Rian Johnson continues to have fun with the detective genre. His new series Poker Face is a funny and atypical thriller that shakes up the codes of the genre.
We barely recovered from Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mysteryavailable on Netflix since December, that Rian Johnson already adding more. The director is trying his hand at the serial format again, ten years after directing an episode of Breaking Bad. His new creation is a thriller, but make no mistake about it. The series Poker Face lean more towards howcatch – style popularized by Colombo with Peter Falk – that the whodunit. Note that this style favors more the character development that the mystery surrounding the investigation.
An atypical profile for the protagonist of Poker Face
Johnson’s new creation stands out in several ways from the genre’s classic format. It starts with its protagonist. The series introduces us Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a young woman who does not at all have the profile of a seasoned investigator. But she is not without talent. She is a former regular at big money poker tables. Charlie has a special gift, she knows how to recognize liars. She is a living lie detector, hence the title of the series, Poker Face. This talent should keep him out of trouble. But no… She still manages to put herself in danger.
As a television thriller with an atypical protagonist, Johnson’s creation is reminiscent of Murder, She Wrote with Angela Lansbury. Note that the work is known in France under the title Arabesque. Lansbury plays the 50-year-old Jessica Fletcher in this popular series from the 80s. The character is a former retiree who then becomes a successful novelist. She is so perceptive that she will spend her days solving murders. Charlie is thus promised the same fate in Poker Face.
A multi-faceted series
Rian Johnson is not attacking the televised thriller to completely reinvent it. Its objective is rather to play with the codes of the genre. This is what the director did in his last 2 films for Netflix: Knives Out et Glass Onion. on series Poker Face adopts the classic scheme of a new case to be solved in each episode. Then she takes on the appearance of road trip. Charlie will go from town to town driving his 1969 Plymouth Barracuda in order to escape the hitman Cliff Legrand (Benjamin Pratt).
We then discover a new asset from the creation of Rian Johnson. Because she goes from town to town, Charlie meets many people. To give him the reply, the creator of the series called on a host of stars. Poker Face indeed has an impressive cast. This one could make a Hollywood blockbuster swoon. Adrien Brody, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nick Nolte and Ron Perlman are the few known names we will mention.
For now, the series broadcast on Peacock is not available in France.
But you can watch it using a VPN.