler than the previous series.
Poker Face has a very specific, well-worn format, and it rarely abandons it. The first 15 minutes or so set up a new location, a new group of people, and an incident that will leave someone dead. Then Charlie rocks up, and the plot usually goes back to the start of proceedings and unravels the whos and whys from a new angle.
Rian Johnson, who also makes the Knives Out films, describes the show as a “howcatchem” rather than a “whodunit.” It’s never a mystery what happened to the victim or who did it, but the why isn’t always clear. It’s a comforting format, so don’t expect any edge-of-your-seat shocks or any huge emotional beats.
It’s not just the style of Poker Face, which feels old school, but it’s the whole style of the murders. Despite the many elaborate and gruesome methods of death featured, there isn’t a whole lot of gore and blood. The show is ultimately more about the eccentric interpersonal dynamics of the characters than the body count or how much blood splatter the scenery can endure.
The joy of Poker Face is seeing which famous actor or comedian will appear and who they will interact with. Giancarlo Esposito, Alia Shawkat, Katie Holmes, Simon Rex, and Rhea Perlman are just some of the famous faces who appear in this sophomore season. Everyone is perfectly cast, but just not everyone gets the material or screentime their talents deserve. John Mulaney, Kumail Nanjiani, Sherry Cola, and Carol Kane are some of the skilled stars who get a disappointing number of things to do in their episode.
The first episode of Poker Face sees Cynthia Erivo playing sextets battling against each other after their mother’s death. The opener spends almost its entire first half with Erivo, and it takes too long for Charlie to be reintroduced. Although Erivo is a skilled actress, especially playing multiple roles, the screen comes alight when Lyonne appears. This episode starts the trend of too much time being spent on guest stars rather than following the leading lady.
The second episode, ‘Last Looks’, which takes place during a film shoot in a real mortuary, is a series highlight. It features a lot more emotional weight than other episodes in the run and has a smart little twist. The season dips in the middle, getting a little silly and convoluted, before returning with the surprisingly dark ‘Sloppy Joseph’, which sees an overachieving and competitive child unleash her evil side.
Poker Face isn’t particularly political or satirical, but throughout the episodes, it makes clear points about the state of America. Charlie might be an aimless wanderer in her Plymouth Barracuda, but that makes her clearer on the topics of love, capitalism, and family. The show subtly digs into workers’ rights, landlords, and modern gender roles without getting dragged into a heavy debate.
One of the areas where Poker Face goes wrong is in the underuse of Natasha Lyonne. While she features in every episode, there is a sense that you never get to know Charlie. She appears to do her lie-detecting trick and listen to everyone else’s story, yet the audience never gets to know more about her inner world. Without the overarching plot about the mob chasing Charlie, she is a mere participant in her own story. Lyonne is a joy in the role, which is effortlessly written around her dry, sardonic humor, so it’s a shame there isn’t more for her. Going forward, Pokerface could benefit from introducing audiences more to Charlie’s world rather than putting her in the lives of strangers.
Tony Tost (The Terror, Longmire) is the showrunner for season two, taking over from Nora and Lilla Zuckerman (who are now working on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot). Johnson and Lyonne both write and direct, alongside a team of talented writers, including Laura Deeley (Ozark), Wyatt Cain (Prodigal Son), and Kate Thulin (Ramy, Legion). Everyone is having fun with these characters, from the writers to the guest stars, which makes it a joy for audiences to watch. These tales might seem simplified, but there is a tightness to the writing that could have so easily gone wrong.
Poker Face feels like a television show from a bygone era, with compact standalone episodes instead of complicated character arcs. The murderer is revealed in the first 10 minutes, Charlie will turn up without fail, we meet the cast of misfits and suspects, and she will resolve the case. It’s all very low-stakes and gentle, an ideal update on that classic murder mystery show that has been on our screens for decades.
In the age of dark Scandinavian dramas and gruesome true crime streaming shows, Poker Face is unapologetically silly. The deaths are often farcical, nonsensical, and occasionally slapstick, and the show wears that as a badge of honor. It’s not trying to be anything but a silly little detective show that celebrates eccentricity. Binge-watch or pick it up now and then, Poker Face is the light-hearted relief with an emotional edge we all might need. It’s silly, but it never forgets who it is and what it wants to say.
Grade: B
Follow us on MSN for more content like this.
Poker Face
Follow Charlie Cale, a woman with an extraordinary ability to tell when someone is lying, as she hits the road and, at every stop, encounters a new cast of characters and crimes she can't help but solve.
Release Date: May 8, 2025
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Natasha Lyonne , Giancarlo Esposito , Rhea Perlman
