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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Poker Face' Season 2 Review: Rian Johnson Ups the Chaotic Ante in Peacock's Comforting Howcatchem
Sleuths, by and large, aren't given the luxury of lying low. Worn-down beat detectives are always getting called to the next crime scene. Part-time investigators can't resist a femme fatale's desperate pleas (or ample pocketbook). But even when you set aside their professional obligations, puzzle-solvers usually don't know what to do with themselves when the game is not yet afoot. Typically, gumshoes crack cases by compulsion. Take Rian Johnson's last 'Knives Out' mystery: At the start of 'Glass Onion,' Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has grown frustrated by the pandemic's stultifying effect on real-world brainteasers. With too much time off (and too much time moping in the tub), he thinks he's going insane. He's tried reading books, he's tried playing games, he's even enlisted help from a few similarly-minded peers (including Angela Lansbury and 'Poker Face' star Natasha Lyonne). But nothing helps. 'The last thing I need is a vacation,' he says. 'I need danger, the hunt, a challenge. I need… a great case.' More from IndieWire How 'Andor' Season 2 Production Design Gives the Empire Its Oppressive Weight 'Poker Face' Season 2: Costume Designing Wicked Looks for Cynthia Erivo's Quintuplets In 'Poker Face' Season 2, Johnson sees this quandary through the looking glass (onion). Lyonne's Charlie Cale has too many cases to solve and too little downtime in between. No matter where her baby blue Plymouth Barracuda takes her, there's another liar, another dead body, and another wrong waiting to be righted. Her situation, like her innate ability to identify a lie, is unique. She's not a cop on assignment. She's not a private eye looking for work. She's happy to make a living picking apples from an orchard or snagging foul balls in the minor leagues. And yet, death haunts Charlie wherever she goes, so it's only natural to wonder: Is her nose for bullshit a blessing or a curse? What a mystery! Resolving this dilemma gives 'Poker Face' Season 2 a sturdy spine, which is especially important since the individual vertebrae (aka the individual episodes) aren't quite as compelling (save, once again, for one true gem). Since we've known Charlie, she's been running. In the first season, she seeks justice for her murdered friend and, as a result of doing the right thing, has to go on the lam. Each week, she's in a new town, working a new gig, caught up in another suspicious story. The lone wolf lifestyle suits Charlie just fine — for a while. Her ebullient personality helps to make friends wherever she goes, but when some of those friends end up dead and the rest have to be left behind when it's time to skip town, well, those losses add up. As Season 2 starts, Charlie's traded one vengeful mob boss for another. She out-maneuvered Sterling Frost, Sr. (Ron Perlman), but after refusing to use her 'gift' to help another crime family, she now has to deal with Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman). Here we go again: Charlie does the right thing, and her reward is a life spent in hiding. For a procedural, starting over is more of a comfort than an annoyance, and the first episode, directed by Johnson, offers numerous pleasures — five of which are all played by Cynthia Erivo! There's also a mini-montage of Charlie trying out odd jobs (and making new friends) before she's chased off by gun-toting mobsters. There's lovely cinematography by director of photography Jaron Presant, and Johnson savors every odd little eccentricity available in the wacky initial investigation. (His ability to reveal key details through playful yet carefully considered camera movements is downright Spielbergian.) Perhaps most importantly, Episode 1 also makes it clear Charlie is enjoying her life as best she can; that is, she's enjoying her life whenever she's not staring death in the face (those mobsters' bullets come awfully close) — a pattern that persists in her subsequent cases. While most of those aren't as satisfying as the first, Charlie always is: Generous and bright, like the long curly locks spilling out from under her various trucker hats, Charlie is an unnatural charmer, her wide smile and gravelly intonation a congenial contradiction that convincingly cultivates curiosity in wherever they're aimed. She makes the most out of her fleeting conversations with strangers, and only the liars among them are ever upset for sharing a few sentences with our affable star. It's a testament to Lyonne's well-honed charisma and attentive performance that Charlie remains the top draw despite an onslaught of shiny guest stars playing distinct characters. Katie Holmes is a delight as a fed-up mortician's wife more than ready to fly the coop. Gaby Hoffman's quick turn from straight-laced Cop of the Year candidate to a feral Florida Woman is batshit fun. Simon Rex settles in nicely as a washed-up pitcher looking to make a little money off losing. Melanie Lynskey and John Cho crackle with chemistry in the season's best episode (of the 10 screened for critics), and Erivo brings the perfect playful pitch to each of her nearly half-dozen characters. Two tweaks to the format help distinguish Season 2's journey from the original run: The first is a notable uptick in chaos — the situations Charlie finds herself in range from psychotic scams ('A New Lease on Death') to absurd send-ups ('One Last Job'), but each episode attempts to ratchet up whatever quirky quality it's working with, including an early entry that nearly goes supernatural ('Last Looks'). The other departure is simpler: Charlie, without crossing into spoilers, gets to come out of hiding. She's free to decide where to go and when, which allows the show to revel in an extended stay later on and serve the season's central conceit: Season 2, by and large, is about accepting who you are, even if living your best life doesn't mean living an easy life. Charlie yearns for enough time to appreciate 'the unobserved pageant of the ordinary,' as she calls the knickknacks filling up random cars, and thus, random lives. A life on the run doesn't allow for much rumination, but neither does a stationary one. Giving Charlie the time to experience both allows her to examine what she really wants, and what she really needs, without deluding herself into thinking things would be different if she wasn't being hounded by mobsters (or, on the flip-side, if she wasn't tied down to any one place or person). She's not like Benoit Blanc, always itching for the next great case to crack; she'd be perfectly happy floating in untroubled waters. She isn't a detective, and she's certainly not a cop; for all the odd jobs she's had, solving mysteries isn't one of them. Charlie is just a person in a unique position to help, so of course she's persistently hounded by people who need it — and lots of people need it! At a time in America when our institutional safety nets are being disbanded and the burden to support each other often comes down to individual efforts, Charlie's struggle feels all the more apt. She wants to help — she just also wishes there was less need for her to do so. And therein lies her salvation. Charlie can't help but love people. She's a people person. Even when she tries to stay out of their lives, she's inevitably drawn in by natural or circumstantial curiosity. Because Charlie thrives around people, so does 'Poker Face.' As a howcatchem procedural, it has to resolve similar issues as its lead: The formula requires a certain amount of repetition, just as the audience demands a new mystery each week. When episodes rely on people to bring them to life — be it famous guest stars, well-realized characters, life-affirming arcs, or all of the above — they're that much easier to enjoy. For the most part, 'Poker Face' Season 2 is quite easy to enjoy. After all, it knows helping people isn't a gift or a curse; it's a calling, and when you realize how fulfilling it can be, the only mystery left to solve is how to help others see the same thing. 'Poker Face' Season 2 premieres Thursday, May 8 on Peacock. Three episodes will be released the first week, then one episode weekly through the finale on July 10. Best of IndieWire The 25 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, Ranked Every IndieWire TV Review from 2020, Ranked by Grade from Best to Worst
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Poker Face' Returns To Nielsen Charts As Top 5 Streaming Original With Season 2 Debut
EXCLUSIVE: Natasha Lyonne's Charlie Cale is back on the case in Season 2 of Peacock's Poker Face, which made a promising return to the streamer earlier this month, per preliminary Nielsen data. Season 2 launched with three new episodes on May 8, boosting the series to become a Top 5 original title across all of streaming, based on minutes viewed for the week of May 5. More from Deadline Streaming Ad Tiers Catch Fire, Make Up Nearly Half Of U.S. Subscriptions For SVODs That Offer Them, Study Says 'Strangers' Series In Works At Peacock; Leslie Mann & Gabrielle Union Eyed To Star In Thriller From Jon Harmon Feldman & 100% Productions Paramount Snaps Up Sales On Peacock's Miami Crime Drama 'M.I.A.' - LA Screenings Exact data isn't available just yet, though it will be in a few weeks when Nielsen releases its streaming report for that interval. Deadline also understands that Season 2 of Poker Face is the No. 2 streaming original based on average audience for the week of May 5. This is a strong start for the sophomore season of Poker Face, which is still debuting new episodes each Thursday. The series 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. As with Season 1, the second installment has a heavy hitting list of guest stars that includes Awkwafina, B.J. Novak, Cliff 'Method Man' Smith, Cynthia Erivo, Ego Nwodim, Giancarlo Esposito, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, John Mulaney, Justin Theroux, Katie Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, Margo Martindale, Melanie Lynskey, Rhea Perlman, Richard Kind, Sam Richardson, Steve Buscemi, and Taylor Schilling. Poker Face hails from T-Street's Rian Johnson and Ram Bergman. It marks their first television series and is produced by MRC, along with executive producer and star Lyonne, under her production banner Animal Pictures. Tony Tost (Damnation, Americana) serves as showrunner and executive producer for Season 2 alongside executive producers Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, Natasha Lyonne, Nena Rodrigue, Adam Arkin, Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds All The 'Mission: Impossible' Movies In Order - See Tom Cruise's 30-Year Journey As Ethan Hunt
Vancouver Sun
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Vancouver Sun
Evander Kane flexing his muscle for Edmonton Oilers during playoff run
Evander Kane, who likes his wheels, drove a rented Lamborghini to the Arena in Los Angeles before Game 5 of the first-round playoff series, a Ferrari to Rogers Place before Game 3 here against Vegas last Saturday, and hopped into a Rolls Royce for a more sedate ride to the rink to prepare for Game 4 Monday. But really, a vintage Pontiac GTO, a Plymouth Barracuda, or a Shelby T350 would have fit his growling style better after the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 win. 'Maybe a muscle car, instead?' he was asked. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. He didn't dispute the idea, laughing at the post-game question after he definitely took the dirt road Monday. Much of his work was around the blue paint, much of it in Vegas goalie Adin Hill's kitchen, so much so the heated Hill raced out of the net after the Edmonton Oilers winger tumbled over him after being shoved by Brayden McNabb, shortly after Adam Henrique's second goal — the fuming Hill whacking Kane with his blocker as a dust-up erupted along the boards. Hill did lose his cool. Hall of Fame goalie/commentator Henrik Lundqvist on the TNT broadcast in the U.S. said Hill would be best to calm down going forward and Hill did just that over the last 40 minutes keeping Vegas in the game . But Kane kept her revved up and he wasn't in a Lamborghini, like stopping to pick up Connor Brown for a ride as was in LA. Instead, Kane was a beast on the road, yeah, like a '66 Barracuda, loud and proud in Game 4. After missing all 82 league games and the first playoff game in the opening round against Los Angeles, Kane was everywhere on the stats sheet in Game 4 against the Golden Knights. He assisted on the Henrique's second goal, then he whipped a shot off McNabb's skate with the puck redirecting from short side to 5-hole to beat Hill in the second off a rush to make it 3-0. In the first 40 minutes, he only played 7:38 but had two points, five hits and was plus 3. In the nine games he's played this spring, he has four goals and seven points. 'Evander's is a gamer. He loves the big pressure games when there's a lot on the line,' said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. 'The physical play, scoring a big goal for us, crashing the net, winning puck battles. We saw it all. We have a lot of physicality throughout our lineup. (Zach) Hyman (65 hits this playoffs) has done a ton of it, (Vasily) Podkolzin, (Kasperi) Kapanen (five hits in his first game of the playoffs). It's nice to have that element but the guy who leads the charge is Kane.' He loved the interaction with Hill, of course. The meaner the better. 'I don't know if we were purposely trying to get into his head, but he seemed to be taking some slashes against us,' said Kane. 'It's tough to avoid contact when you're being cross-checked into him… we want to go there hard and play within the rules and not have goals disallowed. 'They have two defencemen who just stand by the net the entire time… it's hard to get inside and you have to battle.' Anybody who says they knew Kane would be this effective after not playing since last June, is lying through their teeth. Many thought he would be gassed trying to catch the moving train because everybody else had been playing from October through mid April. Kane had no training camp, no league games as prep for the playoffs. But now, those who second-guessed Kane need to be on an apology-tour. For sure, Kane was a shadow of his usual post-season, rambunctious self last spring, gutting it out on two bad legs and a prayer with his serious abdominal issues to just dress for games. Now, we all saw what he does best in Game 4 with Kane scoring his 24th goal in his 56th playoff game with the Oilers over the past four years. He hasn't just been a participant, to borrow one of Hall of Fame coach Ken Hitchcock's lines about players returning to lineups. He's been a huge factor. 'Am I surprised? No. I had confidence. I didn't necessarily set expectations but feeling good and healthy and being able to do what I do on the ice, I thought I'd be able to give myself a better opportunity (to contribute) than I did last year,' said Kane. He did some good early playoff work with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Hyman, and Monday he was with Henrique and Brown. Not just along for the ride. 'He's moving, skating, his agility, everything is much better (than last year),' said Knoblauch. 'The skill, being able to make plays on the wall, he's making plays under pressure again. Last year he wasn't practising very much (playoffs and late in the season). Because of that, his mobility was laboured. It's difficult to play that way. 'This year, he's getting up and down the ice better. He's putting more oomph into the hits. He just looks like a different player.' Kane is a proud guy. He never wanted to come out of the lineup in the Stanley Cup Final. He was pacing outside the dressing room in a team track-suit between periods of Game 7 in Florida with Sam Gagner, looking for all the world like he wanted to punch his fist through a wall. But, he just couldn't skate. Now, well, we all saw how he was in Game 4 Monday, in the frame of most of the action photos, and not in the background. Like he's been through the first three weeks of the playoffs. This has been like a trade deadline acquisition gone great. Henrique sat beside Kane at the podium post-game, and didn't stickhandle when asked about the winger's presence during the shutout win. He was clear and direct. 'From every standpoint he was there… we talked about playing with energy right off the bat and Kaner gets in there, mixes things up, and other guys are following suit, shift after shift,' said Henrique. Kane set the physical tone on his first shift, in the game's first 90 seconds. He bolted into the Vegas end, bumped Zach Whitecloud behind the net as Whitecloud tried to reverse it to his defence partner. Brown picked off the pass and found Henrique all alone. Kane didn't get an official assist on the play, but he started the chain-reaction on the goal on Hill. 'He's (Kane) playing an amazing game for us, it's pretty impressive. There's a lot to thank him for,' said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, watching it all unfold from the other end. Just as Skinner got his fair share of high-fives and hugs after his shutout. Two big wheels on this crucial night. Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters . You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun
Calgary Herald
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Calgary Herald
Evander Kane flexing his muscle for Edmonton Oilers during playoff run
Article content Evander Kane, who likes his wheels, drove a rented Lamborghini to the Arena in Los Angeles before Game 5 of the first-round playoff series, a Ferrari to Rogers Place before Game 3 here against Vegas last Saturday, and hopped into a Rolls Royce for a more sedate ride to the rink to prepare for Game 4 Monday. Article content But really, a vintage Pontiac GTO, a Plymouth Barracuda, or a Shelby T350 would have fit his growling style better after the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 win. Article content Article content 'Maybe a muscle car, instead?' he was asked. Article content Article content He didn't dispute the idea, laughing at the post-game question after he definitely took the dirt road Monday. Article content Much of his work was around the blue paint, much of it in Vegas goalie Adin Hill's kitchen, so much so the heated Hill raced out of the net after the Edmonton Oilers winger tumbled over him after being shoved by Brayden McNabb, shortly after Adam Henrique's second goal — the fuming Hill whacking Kane with his blocker as a dust-up erupted along the boards. Article content Hill did lose his cool. Hall of Fame goalie/commentator Henrik Lundqvist on the TNT broadcast in the U.S. said Hill would be best to calm down going forward and Hill did just that over the last 40 minutes keeping Vegas in the game . But Kane kept her revved up and he wasn't in a Lamborghini, like stopping to pick up Connor Brown for a ride as was in LA. Instead, Kane was a beast on the road, yeah, like a '66 Barracuda, loud and proud in Game 4. Article content 'A gamer' Article content After missing all 82 league games and the first playoff game in the opening round against Los Angeles, Kane was everywhere on the stats sheet in Game 4 against the Golden Knights. Article content Article content He assisted on the Henrique's second goal, then he whipped a shot off McNabb's skate with the puck redirecting from short side to 5-hole to beat Hill in the second off a rush to make it 3-0. In the first 40 minutes, he only played 7:38 but had two points, five hits and was plus 3. Article content Article content In the nine games he's played this spring, he has four goals and seven points. Article content 'Evander's is a gamer. He loves the big pressure games when there's a lot on the line,' said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. Article content 'The physical play, scoring a big goal for us, crashing the net, winning puck battles. We saw it all. We have a lot of physicality throughout our lineup. (Zach) Hyman (65 hits this playoffs) has done a ton of it, (Vasily) Podkolzin, (Kasperi) Kapanen (five hits in his first game of the playoffs). It's nice to have that element but the guy who leads the charge is Kane.'
Ottawa Citizen
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- Ottawa Citizen
Evander Kane flexing his muscle for Edmonton Oilers during playoff run
Article content Evander Kane, who likes his wheels, drove a rented Lamborghini to the Arena in Los Angeles before Game 5 of the first-round playoff series, a Ferrari to Rogers Place before Game 3 here against Vegas last Saturday, and hopped into a Rolls Royce for a more sedate ride to the rink to prepare for Game 4 Monday. Article content But really, a vintage Pontiac GTO, a Plymouth Barracuda, or a Shelby T350 would have fit his growling style better after the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 win. Article content Article content 'Maybe a muscle car, instead?' he was asked. Article content Article content He didn't dispute the idea, laughing at the post-game question after he definitely took the dirt road Monday. Article content Much of his work was around the blue paint, much of it in Vegas goalie Adin Hill's kitchen, so much so the heated Hill raced out of the net after the Edmonton Oilers winger tumbled over him after being shoved by Brayden McNabb, shortly after Adam Henrique's second goal — the fuming Hill whacking Kane with his blocker as a dust-up erupted along the boards. Article content Hill did lose his cool. Hall of Fame goalie/commentator Henrik Lundqvist on the TNT broadcast in the U.S. said Hill would be best to calm down going forward and Hill did just that over the last 40 minutes keeping Vegas in the game . But Kane kept her revved up and he wasn't in a Lamborghini, like stopping to pick up Connor Brown for a ride as was in LA. Instead, Kane was a beast on the road, yeah, like a '66 Barracuda, loud and proud in Game 4. Article content 'A gamer' Article content After missing all 82 league games and the first playoff game in the opening round against Los Angeles, Kane was everywhere on the stats sheet in Game 4 against the Golden Knights. Article content Article content He assisted on the Henrique's second goal, then he whipped a shot off McNabb's skate with the puck redirecting from short side to 5-hole to beat Hill in the second off a rush to make it 3-0. In the first 40 minutes, he only played 7:38 but had two points, five hits and was plus 3. Article content Article content In the nine games he's played this spring, he has four goals and seven points. Article content 'Evander's is a gamer. He loves the big pressure games when there's a lot on the line,' said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. Article content 'The physical play, scoring a big goal for us, crashing the net, winning puck battles. We saw it all. We have a lot of physicality throughout our lineup. (Zach) Hyman (65 hits this playoffs) has done a ton of it, (Vasily) Podkolzin, (Kasperi) Kapanen (five hits in his first game of the playoffs). It's nice to have that element but the guy who leads the charge is Kane.'
