not since Colombo Have we ever seen an inverted detective story, a structure known as a “howcatchem”, told in such an exciting way? The inaugural season of the murder mystery series Poker face, which has already been renewed for a second season, began with a fast-paced story that set the stage for an eventful journey across the US Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) has one incredible talent: she’s a human lie detector. She can look someone in the eye with her and her instincts tell her if she is lying or telling the truth with near perfect accuracy.
Through a series of events in the first episode involving wealthy billionaires, murder, and the reputation of a respected casino burning down, Charlie goes on the run. Sure, they’re after her, but her real story is what happens to her along the way.
What happened in the first season of Poker Face?
As Charlie tries to stay as far away from trouble as possible, he takes odd jobs, meeting an eclectic mix of people each time. Coincidentally (and morbidly), each stop involves the death of someone she befriends. And each time, Charlie uses her talents and her amateur investigation to solve the crime and take down the killer. Are the stories in Poker face credible? No. Is the program formulated? Yes. But it’s also deeply entertaining and gets better with every single episode.
The events range from Charlie using lottery ticket serial numbers to catch a young murderer named Jed (Colton Ryan) in a lie to performing his own Keyser Soze moment to discover that the young drummer who died mysteriously (Nicholas Cirillo ) had actually written the track that his ex-band was trying to pass off as theirs (and thus gave them a perfect motive to kill him off). In most cases, it’s not hard to find the clues along the way that point Charlie in the exact direction he needs to go to solve the mystery. But it’s also fun to play along with the detectives.
As Charlie travels and meets one death after another, the main story is woven into the plot. In episode 2 (the night shift), the casino’s head of security, Cliff (Benjamin Bratt), manages to track Charlie down after she uses an ATM. But a friend he meets along the way (Megan Suri) suspects he’s in trouble and lies that Charlie went west to California. In episode 6 (Exit the stage of death), locates her once more, but again loses her in the hustle and bustle of a crowded theater scene.
the unique stories
Each episode has its own unique story, setting, and even look, ranging from comedy to soap opera, horror to action. Given this, Charlie’s odd jobs on the road are also diverse. Go from working at a Texas barbecue restaurant to being a stagehand for a rock band, helping out at a retirement home, serving drinks at a theater, working in an arcade, and even helping out a lonely and retired special effects artist. (Nick Nolte). He knows everyone from a former rock star (Chloe Sevigny) to a pair of radical, elderly hippie criminals (Judith Light and S. Epatha Merkerson), a selfish race car driver (Charles Melton) and a selfish industry executive. of the cinema. (Cherry Jones).
As the episodes progress, there is less of Charlie and more of the “before” stories about the guest stars, while the stories also seem to get darker and much more intense. The show starts as Colombo but it ends up being, at times, something more similar to black mirror.
Everything comes to a head
In the penultimate episode Escape the mountain of shit, Charlie almost met his maker. With more of a horror movie feel, she literally crawls out of a hole and finds herself badly injured in a cabin in the woods with two men who could very well murder her.
Despite the taunting of death at the hands of the deranged Trey (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Charlie once again thinks quickly on her feet and grabs her ankle bracelet, leading the authorities straight to her and several other corpses. in the secret “tree hole”. .” She is seriously injured and will be in the hospital for at least a few months recovering.
But there’s a silver lining: realizing that the police think his new friend “Mortimer” (Everything everywhere at once‘s Stephanie Hsu) was her, Charlie is on top of the world, convinced she’s presumed dead and can stop living in fear. That is until, in the season finale episode. The hook, they tell you that your hospital bills have already been paid in full. Puzzled, she finds Cliff waiting patiently outside for her discharge. There is nowhere to run anymore.
Believing that these will be his last moments, Charlie plays along until he comes face to face with Sterling Frost Sr. only to discover that he doesn’t mean to hurt him at all. She had been secretly recording his son’s conversations and she knew that Junior was going behind her back and making a deal with the only rival casino that her father never told him to work with. Frost sees this as an opportunity to make his own deals and have his secret weapon, Charlie, in the room with him to make sure he’s getting a fair deal.
She agrees, but before the proverbial ink dries on the deal, the casino lights go out, there’s a shot, and the new gun Charlie had just received and pointed in Sterling’s direction presumably goes off, killing the man. rich casino tycoon.
How does Poker Face Season 1 end?
Charlie knows that she didn’t kill Sterling, but the evidence against her is substantial, including her fingerprints on the gun and a video showing her aiming it at him just before lights out. Fortunately, Charlie still has the number of Agent Luca (Simon Helberg), the FBI agent she met at her retirement home. He had taken a liking to him (perhaps a flirt?), grateful that his information helped him solve various cases and raise his profile in the office.
In a side perspective, it is revealed that it was all Cliff’s doing. He was working with the rival Hasp family the whole time, switching weapons and tricking Charlie into being a scapegoat. It takes Charlie a while to figure this out, but it doesn’t matter because the FBI is after Cliff anyway after hearing the tapes of him admitting to killing Natalie (Dascha Polanco) and her husband. He turns the locks on, which clears Charlie’s name.
He is offered a job with the FBI a second time, but turns it down again, just before he gets a call from the boss of the crime family that owns the Hasp casino. The woman knows of Charlie’s unique talents and is giving him one last chance to save himself: come work for them, or else.
Charlie doesn’t seem concerned. She is excited to continue her journey to her career and her fans are ready to join her. It’s the perfect setup for Season 2, where we can expect more of the same with even juicier storylines and, quite likely, an even more impressive list of guest stars.
You can stream season 1 of Poker face in peacock.
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