It’s nearly time to hit the open road once more. Peacock has released the first teaser for the hotly anticipated second season of Rian Johnson‘s Poker Face, sending Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) on another cross-country trip to outrun a furious crime family. After detecting lies and cheating death across multiple stops in Season 1, the footage has her running into more curious characters from a new star-studded ensemble and solving mysteries along the way. With the short video also came a May 8 premiere date for when Charlie and her Plymouth Barracuda will take off once again.
The teaser is a humorous, long-overdue reintroduction to Charlie Cale and a showcase of some of the big names that make up the suspects she’ll encounter on her journey. Poker Face Season 1 premiered over two years ago, following Charlie as she outran Frost Casino’s head of security, Cliff LeGrand (Benjamin Bratt), and became a modern-day Columbo for the friends she made along the way. Although “The Hook” is now behind bars, she’s now being targeted by Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) of the Five Families, a fact she’s quickly reminded of when a couple of her goons start opening fire at her while she’s chilling with Cynthia Erivo‘s character. The Wicked star is just one of the many guests keeping her occupied on her journey, as she also runs into “unusual suspects” like John Mulaney, Katie Holmes, Giancarlo Esposito, Awkwafina, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Justin Theroux, Kumail Nanjiani, Melanie Lynskey, and Lyonne‘s old Orange Is the New Black colleague Taylor Schilling.
Season 2 is keeping the classic “case of the week” formula alive, as Charlie visits a new setting each week inspired by a mix of ’70s American cinema and classic television series from the aforementioned Columbo to Quantum Leap. This time around, there will be 12 episodes instead of 10, delivering even more 60-minute mysteries from the creator behind the Knives Out movies. Additionally, Tony Tost has been tapped to take over as showrunner from Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, bringing his experience as the creator of Damnation and a writer for Longmire. They’ll get to work with an expansive new cast that also features Adrienne C. Moore, Alia Shawkat, Ben Marshall, B.J. Novak, Carol Kane, Corey Hawkins, David Alan Grier, David Krumholtz, Davionte “GaTa” Ganter, Ego Nwodim, Gaby Hoffmann, Geraldine Viswanathan, Haley Joel Osment, Jason Ritter, John Cho, Kathrine Narducci, Kevin Corrigan, Lauren Tom, Lili Taylor, Margo Martindale, Natasha Leggero, Patti Harrison, Richard Kind, Sam Richardson, Sherry Cola, Simon Helberg, and Simon Rex in addition to those seen in the teaser.
‘Poker Face’ Season 2 Has a High Bar To Clear
Expectations are high for Poker Face Season 2 between Johnson‘s track record with murder mysteries and the rapturous praise Season 1 earned. Judith Light‘s Outstanding Guest Actress Emmy win marked the first statuette for a Peacock original and was one of four nominations the show was up for in 2023. The show also boasts a near-perfect 98% from critics and an 81% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, with Collider‘s Maggie Lovitt among those hailing the series in her A review for Collider, saying “Poker Face has the potential to not only become the best series of 2023 but also inspire the industry to see the benefit of episodic storytelling that draws audiences into the glorious, nostalgia-filled realm of howcatchems again.” The revamped and reinforced team will look to recreate the magic with the Emmy-nominated Lyonne once again working both in front of and behind the camera as a writer and director.
Poker Face Season 2 deals out its first three episodes on Peacock on May 8, followed by a new episode every Thursday. Check out the teaser in the player above.
via Collider