Does Poker Face's entire success depend on its schedule?

Source: Peacock

In the first episode, Poker Face introduced Charlie played by Natasha Lyonne. The show established her as someone with a strong sense of justice and yeah she is also a human lie detector. Now the show just moves on to Charlie solving murder mysteries only to outrun the consequences of her actions.

And then it begins. Every episode can be described as a new chapter added to her Poker Face journey and as she moves forward she discovers more mysteries her strong sense of judgment kicks in and she is right there in the middle of all the action. The storytelling of the show goes on each episode and with each episode, it’s a new mystery and a whole new adventure. One of the biggest advantages of such storytelling is with each episode Charlie is put in a different scenario and she manages to outshine in each scenario. 

It’s a different scenario, different conflict, and a different resolution in each episode and that got the attention of many viewers like me. But it’s the same formula every time and that’s why Poker Face could not take the traditional approach of the streaming era. If you are still wondering why then the answer is simple. The streaming era is the era of binge-watching and in my opinion Poker Face’s recurring format would get boring really quickly if you try to binge-watch it. Instead, the weekly releases have helped keep the storytelling fresh and have kept the sense of adventure in the viewers alive. 

Kudos to Rian Johnson for creating atmospheres that are so immersive that keep the viewers active. I mean we shouldn’t have expected anything less from Rian Johnson after all he’s the genius writer behind Knives Out and Glass Onion screenplays. The creator does a lovely job of making sure the viewers see eye to eye with Charlie’s strong sense of justice. For me, it’s always amazing when a creator can create a strong connection with the on-screen characters and the viewers and Poker Face has done it. I also believe Poker Face’s release schedule also played a crucial role in making a strong connection between the fictional characters and the viewers.

There is a lot of mystery shows that start off very strong but soon it starts to feel like the showrunners are just stretching the show out. Personally, this has happened to me on multiple occasions mostly when there is only one murder mystery that spread across the entire season of a show. But with Poker Face you get a unique mystery that will keep you entertained while there is a major overarching storyline. Another aspect of the show that I love is as a viewer you can see how Charlie grows throughout the season. I remember a quote someone once told me, “Learn everything you can and use everything you learn.” It will be great to see if Charlie does that when she is finally face-to-face with the final boss.

Poker Face really goes back in time when it comes to the episodic release schedule. I am someone who loved watching shows like X-Files while growing up and just love how Poker Face just takes me back. If you have not started Poker Face I suggest you do it and if you have seen the show then comment down below what you thought of the show.