Cast: Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, Simon Helberg as Luca Clark, Rhea Perlman as Beatrix, and Patti Harrison as Alex. Featuring guest stars including: Steve Buscemi, Cynthia Erivo, Justin Theroux, Haley Joel Osment, Taylor Schilling, Giancarlo Esposito, John Mulaney, Simon Rex, Sam Richardson, Richard Kind, and John Cho.

Series Created By: Rian Johnson (Knives Out)

Streaming Service: Peacock

Length: 12 episodes

Audio Descritpion Provided By: Pointe 360

written By:

Narrated By: Roy Samuelson

What Is It?: The second season of peacock’s quirky detective comedy is no bullshit. After escaping certain death in Season 1, Charlie is still being chased by the mob at the top of Season 2, and the only was for her to get out, is to convince the head of the family trying to put her on ice that she’s valuable. After helping Beatrix with her little problem, Charlie finds herself trying to avoid murder and death, but it keeps finding her, ultimately leading her to the one person who gets past her bullshit detector. Has Charlie met her match? Is this the moriarty to her Sherlock? Along the way, we will meet a host of guest stars in various situations, and some of them are dead, some of them are murderers, but none of them can sneak by Charlie Cale.

What Works: If you loved Season 1 of the show, this won’t disappoint. Because of the structure of the episodes, like most shows of this ilk, it will leave fans loving some episodes more than others, or having fans with different rankings of which mysteries worked best for them. This is a show that is both procedural in that the majority of the episode is contained to just what is introduced in that episode, but a small thread does keep the season connected, and ultimately leads to the pay off. it is a show that allows these big guest stars to come in and shine. I really enjoyed Cynthia Erivo and John Cho as standouts this season, but my favorite episode was driven by a young actress playing a little demon child. Charlie had never quite met her match the way she did going up against a sociopathic moppet. I do think it was my favorite episode of the series, just because Charlie had a really tough time going up against a kid. But, the series lighthearted (generally) tone, strong audio description, and excellent lead performance is what puts Poker Face as a ledeing reason to even have a Peacock subscription. its a shame that Lyonne continues to miss out on an Emmy nomination for her work, but it does allow guest stars to shine, like Erivo, who did land a nomination this year.

What Doesn’t Work: very little. like I said, the only thing is that due to the structure, it could be easier than you would think to rank your favorite episodes. For me, my best and worst immediately come to mind, and lining up the rest doesn’t seem hard to do. Poker face always tries to find Charlie the most outlandish mysteries to solve through her bullshit detector, and truthfully, some episodes are more successful than others. Some revel in their complexity, but are also restricted by the runtime, so Charlie has to almost immediately solve a seemingly unsolvable crime due to time constraints. Elzabeth does a nearly identical formula, showing us the crime ahead of it, and letting Elzabeth work it out. That show has found a better balance, and therefore Elzabeth is always the star, and her process isn’t sacrificed by a potentially to elaborate setup.

the Audio Description: Roy does a nice job with the narration. There are lots of little clues revealed that we need to know, and also things that have to be kept from us for the time being, and whoever wrote each script did a very admirable job of balancing the act. The big twist of the season is revealed to us one way, only for us to reflect later on on what really happened, but we had to be shown one way before learning the truth. They also did a nice job with some interesting mechanics, like in erivo’s episode, where she plays multiple characters.I always felt like I was being told what I needed, and never had anything blown in advance. The entire production of the track, from the writing, through the mixing, is solid. It’s nice to see something on Peacock with excellent audio description. perhaps this team can try and get the next season of The Traitors?

Why You Might Like It: If you watched season 1, or if you’re a big fan of this new trend of like minded shows, including the aforementioned Elzabeth, but also Matlock, High Potential, Will Trent, The Irrational, and even Only Murders In The Building. Charlie’s ability to detect bullshit is a fresh take on this brand of detective show.

Why You Might Not Like it: If you prefer really strong linear storytelling, and episodic, anthology style, or procedural shows aren’t your thing, this is more in that direction.

Final Thoughts: As of this review, the show has yet to be renewed for a third season. But with Charlie’s biggest foe now out in the open, it does present interesting questions about where she might go for season 3. Ultimately, Poker Face remains charming, off a strong lead performance from Natasha Lyonne, and an uncanny ability to attract A-listers to guest star.

Final Grade: 8.8/10