Rian Johnson Has a Wild Way to Save Poker Face from Cancelation

Poker Face has been canceled by Peacock. After two seasons, the Columbo-inspired mystery series created by Rian Johnson has possibly met its end, despite strong reviews from critics. But that’s not the part that’s going to make you say, “Bullshit.”

Rather, it’s the interesting idea that Johnson has for the future of the series. According to Deadline, Johnson isn’t deterred and plans to shop the series to other networks. “We’ve been germinating this next move together since writing the season two finale. We love our Poker Face and this is the perfect way to keep it rolling,” he said.” Give us a beat and we may just see Charlie Cale again down that open highway.” But Johnson said that if we do see Charlie again, she won’t be played by Natasha Lyonne. Instead, Johnson plans to recast the human lie detector with Peter Dinklage.

Poker Face premiered on Peacock in 2023, introducing us to Charlie Cale, a rumpled woman with the ability to recognize any lie. Whenever someone lies to Cale, she cannot help but respond by saying, “Bullshit.” The ability gets her a good job working for the mob at one of their casinos, but when the gangster’s son (Adrien Brody) goes too far, Charlie has to tell the truth, which sends her on the run from the mob throughout the first season and most of the second.

Despite that overarching narrative, most episodes of Poker Face followed their inspiration Columbo and told stand-alone “Howshecatchem” stories. Each episode opened by introducing totally new characters, played by guest stars ranging from Chloë Sevigny and Cynthia Erivo to Tim Russ and Justin Theroux, and shows how one of them kills the other. Then, the episode shows how Charlie came to find herself among those characters, eventually recognizing a lie and then confronting the murderer.

In the same way that his Knives Out films proved to be a hit, Poker Face quickly resonated with viewers excited for a return to ’70s style episodic TV. The series garnered a number of nominations over its two seasons, and won awards from Television Critics Association, the American Film Institute, and the Primetime Emmys.

However, one did get the sense that the series was starting to sour at the end. Within the world of the show, the second season abruptly did away from the “on the run from the mob” conceit midway through. Further, the final episodes pit Charlie against an assassin who could successfully lie to her, thus betraying the show’s main idea. Off the screen, Lyonne has recently drawn fire for her continued defense of AI and her strange claim that the late David Lynch agreed with her.

Clearly, Johnson thinks that the concept still has life in it, even if it needs a change. And with his latest Knives Out mystery Wake Up Dead Man coming soon to Netflix, he’ll certainly have a platform to make his case. And if there’s one thing that Poker Face has taught us, it’s that we should never count out Charlie Cale, no matter who she (or he) may be.

Poker Face is now streaming on Peacock.