Although I don’t know whether or not Rian Johnson’s new series, Poker Face, was intended to be more than one season, I can tell you now that I’m pleased it’s getting another.
I can’t quite call this an anthology series, as there is one through-character over the course of ten episodes, Charlie Cale, but otherwise, most of the casting is completely unique in each episode. The first episode is meant to introduce us to Cale, who’s lived a not so clean life in the face of the law. In that vain, she was essentially given a second chance working at a casino under Sterling Frost’s discretion. It’s Frost Jr’s greediness that lights Cale’s world on fire. In a scheme to take business out from under his father, Cale’s best friend ends up dead and she almost helps Frost carry out his plans before her very useful skill for detecting the truth flushes him out. Of course, the facts are skewed and Frost senior sticks his right hand man Cliff on her tail, but it takes a really, really long time for this storyline to be resolved.
Cale is somehow a master of living life undetected. For the most part. Early on she needs some cash to fix up her car, and that almost gives her away, but she’s crafty and good at making friends. She ends up in all sorts of weird corners of the US, and in each one of those places people are up to some shady shit. While most would like leave it well alone, Charlie finds herself trying to find some justice for good people who are either put in a tough spot or worse, dead. She herself almost loses it all, but she also must be a cat in another life because she certainly squeaks by death in most of these episodes.
I read that the show took a lot of inspiration from Columbo in how each episode was presented. First you see the shit go down, then you see how Charlie is an integral part of the story before she sets off on her own unofficial detective work. I will say that each episode was very clever, and just when I thought I had a basic storyline nailed down, the truth really surprised me. I recall “Exit Stage Death” and “Time of the Monkey” really surprising me with the ultimate reveal, but some of my favorite episodes had to be “The Stall” and “Escape from Shit Mountain.” Though really, you’d be hard-pressed to find a dull episode at all. Each had its unique points with Charlie’s character never swaying from what we came away with in the first episode.
And on top of fun and twisty stories, we were also treated to an incredible support cast in each episode. I’m sure it helps that Johnson is a brilliant writer and creator, but having Natasha Lyonne lead the ship sure doesn’t hurt either. Danielle Macdonald and Nick Nolte were my favorites, but everyone did a fantastic job. Actually, most of the kudos should go to Joseph Gordon-Levitt for believably playing someone I’ve never seen from his prior work. I can’t wait to see what a second season has in store, and if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get a bunch more! If you were a fan of Knives Out or whodunnits in general, this series is definitely worth your time.