Poker Face is a 10 episode detective series by Rian Johson, starring Natasha Lyonne.
Right from the first title card in yellow sans serif all caps you can tell that this is a Columbo homage. Show the crime, then show the crime being solved. But it’s not a straight up transplant of the formula, there’s all kinds of changes. The main character Charlie is not a cop, but a woman on the run from both powerful people and the law. It will often not be crimes in the homes of the rich and the powerful, but where-ever she can find a short-term gig that pays in cash and asks no questions. Since she is not a cop, it’s not like she is going to arrest anybody. There might even not be any “cop evidence” as the show repeatedly calls it. But hey, there’s plenty of other ways to punish the guilty.
Structurally, the storytelling is no longer linear but usually in three segments. First they show the crime, then they skip back in time to show how Charlie ended up involved in the situtation and her viewpoint of the crime, and finally the segment of solving it. It’s a pretty clever structure, though it was kind of confusing the first time around. And finally, the big gimmick (in a kind of inversion of Knives Out) is that Charlie can tell whether people are lying. Even in this short 10 episode season they play with all of these basic elements in all kinds of delightful ways.
In general, think going into this as a mystery show would be a mistake. There’s not enough meat in the mysteries for that, and honestly the episodes aren’t long enough either. The most mystery solving you’ll get to do is spot the subtle plot devices as soon as they come up. Instead it’s more like character heavy detective-themed comedy. A lot of good actors getting to chew scenery as guest stars, great character interactions, a bunch of laugh out loud episodes, and even the episodes that aren’t funny as a whole will have their comedic moments. The closest modern comparison would be to Only Murders in the Building, except with self-contained episodes rather than a seasonal arc.
I definitely recommend giving this a watch if any of the above sounds interesting. It’s not just that it’s a great conept, but it’s really well executed as well.
The first episode is a bit slow since they have a lot of setup to do, so I wouldn’t judge the series on that. I found episode 2 to be a bit weak as well, but the episode 3-6 run is particularly strong (the barbeque, the metal band, the nursing home and the actors). The last two episodes didn’t really work for me though. They’re technically just fine, but are just telling a very different kind of story than the earlier episodes and in a way that I didn’t find very satisfying (or, frankly, necessary).