Poker Face has quickly become one of the most exciting murder mystery series, but it shares one major setback with one of the classic shows it's most influenced by, Columbo. The new series comes from the mind of Rian Johnson, who also, not surprisingly, wrote and directed Knives Out and Glass Onion, and Poker Face is the perfect television counterpart to those hit movies. Instead of Benoit Blanc, the show follows Charlie (Natasha Lyonne), a vagrant on the run from a mobster and casino owner, picking up odd jobs across North America and never staying in the same place for too long.
The show's appeal is how Charlie is a human lie detector, as she has a quirk where she can tell if people are lying or not. While Poker Face has an overarching narrative, each episode focuses on a different group of characters. And in every episode, there just happens to be a murder unrelated to Charlie, though she can't help but get involved. However, though it's entertaining watching Charlie figure out the truth behind the murders and who's responsible, it also creates a major flaw in the show. And it has led to some unfavorable comparisons to the long-running crime series that started in the 60s, Columbo.
Charlie Always Being Around A Murder Is Too Coincidental (Unlike Columbo)
Just like Columbo, Poker Face has a murder-of-the-week format. But while Poker Face continues Johnson's hot streak and has been critically praised for its ingenuity, the fact that there's a murder wherever Charlie is at the time is way too coincidental, as she frequently jumps between towns. It's implausible that Charlie could be pulled into ten different murder cases throughout one season. This was the case with Columbo, too, as he always had a front seat whenever there was a murder. However, Columbo has an excuse, as he was a homicide detective. Charlie is no such thing, and she literally just stumbles upon murders so casually.
How Poker Face Can Explain The Charlie Coincidence
However, there are a couple of reasons why Lyonne's Big Lebowski-influenced Charlie keeps finding herself in these dreadful situations. First of all, the timeframes of the season's events aren't exactly as they seem. Most would assume that time is passing by one week at a time (outside of title cards that state "one week later"), as that's when the episodes air. But while the show doesn't make it entirely clear, far more time has passed, and it has been about 16 months between the first episode and episode 9. So Charlie being in the vicinity of so many different murders is more believable given the timeframe.
Charlie's special ability could draw her to danger too. Being able to tell whenever someone is lying attracts Charlie to them. Whenever someone lies to her, she instantly gets involved and tries to dig deeper, which will always lead to some kind of danger. Though Charlie is on the run in Poker Face, she has often had the chance to leave the town she's in at any given time, but a small lie from a stranger encourages her to stay. So while Poker Face has an implausible narrative, it isn't completely outside the realms of possibility and just requires a little suspension of disbelief.