Poker Face 2023

I was expecting this show to have a stronger crime/mystery department. It turns out to be a "hang-out show", not too real, not too fiction. "Just casually watch and relax" type of thing where you just like the characters. So if you're going to ask questions like "how does she always end up in places where crime happens", "how does police always leave clues behind", "blabla can't happen in real life", it's clearly not that type of a show. I don't think it tries to be either. If you want a solid crime show with 100% reality tone, you're in the wrong place.

Here's what the creator told:

"The big ingredient I knew I needed for a show is a charismatic figure at the heart of it, because Columbo or Rockford Files, as much as those shows are mysteries, what really brings you back each week is you want to hang out with the main character. They're really 'hang out' shows," Johnson explained. "When I saw Natasha in Russian Doll, I thought here is somebody who has the presence and the charisma on the screen that I would just want to come back and be with her every week and see her win."

As many others, I love Natasha Lyonne from OITNB and Russian Doll, so it's good watching her in Poker Face as well. Having fun so far, each episode feels like reading a good short-story.

I will watch everything Rian Johnson makes - everything he does brings something new to the table, giving a twist on genre conventions. Poker Face subverts a mystery of the week show by displaying the murder at the start, and then the challenge is figuring out how to prove the truth. Each episode follows a fairly steady formula, but the setting of each episode is displayed strongly; as an audience, we really feel like we traveled across the country and inhabited quite distinct spaces within it. Tying all episodes together are themes of guilt and honesty. The whole premise of the show is a set up to catch lying criminals, that when they lie she will know and get to the truth. What I found impactful was how being confronted with an outsider pushing the truth over all else led the murderers to doubt themselves. All of them feel a sleight of hand cleverness as they outwit people initially, but then as they are forced to return to their crime they grapple with whether they can really stomach what they've done. I absolutely love the way Rian Johnson sets up a mystery, and one of the great joys of this series is getting to see his creative and thoughtful set ups 10 times. He is fantastic at providing visual information in an organic and efficient way, and his ability to let us understand a character immediately is hilarious. Poker Face isn't the most grounded or groundbreaking show, but it is thrilling and clever. Especially if you appreciate mystery conventions and want to see more Rian Johnson creativity, Poker Face is simply a joy.