The problem with Poker Face

(M) ★★★

Creator: Rian Johnson.

Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Benjamin Bratt.

Is that a plant growing out of the corner pocket of the pool table?

Crime stories, whether it be on the page or the screen, rely on mystery - who did it, how did they do it, why did they do it. We watch or read these stories to find out the answers to these questions. That’s the tension that drives the narrative and keeps us engaged, often because it puts us in the shoes of the detective/CSI unit/crime-solving old lady. We can even play a game of trying to figure out the answers before the protagonist does. It's half the fun, right?

Poker Face is different. Almost every episode starts by showing us who did it, how they did it, and why they did it. With these typically essential questions answered, its central mystery becomes the equivalent of “how will the protagonist find out it was Colonel Mustard in the living room with the lead pipe?”.

It’s a bold ploy, because by erasing the majority of the mystery, it wipes out the bulk of the tension. Some episodes leave a question or two to be revealed - usually the “why did they do it?”, and the minimal anxiety of how our heroine will get to the bottom of it before she gets killed too. But for the most part, we’re left watching Charlie Cale (Lyonne) use her superpower (she can always tell when people are lying) to solve a puzzle we already know the answer to.

Thankfully Lyonne is fantastic and makes Charlie great company and her superpower is intriguing. Or perhaps, more accurately, its intriguing to see how the writers either write around her superpower (the key trick is for people to answer her questions with a question) or plant the most odd and inane lies to trip up the colourful collection of killers they've created.

But you can’t help but wonder if the bold approach undermines the potential of the show. I’d love to see a re-edit of several episodes that removes the first 20 minutes and puts us in Charlie’s shoes rather than waiting for her to figure out what we already know. Would it be more entertaining? Potentially. There would certainly be more tension in most of the episodes.

Poker Face is at its best when it manages to preserve some of that tension by giving us an actual mystery to solve - episodes 9 and 10 do this best, though it feels like there are more nail-biting ways to unravel those episodes too.

The show has proven popular enough to be picked up for a second season. I'd like to hope that's because of Lyonne, the fascinating rogues gallery and the wit of the writing, rather than the possibility people are enjoying not having to figure out the whodunnit, the motive and the opportunity. Like they're too lazy, boring or stupid to bother with being confused or to not know the answer. Imagine if we reached a point in society where people decided they wanted their mysteries served up without any actual mystery in them. I really hope that's not why people are watching Poker Face.