Rian Johnson’s, Poker Face brings back old-school “howcatchems.”
In Poker Face, Charlie Cale serves as a scrappy human lie detector. Up until her life is turned upside down, Charlie has never solved a crime. Poker Face uses the “howcatchem” technique to galvanize the same formula as Columbo. This inverted narrative lets the spectator witness the horrific deeds in the first half of the episode before shifting the emphasis to show that Charlie was only watching and is now responsible for finding the murderer.
Although Charlie’s human lie detector trick does most of the heavy lifting, her street smarts, dumb luck, and gumption help her get through the majority of the more challenging aspects of her investigation. The filmmaker, Rian Johnson while talking to The Ringer says, “The object is not to reinvent; it’s just to do it really well. And if you do it really well, in your voice, it will feel new. It will feel fresh.” And for Johnson, Poker Face feels fresh.
Poker Face was conceptualized by Johnson with Lyonne in mind, but it also serves as a display of his personal interests and sense of style as well as those of his coworkers and inspiration. The program is both a modern resurrection that never comes off as forced and a vintage jaunt that never feels stuck in the past.
Poker Face debuts on January 26 with four episodes exclusively on Peacock, with new episodes streaming every Thursday.
