Review: Poker Face is back, and it's better than ever
Natasha Lyonne plays an unconventional amateur sleuth in Poker Face (Photo: TVNZ)
The return of Natasha Lyonne's murder mystery series is a guaranteed good time – no matter how deadly it gets.
This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here.
There's nobody on TV quite like Charlie Cale, and there's no show quite like Poker Face. So it's just as well that a second season starts on TVNZ+ today, bringing a new batch of delicious murder mysteries for amateur sleuth and bullshit detector Charlie Cale (played by the fabulous Natasha Lyonne) to solve. Created by Rian Johnson (Knives Out), Poker Face follows Charlie's unpredictable adventures as she travels across the country with a most unusual skill: she can always tell when someone's lying.
Back in season one, Charlie was a former poker player working in a Las Vegas casino that she'd previously tried to scam. When her best friend was murdered, Charlie turned detective and used her lie-deduction skills to find the killer – but when the search endangered her own life, Charlie was forced to go on the run. As she fled from town to town in her blue Plymouth Barracuda, her would-be assassins in hot pursuit, Charlie discovered an uncanny knack for stumbling across unusual and mysterious crimes that nobody else but her could solve.
Poker Face is a fresh take on the classic 'murder-of-the-week' American crime series that was so well established by shows from Columbo to Monk. Each episode is a self-contained murder mystery, with the first quarter dedicated to revealing how the crime happened and who the murderer is. Once Charlie arrives on the scene, we watch her put the rest of the pieces of the puzzle together. Poker Face is less of a 'whodunnit' and more of a 'howtocatchem', a setup that plays out in delightful form in the first episode of season two. Cynthia Erivo, Nastasha Lyonne, Cynthia Erivo and Cynthia Erivo in Poker Face (Photo: TVNZ)
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) plays not one, not two, but five different characters in the season premiere – as well as the killer, she transforms into four other identical sisters. It's a murder mystery that hinges on mistaken identity and unexpected twists, and moments that would feel ridiculous in any other show feel entirely plausible thanks to Poker Face's vibrant energy and droll humour. Poker Face refuses to take itself too seriously. It's having too much fun playing with the classic crime thriller genre and all the expected tropes that come with it.
Charlie has a big personality, but she never overshadows the quirks and eccentricities of the people she meets. Each episode involves a different murder in a different location, which means Poker Face has a guest star roster like no other. In season one, we saw Benjamin Bratt, Adrian Brody and Chloe Sevigny, while in season two, guest stars include Melanie Lynskey, John Mulaney, Justin Theroux, Awkwafina, Taylor Schilling, Rhea Perlman, Lauren Tom, Katie Holmes and Haley Joel Osment. John Mulaney guest stars in an upcoming episode (Photo: TVNZ)
Regardless of this impressive star power, Poker Face would be nothing without Lyonne. She brings an irresistible charm and charisma to the role of Charlie, who is a quick-witted and self-deprecating heroine. Charlie's not a trained detective, but she can smell bullshit from a mile away, and Lyonne plays her with a mix of vulnerability, cynicism and steely determination. Best of all, Charlie's unconventional, colourful crime solving skills are a breath of fresh air in a TV landscape otherwise filled with dull suspects and sad detectives grieving their dead wives.
If you're a fan of Lyonne's other award-winning shows like Russian Doll and Orange is the New Black, you'll love her sassy performance here. If you enjoy a quirky murder mystery with a sharp sense of humour, you'll hoover it up too. Poker Face is a stylish and funny show to escape into, a series that guarantees you a good time – no matter how deadly it gets.
Poker Face streams on TVNZ+ from Friday 9 May.
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