Is Poker Face One of the Best Things to Watch in 2023?
Television seems to be getting better every year, and this is certainly helped by the wide variety of streaming services that are waging war on one another. Peacock is one of the up-and-coming providers, and the platform that was founded in 2020 already has more than 20 million subscribers.
One of the best series in recent times is Poker Face, which was released in January this year. It was met with strong critical acclaim and has already been renewed for another season. The mystery series was created by Rina Johnson, with Natasha Lyonne starring in the lead role.
No Poker Knowledge Required for This Murder Mystery
Poker Face is one of those series that has a good chance of going under many people’s radars. There hasn’t been a lot of fanfare around it, and you’re probably more likely to hear about it through word of mouth and friend recommendations.
Some people may be put off by the title, thinking that they need to know about poker to be able to watch it. There are plenty of resources online that give information about the different strains of the game, such as 3 Card Brag. They tell players everything from the value order of the hands to basic strategy, but there’s no need to brush up on this before watching the new Johnson series.
The series does relate to poker in some ways, with the lead character having worked in a casino and participated in poker tournaments. She uses the skills and knowledge that she learnt from the game to help solve murders, and this places an interesting twist on the traditional format of the genre. There’s no doubt that the series could inspire people to play poker, but there’s no need to know the game to be able to watch.
Johnson Developing a Catalogue of Mysteries
Johnson is becoming well-known for his ever growing body of mystery works. The director got his massive break with Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017, and since then he has used his new fame as a platform to pursue his passion projects. Knives Out in 2019 was his first murder mystery, and thanks to its overwhelming popularity it was followed by Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery in 2022.
Johnson is the executive producer of Poker Face as well, and he has worked as the writer and director on some of the episodes. Now that this has been commissioned for future seasons, it seems like Johnson’s dominance of the modern mystery genre is set to grow further. On top of that, there are reports that Netflix has the rights to make another Knives Out mystery.
Poker Face does have some competition on television to be regarded as the best murder mystery of recent years. Only Murders in the Building has been hugely popular as well, highlighting how the genre is back in the mainstream with a bang.
There are loads of great series to watch in 2023, with options like The Last of Us also getting a lot of attention. Poker Face has to be in the conversation as one of the top entries to the streaming scene this year.
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