‘Poker Face’ Subverts the Structure of Rian Johnson’s Benoit Blanc Films

Rian Johnson‘s latest delicious detective drama Poker Face premiered on Peacock today, introducing fans of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc to a very different sleuth. Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) is a woman with a peculiar set of skills. Specifically, she can sniff out when someone’s lying. Now that doesn’t mean that Charlie can intuit the truth or sense when she’s close to a killer. She just knows when she’s heard bullshit, which is almost always. Charlie’s gift is what sets up the most unique part of Poker Face‘s structure. See, the thing is Poker Face is not — as the kids and SuperYaki say — “a Rian Johnson Whodunnit” It’s a Rian Johnson “Howcatchthem.”

If you’re tuning into Poker Face today expecting the same kind of thrilling mystery to unravel as in Knives Out or Glass Onion, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Poker Face follows the Columbo model of straight up telling us who killed whom in each episode’s opening act. It’s the exact opposite of a “Whodunnit.” The fun of Poker Face is watching how its plucky heroine interacts with a new cast of characters — and how she manages to solve an otherwise perfect crime.

The first four episodes of Poker Face dropped on Peacock today. That means that viewers get to kick off their journey with Charlie Cale with a super-sized pilot written and directed by Rian Johnson himself. This mini mystery movie introduces us to Charlie’s world. After using her gift for calling bluffs at several high stakes poker tables for profit, she found herself blackballed after one super powerful casino lord accused her of stealing. However, Frost Sr. was charmed by Charlie and offered her a gig as a cocktail waitress at his low rent casino.

When we meet Charlie, she actually really likes her life. It’s only when Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody) has her best friend Natalie (Dascha Polanco) killed for blowing the whistle on a high roller’s pedophilia that Charlie finds herself pulled into a life of solving crime. Complicating matters? Natalie’s death coincides with Frost Jr.’s plan to use Charlie’s gift to extort money out of the same high roller. Charlie’s solution to dealing with her friend’s killer sets off a chain of events that has her running for her own life on the lam. With each stop Charlie makes on her escape route, she is thrust into the center of yet another crime. Charlie’s talent for calling out lies and personal belief in justice forces her to continually get involved.

And that’s Poker Face!

Every episode of Poker Face is structured in the same way. First, we’re introduced to a batch of new characters. Spoilers, but one of these characters will die. And they will have been murdered by one or more of the other characters we meet. Then we learn in Act Two how Charlie has already been embedded in this story without our prior knowledge. We watch her roll into a new town, meet these folks on her own terms, and become intertwined with the murder that occurs. Act Three is all about watching just how Charlie unravels the mystery, through guile, observation skills, and her strange capacity to sense a lie.

Weirdly, this means that Poker Face is more enchanting character study than murder mystery. There’s no tension about who the murder is, a la Glass Onion, nor is there a twist about the killing as in Knives Out. Poker Face is strictly about watching the irresistible Natasha Lyonne quip her way to justice. It’s cozy in the way British country murder shows are, but full of effortless American cool over twee English manners.

Poker Face might not be the show you expect, and that’s the series’ most clever twist. It’s an ode to a classic sub-genre of mystery that’s been usurped by the shocking and bombastic. And — most of all — it’s a showcase for the enchanting Lyonne and each and every fabulous actor who joins her in frame.

The first four episodes of Poker Face are now streaming on Peacock. New episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays.