Poker Face Review: Rian Johnson’s not bluffing in mystery-of-the-week series

Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne are a winning combination. Poker Face is a throwback murder-of-the-week mystery series that lovingly embraces the format.

Every episode features an almost entirely different cast with Lyonne’s Charlie Cale being the constant in every episode. Charlie has a unique ability to tell when somebody is lying. She doesn’t know what they’re lying about. However, Lyonne instills Charlie with ample charm and intuition, which she uses to solve murders featuring an impressive guest cast.

Adrien Brody, Benjamin Bratt, John Ratzenberger, Chloë Sevigny and Lil Rel Howery are some of the guest stars in the first four episodes of Poker Face. Johnson makes great use of these guest stars. Every episode follows a similar format that shines in showcasing the guest stars, but at times comes at the expense of Lyonne’s screentime. Each episode starts off with an elaborate sequence involving a murder. Johnson even sets up storylines for characters who are killed off. Unfortunately, this engrossing storytelling device forces Lyonne off-screen for the opening 20 minutes or so.

Johnson loves to play with time and Poker Face is no exception. Charlie runs from Bratt’s Cliff LeGrand after solving a case in the pilot. She stays on the road and picks up odd jobs which eventually winds up with someone she meets dying in a suspicious manner. Johnson does a great job of making sure cases aren’t tied up in neat bows.

Nobody crafts a more compelling web of a mystery than Johnson with the Knives Out franchise. Johnson’s ability to weave even the smallest details into solving the puzzle is second to none.

Lyonne is perfect as Charlie. Charlie is a bit of a mess. She lives in her car, drinks constantly and doesn’t have a plan outside of driving to the next town. Yet, she can’t turn a blind eye to these victims she’s connected with. These murderers and victims can’t help but let Charlie into their orbit. By the time the suspect gathers enough stones to tell Charlie to buzz off, it’s too late.

Poker Face meanders a bit, but the fun journey with Lyonne and Johnson more than makes up for the small potholes.

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the elements that stood out in these four episodes. There may be some minor spoilers. Poker Face is available to stream on Peacock.

A loaded deck

The pilot episode, Dead Man’s Hand, does an excellent job of setting up Charlie’s backstory and her lie-detecting ability. Dead Man’s Hand also excels at demonstrating the episode’s structure.

Poker Face is about Charlie putting the clues together, not fooling the audience. Dead Man’s Hand shows the motive and how a maid is killed right away as well as the misdirection used to throw off traditional law enforcement.

In the pilot, Natalie is a maid and friend of Charlie’s. She enters a room and discovers a horrific video (we don’t see it, just Dascha Polanco‘s revulsion). She reports the video to the head of casino security Cliff (Bratt) and the owner Sterling Frost Jr (Brody). They tell her to go home. Then, Cliff kills Natalie as well as her abusive husband and frames him for the murder.

After Natalie’s death, Johnson finally introduces Charlie. Charlie currently works as a cocktail waitress for Frost Casino. She lives in a trailer and drives a barely running Plymouth Barracuda. These types of characters can be depressing, but not with Johnson’s writing and Lyonne’s performance. Charlie is content with her life.

Johnson also shows his fondness for messing with time. Charlies called Natalie for a ride since her car wasn’t running. Natalie picks her up and takes her to work. Sterling Jr. summons Charlie to his office. Charlie assumes she’s getting fired.

Turns out, Charlie had a run-in with Frost Sr. Charlie used to use her gift at the casino to tell whether other players were bluffing. Frost Sr. kicked her out of the casino.

Sterling Jr. wants to use Charlie’s gift to take the piss out of a high roller mentioned earlier. Brody does a great job of showing Frost Jr.’s nepotism. Everyone at the hotel, including his father, views Frost Jr. as a screwup. Frost Jr. decides to be his own man. He discovered the high roller is running his own private game in his suite and reaping the benefits. Sterling Jr. wants to take the high roller’s money.

Charlie eventually puts the puzzle together regarding Frost Jr.’s involvement in Natalie’s. She knows she can’t go to the cops, so she tells the high roller and Frost Sr. what happened. Frost Jr. responds by jumping out a window and Charlies runs away to kick off the rest of the series. Cliff is in hot pursuit which sets up the ticking clock aspect of the series

Charlie’s on the run in Poker Face

The other three episodes follow a similar formula with Johnson saving the flourishes for the small details. Johnson begins each episode by showing the guest cast in what passes for a typical day.

In the 2nd episode, a Subway employee is shooting a TikTok video for sandwiches, and chatting up a convenience store employee. A community centered around a BBQ establishment run by brothers takes center stage in the 3rd episode. In the fourth and weakest episode, a metal band on a steep decline is touring in rundown bars trying to find a new hit song.

Johnson takes his time showing how the murders happen and how the murders try to throw off the authorities. Charlie’s entrances in each episode are different. Charlie’s car breaks down in The Night Shift. Meanwhile, a crazy dog forces Charlie to stop at a BBQ restaurant and work off her debt as the dog causes some damage in the 3rd episode. Johnson changes it up a bit in Rest in Metal as Charlie actually accepts a job as a merchandise seller for a declining rock group.

Johnson is quite clever with how he wraps up each episode. In some cases, the cops show up. In other, Charlie sets things in motion so that the culprit has egg on their faces.

The format works well for showcasing the guest cast. However, the episodes don’t really come to life until Charlie starts interacting with these guest stars.

Good intentions

Every victim on Poker Face thus far is innocent and trying to do the right thing.

Natalie in the pilot saw something terrible, reported it to her bosses and was killed. In the 2nd episode, the subway employee tries to talk to a disgruntled mechanic who is creeping out the convenience store employee. The disgruntled mechanic killed the marine by shoving him off the roof after the marine won the lottery.

In The Stall, the owner of a Texas BBQ joint is killed. He believes in the sanctity of BBQ and doesn’t want to sell out. In Death in Metal, a drummer is killed for writing a good song. While he has an odd demeanor, he means well.

The key element that binds these victims together is the brief connections they make with Charlie. Johnson’s decision to connect Charlie to the victims while they’re alive gives each episode an emotional thrust.

Poker Face Final Thoughts

Johnson’s intricate plotting and Lyonne’s ability to create complex, sympathetic female protagonists work wonders in Poker Face. If the rest of the episodes can introduce Charlie sooner, then Poker Face could even eclipse Knives Out in the Johnson mystery universe.