Comedy shows have had a resurgence on streaming after falling out of favor with network television. But Watch With Us‘ pick for the one comedy show you need to watch in May isn’t just a typical sitcom. It’s a throwback to some of the lighter hour-long TV shows of the ’70s and ’80s.
Knives Out director Rian Johnson created the Peacock original series Poker Face as a starring vehicle for Natasha Lyonne.
Lyonne plays Charlie Cale, a woman on the run from town to town as she finds herself drawn into murder mysteries in every episode.
Poker Face manages to take that premise and add humor to it without losing the life-and-death stakes of the murders or slipping into farce. It’s a delicate balancing act, but the series’ ability to blend comedic moments, drama and mystery is one of the reasons why Poker Face is the one comedy show you need to watch in May, especially now that the second season is streaming.
Natasha Lyonne Brings the Comedy and the HeartPoker Face isn’t strictly a comedy, and it does have its dramatic moments. People do get killed on this show, after all. But the series’ breezy throwback tone all comes down to Lyonne’s performance as Charlie Cale. Lyonne seems to effortlessly slip into Charlie’s persona as an uncommonly charming woman who has a gift that makes her special. Somehow, Charlie can always tell whether someone is lying to her.
More often than not, Charlie uses that talent to figure out who killed someone whom she recently met. There are seemingly dozens of network procedural crime shows that cover murder investigations, but none of those series can make us laugh like Charlie’s antics and responses when she’s smoking out a killer.
Charlie’s other gift is that she truly cares about other people. Without that compassion, Charlie could simply skip town without solving any of these murders. Charlie doesn’t have any legal authority, but she does take on a moral authority to see that justice is done. Lyonne exudes charm and expert comic timing, and she makes Charlie an instantly memorable character you want to keep watching week after week.
It’s a Modern-Day ‘Columbo’While Poker Face is technically a mystery series, it’s not a whodunit. The identity of the killer is revealed near the beginning of the episode. That’s a prime example of an inverted mystery, which was popularized by the classic TV series Columbo. Like that show, Poker Face‘s mystery isn’t built around solving a murder, it’s about whether Charlie will catch and expose the killer.
Lyonne’s character has been compared to Peter Falk‘s Inspector Columbo because they are both underestimated by the murderers they pursue. If Charlie had the time and inclination, she would be a pretty great detective. But unlike Columbo, Charlie can’t rely on a badge to get her answers. She has to be more clever about it.
Every Episode Has a Stellar Guest CastBecause Poker Face‘s format requires Charlie to constantly move on from place to place, it allows several established actors to have one-off guest appearances as either victims, murderers or innocent bystanders.
It also gives the guest stars a chance to flex their acting muscles. In the season 2 premiere alone, Cynthia Erivo portrays the Kazinsky sisters, although sharing the exact number of sisters might be a spoiler. Other familiar faces dropping by this season include Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, John Cho, Corey Hawkins, Alia Shawkat, John Mulaney, Awkwafina, Jason Ritter and David Alan Grier. That’s a cast to die for, and some of their characters will die!
The reason why Charlie is always on the run is established in the first episode of the series. She was a casino worker who exposed the illegal activities of her manager, Sterling Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody), who subsequently ended up dead. Sterling’s father, Sterling Frost Sr. (Ron Perlman), blamed Charlie for his son’s demise and sent Cliff LeGrand (Benjamin Bratt) after her.
That plot was resolved in the season 1 finale, which then began a new story in which Charlie made an enemy out of Sterling’s rival, Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman). Hasp offered Charlie a choice to either work for her or die. In response, Charlie decided to run. If the rest of season 2 follows the pattern laid out in season 1, then that story will be touched upon throughout the season before coming to a head in the season 2 finale. Assuming that Poker Face is renewed for season 3, we’re curious how the show will keep her on the road for the next batch of episodes.
Poker Face is streaming on Peacock.
