It isn't so much that she has a poker face...
because she really is quite expressive...
but that she can read other players' tells and know when they're bluffing.
Actually, it's more than that: she can read their eyes and voice and know if they are lying.
That's how she wins at every game, be it penny ante or high stakes.
She doesn't count cards or have a tell of her own, and she never played with the same people, so that let her slide for a long time.
That was much the same as Oscar isaac's character had done in "The Card Counter", playing smaller games, staying out of tournaments, and always on the go.
She likens her ability to that of a cancer-sniffing dog to locate malignant tumors.
She had forgotten that gamblers talk.
She herself had a glib tongue and gift of gab, but I'm talking about how guys talk when it's just them and no women around.
Not just about regular things, but about people they've played against, especially people they've played against and lost heavily.
Mind you, these are all high rollers, so a little trimming of their wallet just gets noticed by them, but doesn't make them vengeful.
She's careful in that regard.
But, she forgot about them talking.
That's how she got caught.
One of the men she beat ran a casino in Atlantic City and one day he spots her there.
He rounds her up and tells her she has two options: come and work at his casino as a waitress or go on as she has been, knowing he's going to spread the word about her special talents at the card table.
So, Charlie works as a waitress for a while, happy to be in one place, making friends.
Then he turns management over to his son, Junior, who makes the mistake of killing Charlie's best friend one night, and then lying about it.
Then Junior wanted Charlie to work for him to cheat a super high roller regular.
What a doofus.
He ended up taking a short step off a high balcony when it became clear his dad would be informed of his gaff.
Sadly, his security man cum hitman - played very well by Benjamin Bratt - went after her and Charlie had to go on the lam.
That's how the series began.
"Poker Face" lured me in with its promise of clever mystery murders and it wasn't until the third episode that I realized why I loved it so much: she was Columbo!
Not that anyone could take the place of Peter Falk as that detective, because they could not.
Nor is she trying to do so.
Natasha Lyonne is paying homage to his timeless mannerisms, his "just one more thing, sir" or that cock of his head when he's perplexed and trying to figure out why someone lied.
She does that, too... and that's what caught my attention.
She has shaggy, unkempt hair, rather than wearing a rumpled, beige overcoat.
She smokes tiparillos, instead of big cigars.
And she's very much of the common man, like he was.
That makes it easy for her to chat up anybody, which she does.
Charming!
The problem is, like with Angela Lansbury's sleuth, everywhere she goes, someone dies.
Not just dies, but gets murdered, right?
And it isn't that Charlie wants to get involved, but her conscience won't let her rest.
The person who gets killed is always someone who had treated her kindly.
Even so, she still probably would have moved along... except someone would make the mistake of telling a lie to her, usually something that anyone else would have let slide.
Not her, though.
She would be wondering why someone had lied about something stupid, when the truth would have been just as easy to say.
Yes, that would be the tripping point for the guilty party: a stupid white lie.
Even when that someone was Lil Rel Howery.
(Hey, that can be our little inside joke!)
He was the famous person in the third episode.
That's another thing I enjoy: someone I know popping in for a twirl!
The first episode had Adrian Brody as Junior, as well as Benjamin Bratt, who is a recurring character hot on Charlie's trail.
Simon Helberg - Howard the mechanical engineer on "TBBT" - is another recurring character, this time as an FBI agent, with his first appearance on the fifth episode, sharing that limelight with Judith Light and S. Epatha Merkerson.
(I've watched that one several extra times, including once with my first niece!)
The second episode had John Ratzenburger, the mailman from "Cheers", as the last honest mechanic at a desert truck stop.
And so it goes, up to the penultimate episode of the first season, which had Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing decidedly against character.
I really loved that one and have watched it several times.
Actually, I'm starting my fourth viewing of the series on Peacock.
While the 'mercials are a drag, at least there are no lawyers or politicians or insurance sellers.
Hallelujah for small favors!
Thanks, Comcast, for free Peacock in my line-up, especially on overcast, cold days!
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