Poker Face Season 2 Review: Natasha Lyonne's Crime Caper Is Still TV's Ultimate Comfort Watch

When I grow up, I want to live out of a beat-up Plymouth Barracuda, befriend (and occasionally romance) intriguing strangers I run into across my travels, and solve crimes with my superpowers as a human lie detector. The appeal of a mystery-of-the-week series like "Poker Face" wasn't exactly hard to pinpoint when season 1 debuted back in 2023. Not content to become mere content, the thoroughly well-crafted and cleverly-written series had one other ace up its sleeve. As a throwback procedural, it felt like a fresh rebuttal to the streaming slop we've been inundated with throughout the last decade and change. What else would you call it when shows have to be marketed as 12-hour movies, television viewers have been conditioned to accept nothing less than hyper-serialized storylines building up to some monumental climax, and the simple pleasures of murder mysteries have become subsumed by provocative true-crime schlock? In light of all that, well, it's little surprise that creator Rian Johnson had his finger firmly on the pulse and came out swinging with a series that couldn't have been more opposed to such regressive trends if it tried.

But more than anything else, the Peacock original's greatest strength came from providing the sharp, witty delights we so badly needed — and "Poker Face" season 2 hardly misses a beat. The murders are even more inventive than last time. Our new and most colorful character additions are somehow painted with an even broader brush. (If multiple Cynthias Erivo isn't enough for you in the premiere, just wait until you see — and hear — what guest star Kumail Nanjiani is up to in his episode later on.) And, at every step, Natasha Lyonne's effortlessly cool and utterly loveable performance as our amateur sleuth keeps even the most convoluted of plots squarely on the tracks and light on its feet. If it wasn't already clear before, it's official now: The Mount Rushmore of fictional detectives has to include Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Lieutenant Columbo, and Charlie Cale.

That winsome sense of charm by our lead character (and performer) is both the biggest draw and the secret weapon here. No matter how offbeat or zany things may get, nothing beats composer Nathan Johnson's reassuring banjo theme kicking in roughly 15 minutes into every episode, when we go from the scene of the crime in each episode-opening prologue back to Charlie's usual antics. Familiar without feeling formulaic, breezy but never brainless, and as cozy as crime capers get, "Poker Face" is a sheer joy to watch and TV's ultimate comfort viewing.

When last we saw Charlie Cale, our take-no-bull**** hero had narrowly survived death at the hands of the vengeful crime boss (Ron Perlman's scenery-chewing Sterling Frost, Sr.) dogging her steps and chasing her across the United States, but ended up merely trading the wrath of one deadly mafioso for another (Rhea Perlman as Beatrix Hasp). This overarching story provided the only real connective tissue linking one episode to another in season 1, and that trend continues in this one ... up to a point. A development reshuffles the deck in an unexpectedly bold choice early on — I'm being intentionally vague here — and proves the gumption of an entire writing team that refuses to rest on their laurels and rely on what's worked so far. Some may find that to the season's advantage and detriment, sacrificing a certain amount of stakes and momentum for the tradeoff of creative freedom, yet it's hardly a deal-breaker when these episodes have so much going for them otherwise.

Consisting of 12 total episodes (the first 10 of which were made available to critics ahead of time), this sophomore season of "Poker Face" wastes no time finding its rhythm and pushing its premise as far as it can go. This has never been a series concerned with adhering to real-world logic and the endless nitpicking that follows ... and rightfully so, since the true purpose of a whodunnit (or a "howcatchem," more accurately, as we're always shown upfront who commits each crime) is to subvert expectations and stay ahead of audiences without taking narrative shortcuts. As a result, every episode establishes and adheres to its own uniquely heightened tone. If the thought of never knowing what you're in for during any given hour excites you, from sociopathic 9-year-olds to alligators hopped up on meth, then this remains the show for you. And for anyone concerned that Rian Johnson might've been tempted to buy into his own hype in the interim, turning what's been a snark-free story into an exhausting exercise in winking, self-aware pastiche? Rest assured, it never once concerns itself with coming across as too earnest or, dare I say it, "corny." Even the endless parade of A-list guest stars (and there are many, including Melanie Lynskey, John Cho, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Awkwafina, Alia Shawkat, John Mulaney, and more) feels perfectly calibrated to provide maximum entertainment without taking up too much of the spotlight.

Like Charlie herself, this is a series that's entirely comfortable in its own skin, and our main character's efforts to connect with those around her continues to be both its beating heart and moral center. In a show full of liars and con men and greedy opportunists, it's wonderfully refreshing to follow a character like Charlie who insists on doing the right thing for the right reasons. It's in that deceptive simplicity that season 2 of "Poker Face" shines brightest.

This may come as a surprise to "Star Wars" fans who had never even heard his name before "The Last Jedi" came out, but Rian Johnson has always been a student of the art of storytelling, and "Poker Face" is perhaps most satisfying when seen as an extension of his particular interests (including his well-documented love of baseball). Make no mistake, season 2 boasts another murderer's row — pun most definitely intended — of writers and directors leaving their marks on each and every episode. Some of the strongest and most memorable scripts come from credited writers Laura Deeley, Wyatt Cain, Tony Tost, Kate Thulin, and Megan Amram, while directors Adam Arkin, Miguel Arteta, Lucky McGee, and Mimi Cave bring the visual flair worthy of a sleight-of-hand series like this. (Even Natasha Lyonne gets in on the action as both co-writer and director of episode 2, one of the more formally daring hours of the season.) But those aware of Johnson's broader filmography, from "Brick" to "The Brothers Bloom" to "Knives Out," will find an even greater appreciation for what might be the purest distillation of Rian Johnson we've seen yet.

Like its creator, "Poker Face" wears every influence on its sleeve. The crime fiction genre has the benefit of decades (if not centuries) of history to pull from, and Agatha Christie readers will find just as much enjoyment out of the season's twists and turns as movie-lovers who've watched every Raymond Chandler adaptation under the sun. Heck, there are enough hilarious namedrops of beloved cinema classics and endearing jabs taken at film buffs to make this stand toe-to-toe with Seth Rogen's "The Studio," at least in terms of catering to the Film Twitter crowd. (No, I'm not calling it "Film X" and neither should you.) There's something to be said for modern stories that are still well aware of the past, remixing the tropes of years gone by and spinning them into new and original approaches. Just when you think you've figured out where they're going, the creative team yanks the rug out from under you and keeps you guessing to the last.

But, at the end of the day, "Poker Face" also understands the momentary thrills of a carefully laid-out surprise are just that — momentary. What keeps viewers hooked on a series like this, inevitably, is the feeling of being in the hands of artists who actually care. Some episodes are light-hearted and utterly ridiculous romps to a fault, while others occasionally feel a little too clever for their own good. Every single one, however, delivers something we simply can't take for granted anymore. With each self-contained adventure and brazenly premeditated murder, "Poker Face" stands out as an oasis in a streaming desert. No lies detected.

/Film Rating: 7.5 out of 10

"Poker Face" premieres on Peacock with its first three episodes May 8, 2025, followed by a new episode streaming every Thursday.