Poker Face is an American crime comedy-drama television series created by Rian Johnson for the streaming service Peacock.

Laughlin, Nevada casino waitress Charlie Cale, a woman with the ability to tell if someone is lying, observes her maid friend Natalie Hill's abusive husband Jerry be ejected by head of security Cliff LeGrand.

When she points out that the ticket's serial number does not match the time Jed claims to have bought it, he admits to the murder but has discovered that she is a person of interest and threatens to report her if she calls the police.

As she leaves, a hidden camera radio show leads her to realize that a trucker she sat next to during Damian's murder would have caught the crime on his dash cam, asking his friends to turn the footage in to the police.

Unable to afford buying him out, Taffy pre-records a segment for his radio show and pretends to air it live while he seals George in his trailer and suffocates him with grill smoke, beating the dog when it attacks him as he leaves.

Charlie has station employee Austin impersonate Taffy over the phone to trick Mandy into thinking he is going to confess, prompting her to sell him out to the police.

Charlie is hired by heavy metal band Doxxxology to sell merchandise on tour, befriending new drummer Gavin, who enjoys writing lyrics based on things around him.

The band rigs Gavin’s amplifier to electrocute him when Ruby lets him sing "Staplehead" and they pass "Sucker Punch" off as their creation.

"Sucker Punch" revives interest in Doxxxology, but their lawyer informs them that the song's melody is lifted directly from the theme of Benson, resulting in a copyright lawsuit.

Charlie sends a true crime podcaster that she met earlier her evidence that the band killed Gavin, and an episode is made about them.

Irene sneaks into his room and poisons him, switching his wearable heart monitor and having Joyce tase her to trick the orderly into thinking he died of cardiac arrest.

Charlie bumps into Gabriel’s "nephew" Luca Clark at his funeral, who admits he is an FBI agent with witness protection and explains that Irene and Joyce were actually arrested trying to bomb a Model UN meeting.

Actress Kathleen Townsend visits her longtime nemesis and former costar Michael Graves to ask him for help putting on a one-night play and revitalizing her career.

The show's popularity prompts Kathleen to give it another day, while the third actor Rebecca extorts them for money when she finds the script for a planned argument.

Kathleen tries to kill Rebecca via her fatal nut allergy by contaminating a food bowl, forcing Charlie to drag her offstage and pretend it is part of the play.

Laura asks Arthur for a bust of Max's head to grieve, but actually uses it to pass the facial recognition software on his laptop and delete a piece of footage from the archives.

Arthur watches the physical copy of the footage and realizes that Laura caused Lilly's death, burning the reel when confronted but keeping the incriminating frames, only to die from poisoning upon returning home.

While stranded in the Colorado mountains, Charlie picks up kleptomaniac drifter Mortimer "Morty" Bernstein and crashes her car while trying to avoid a deer.

When Morty does not return with a tow truck, she tries to flag down a car and is hit by Trey Nelson, who is violating his house arrest while on parole.

As a blizzard traps the four in the motel, Morty realizes that Charlie found a bone outside and wonders if it could belong to Chloe Jones, a local woman who vanished a decade prior.

She hides out in her estranged sister's house, who gives her the keys to their father's boat and asks her to leave, not wanting her family involved with Charlie.

Johnson stated that the series would delve into "the type of fun, character driven, case-of-the-week mystery goodness I grew up watching.

Johnson also used Magnum, P.I., The Rockford Files, Quantum Leap, Highway to Heaven and The Incredible Hulk as influences for the tone of the series.

[19][20] Johnson was interested in "doing that Columbo or even Quantum Leap thing of having every episode be an anthropological deep dive into a little corner of America that you might not otherwise see.

[23] In July 2024, Giancarlo Esposito, Katie Holmes, Gaby Hoffmann, Kumail Nanjiani, Kathrine Narducci, Ben Marshall, Kevin Corrigan, and Sherry Cola were cast in guest roles for the second season.

The website's critics consensus reads, "With the incomparable Natasha Lyonne as an ace up its sleeve, Poker Face is a puzzle box of modest ambitions working with a full deck.

[41] Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave a rating of 3.5 out of 4 stars and said, "The beauty part is watching the amazing Natasha Lyonne's Charlie puzzle out the crime in clever and often hilarious fashion.

"[42] Peter Travers of ABC News felt Lyonne landed "the role of her career" in Charlie Cale and called Poker Face "the best joyride of the 2023 TV season.

[44] Ben Travers of IndieWire gave the series a B and stated "All this star power is enough to guarantee Poker Face will be, at least, an enjoyable diversion.