Author Topic: Poker Face - new Peacock series  (Read 2183 times)

Offline perc2100

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Poker Face - new Peacock series
« on: February 03, 2023, 11:02:53 AM »
While the detective police crime solving series Columbo was on a little before my time to be into it when it was new, I've come to be really entertaining by the series as I've gotten older.  It pretty much invented the concept of "we show you how the crime, almost always murder, is committed right at the top of the episode and the entertainment is watching our LAPD investigator put the clues together to bust the bad guy."  Audiences often get to feel smart knowing who the killer is right off the bad, while watching the brilliant Lt. Columbo figure things out.

Writer/director Rian Johnson (the KNIVES OUT films, LOOPER, THE LAST JEDI, etc.), a big fan of Columbo, has brought us a kind of updated version starring Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black, Russian Dolls, etc.).  Lyonne plays Charlie, a woman who innately knows if a person is lying: not because of a 'tell' or other body language, she just naturally does.  She even often instinctively says 'Bulls**t' when someone she's talking to lies (sometimes this instinct gets her in a jam).  She doesn't know how she has this ability, but the best I can explain is for comic book fans who read Saga, she's the human version of Lying Cat.

The series starts off with Charlie working in a casino.  Her boss (played by Adrian Brody) comes up with a plan to have Charlie play a high-stakes game with a 'whale' that making money on the side in his suite, outside of the casino.  See, Charlie has history playing moderate-stakes poker and busting the high rollers because she knows when they're bluffing and when they legit hold a winning hand; she was caught by the casino owner (Brody's father), and instead of making her physically pay he gives her a job as a waitress in his casino (maybe so he can keep his eye on her?).  Shady stuff goes down in the casino, and one of Charlie's friends is murdered by a casino associate (played by Benjamin Bratt from COCO, MISS CONGENIALITY, etc.).  Charlie realizes her employer was responsible and the casino tells the cops she's a person of interest so she has to get out of town and disappear.

That's the set-up: the first episode that puts everything in motion.  This first ep. is not really at all like Columbo, and after seeing it I was a bit confused at the intent of the series.  BUT, that's kind of a LOT to set-up: establishing Charlie as a character as well as a BS-detector, set-up the casino big-bads, and set-up Charlie on the road.

The following episodes (5 released so far) play very much in an episodic, one-off fashion.  We have guest-stars of the week while Charlie hopes from place-to-place; she meets people on the road in diners or truck stops, someone mysteriously dies, Charlie gets tangled up in the murder one way or another (via a friend who's framed, or a seemingly unrelated circumstance like an abused dog Charlie finds on the side of the road), and ends up figuring out the murder, alerting the authorities, and getting out before she gets busted. 
Lather, rinse, repeat.

If you're a fan of the police procedural, this is a very fun series.  Lyonne is an actress that has a sarcastic sense of humor that plays well here, keeping the tone fairly light throughout.  The series plays like both on-the-road/different episode = different place, as well as murder-of-the-week.  If you've seen Rian Johnson's KNIVES OUT films, you already know he is very adept at crafting twisty murder mysteries with eclectic and interesting characters.  Here, we already know who the murder is so the premise is almost KNIVES OUT in reverse, as the episode writers' work is to set up the clues that Charlie uses in the 3rd Act to bust the murderer.  There's an over-arching story of Charlie being pursued by the casino, but so far for the most part (I'm not caught-up on all five eps) after the first episode it's about 95% solving murders on the road.

Rian Johnson wrote & directed the 1st ep, and wrote the last ep of the season, but there are a slew of other writers & directors involved.

This is another real fun series; coincidentally my oldest somehow got into Columbo over winter break, where we watched a bunch on Amazon Prime, so that has segued nicely into Poker Face.  I'm a fan of Lyonne & Johnson so they had me with the talent: the premise and the writing make this show a winner.  Poker Face is another relatively light series (in contrast, The Last of Us is a heavier one) that I think appeals to anyone who likes murder mysteries.

Online Old Man Grey

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #1 on: February 07, 2023, 04:09:12 PM »
I've been up in the air about this show. The heroine is quirky, charming and annoying at times. The lie detector gimmick is dumb, and it seems to be fading. The plots are like recycled "Colombo".That said the last episode about the 60's radicals took me by complete surprise. It started out like a cliche then took a wicked turn. If They keep doing episodes like that (and tone down the human lie detector) I'll be a fan.

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #2 on: Today at 07:52:56 AM »

Offline perc2100

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #2 on: February 07, 2023, 07:59:30 PM »
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I've been up in the air about this show. The heroine is quirky, charming and annoying at times. The lie detector gimmick is dumb, and it seems to be fading. The plots are like recycled "Colombo".That said the last episode about the 60's radicals took me by complete surprise. It started out like a cliche then took a wicked turn. If They keep doing episodes like that (and tone down the human lie detector) I'll be a fan.
Yeah the human lie detector thing is def. an interesting gimmick, and I too am kinda hoping that now we're into the series it fades a bit (or is at least relatively subtle, where she's not constantly saying 'BS').  As for Columbo, that seems to be the point: the real difference, IMO, being Columbo seemed to thrive with its class warfare ethos.  I haven't seen every episode (or movie? IDK what to consider Columbo's. movie-of-the-month format), but every one I have seen involves Columbo busting very rich folks: famous authors, art dealers, retired Generals, etc.  With the exception of the Poker Face 'big bad' being the casino, this feels straight-up like working class-working class crime so far.  This is definitely a series I appreciate watching once a week and not binging.

Offline lliving

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2023, 04:16:01 AM »
At least to me, in the more recent episodes, it seems the lie detector “power” is becoming less of a crime solving tool and more of a means Charlie figures out something ain’t right and begins looking for proof of foul play. Haven’t seen the most recent episode with Ellen Barkin yet, but the turns the episode with Judith Light and S. Epatha Merkerson took were wild. I was rooting for them for most of the episode.  And then I was like “Oh,no!!!” Also, as I side note, took me til the end of the episode to realize that “The Fletchers” was a Murder She Wrote reference. I also love how some clues are shown at the beginning of the episodes and seem like nothing, but then help tie up loose threads at the end. Episode 4, Rest in Metal, kept showing one of the characters watching 80’s sitcoms on his iPad, which turned out to be a big plot point at the end.  I also loved the guy at the Heavy Metal concerts trying and failing to buy drugs over and over again, “I’m not a narc, I’m just really bad at buying drugs…”


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Offline NCDS

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2023, 10:02:42 AM »
Started watching and couldn't stop.  I really like this show
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Offline rabbitwarren

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2023, 11:01:17 AM »
The characters and guest stars are the best part.  Absolutely loved the latest episode with Nick Nolte as an expy of Phil Tippett (who contributed to the episode). 

Offline perc2100

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2023, 09:21:42 AM »
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The characters and guest stars are the best part.  Absolutely loved the latest episode with Nick Nolte as an expy of Phil Tippett (who contributed to the episode).
Yes: with maybe a bit of a wink to Natalie Wood as well (who drowned in the early 80's in a mysterious accident while shooting a movie. albeit not on a shoot but on a weekend break) - an incident that also might've been a slight inspiration for Brad Pitt's character in ...ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD whose wife dies mysteriously during a boating mishap.
Also star Natasha Lyonne co-wrote and directed that ep!

This has been a fun series, and I agree the guest stars have been the most fun: just as w/'Columbo!'

Online Old Man Grey

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2023, 05:22:10 PM »
The eye blinking when someone lies is an unfortunate turn.

Offline perc2100

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2023, 10:44:38 AM »
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The eye blinking when someone lies is an unfortunate turn.
Yeah, that was definitely...something.  My wife has some occasional tics due to some health issues, and an eye twitch is one of them.  I presume that kind of concept is the goal but eye twitches are really hard to fake/force (at least for me, and seemingly my wife), and the blinking thing is a bit  ???
Luckily for me, there is so much else to really like it doesn't bother me much: warrants an eye roll from me at best ("eye movement in solidarity with our queen Natasha Lyonne!"  :P )

Offline NCDS

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #9 on: March 06, 2023, 09:18:58 AM »
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Yeah, that was definitely...something.  My wife has some occasional tics due to some health issues, and an eye twitch is one of them.  I presume that kind of concept is the goal but eye twitches are really hard to fake/force (at least for me, and seemingly my wife), and the blinking thing is a bit  ???
Luckily for me, there is so much else to really like it doesn't bother me much: warrants an eye roll from me at best ("eye movement in solidarity with our queen Natasha Lyonne!"  :P )

It made me laugh, however, I agree it was easy to look past.  Definitely not something I could pull off.
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Online Old Man Grey

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2023, 08:19:26 AM »
What a ridiculous, convoluted season finale. I did like how they showed Benjamin Bratt going from loyal henchman to traitorous assassin. Overall, I liked the series enough to watch next season.

Offline Jesse O

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2023, 06:15:48 PM »
I'm one of the dopes who never watched Orange is the New Black or Russian Doll, so I only kinda knew what to expect from Natasha. Damn. She's great (duh). Maybe it's because I'm of a certain age and love twisty and turny detective shows (even when they're convoluted and unbelievable), but I really really love this show. We had to force ourselves to not watch more than one episode a night when it debuted, and was grateful for the once-a-week drop. Looking forward to next season.

Offline TardisMom

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #12 on: March 15, 2023, 12:50:10 PM »
I finally started watching!  Three episodes in and loving it!  Natasha is fantastic, as usual.  The first season of Russian Doll is one of my favorites.  I'm also enjoying the guest stars, it was nice to see Hong Chau again so soon after her shout out from Brendan Fraser at the Oscars.

Offline perc2100

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2023, 09:32:20 AM »
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I finally started watching!  Three episodes in and loving it!  Natasha is fantastic, as usual.  The first season of Russian Doll is one of my favorites.  I'm also enjoying the guest stars, it was nice to see Hong Chau again so soon after her shout out from Brendan Fraser at the Oscars.
Yeah, for so long I kept waiting to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt, good friend of series creator/show-runner Rian Johnson, who has had a role in nearly every film (he was the hourly bell 'ding' we hear in GLASS ONION  ;D ), and _of course_ he's in a late ep directed by Johnson!

I'm with you: every week it was fun to see what the guest stars would do, and they all NAILED IT.  I especially adored Ellen Barkin in the appropriately cheesy named "Exit Stage Death" ep.  And as a movie nerd I had a fondness for the Nick Nolte character that was inspired by special FX genius Phil Tippett (who also worked on the ep).

Offline Jesse O

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Re: Poker Face - new Peacock series
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2023, 09:43:07 AM »
I went to a Glass Onion record signing at Amoeba here in Hollywood (this was a couple of weeks before Poker Face debuted). I told Rían how much I loved his intricate plots and how much I was looking forward to Poker Face, based on the ads. He looked at me and said: “It’s Columbo. Poker Face is Columbo.”

I don’t disagree - and it’s given me a push to start rewatching the Columbo shows.

However, one of my friends pointed out that the other element of the show - the impetus that Charlie has to move from place to place and keep her secret power hidden - is straight out of The Incredible Hulk.

So now, whenever anyone asks me what Poker Face is like, I just say “It’s a cross between Columbo and The Incredible Hulk”.