# Poker Face (Natasha Lyonne, not Lady Gaga) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 28, 2023, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928 "2023-01-28T01:10:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/101 "2025-06-01T00:29:11Z")
We just started watching season 2. The first episode is a bit hokey with the multiple roles for the guest start, but it was a fun ride. I’d forgotten how much we enjoyed the first season, and we expect to enjoy season 2 just the same. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/102 "2025-06-01T03:30:43Z")
Hmmm, that’s relevant but does include video. Basically I’m wondering if the CB conversation with Good Buddy could be immune to her ability. Or maybe there just hasn’t been a reason for Good Buddy to lie to her yet. Surely there’s some bigger role to play for Steve Buscemi at some point. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/103 "2025-06-01T09:01:55Z")
I remember a season of, Star Trek: Picard I am pretty sure it was, where one character was a Romulan spy tasked with seducing and keeping tabs on another character. Later, after his identity is exposed, she is understandably upset and accuses him of lying to her. However, if the viewer goes back and reviews everything he told her, I am pretty sure every response was literally truthful. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/104 "2025-06-01T10:13:25Z")
I think it’s worth comparing this series to another one with a very similar premise– **Lie to Me** with Tim Roth. That one benefits from having the lie detecting ability be less of a super power/fantasy element (although I like the idea that she has some sort of synaesthesia). **Poker Face** has an impressive slate of guest stars, I must say. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/105 "2025-06-01T14:14:38Z")
The impression I had from the beginning was that Charlie’s ability to detect lies was based on her being able to read faces. This would explain her being able to detect lies on video feeds, but would mean that she couldn’t detect lies on audio only. Has there been any times when Charlie detected a lie during a phone conversation, or when hearing a recording of someone speaking? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/106 "2025-06-01T14:29:22Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > The impression I had from the beginning was that Charlie’s ability to detect lies was based on her being able to read faces. Then they should’ve called it — hey, wait a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/107 "2025-06-01T16:35:03Z")
IIRC, there have been a few times where she’s heard people talking behind her and muttered “Bullshit.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/108 "2025-06-01T19:03:18Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I remember a season of, Star Trek: Picard I am pretty sure it was, where one character was a Romulan spy tasked with seducing and keeping tabs on another character. Later, after his identity is exposed, she is understandably upset and accuses him of lying to her. However, if the viewer goes back and reviews everything he told her, I am pretty sure every response was literally truthful Heh. If I wind up binge-watching my way back through COLUMBO, your post will have me seeing how long each killer manages to go without actually lying to the detective — you know, just answering questions about where they were when witnesses heard the shot ring out, and adding that someone else who has no alibi for the time of the murder stood to inherit everything under the will — only to rasp out a reflexive _bullshit_ at the precise moment when the guest star du jour would’ve just outed themselves to Charlie Cale. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/109 "2025-06-01T23:26:08Z")
We’re catching up on Season 2 episodes and saw the one with Gaby Hoffman (the gator episode). It was interesting because the previous night we watched _Field of Dreams_, where she plays Kevin Costner’s daughter. She looks completely different, yet exactly the same. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/110 "2025-06-02T01:54:50Z")
> [@LurkMeister](#): > > The impression I had from the beginning was that Charlie’s ability to detect lies was based on her being able to read faces. This would explain her being able to detect lies on video feeds, but would mean that she couldn’t detect lies on audio only. Has there been any times when Charlie detected a lie during a phone conversation, or when hearing a recording of someone speaking? Yeah, a pretty recent episode with Rhea Perlman and John Mullaney. Perlman is talking to someone on the phone and Charlie identifies which comments are bullshit. OTOH, Charlie was cooperating with the FBI at the time and was Perlman’s prisoner, so she might have been lying… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/111 "2025-06-05T15:33:26Z")
A bit of a tone shift between last week and this week. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/112 "2025-06-05T16:48:01Z")
A little different in tone, but still fun, especially with the romcom aspects versus the heist film aspects. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/113 "2025-06-05T22:28:51Z")
Haven’t watched it yet, but Rian Johnson said it was made in Michael Mann-style. > **[Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/rianjohnson.bsky.social/post/3lquioxhigc2b)** > > THIS WEEK ON POKER FACE! “One Last Job” - heists! Betrayal! Romance! Big box retail! Starring Sam Richardson, Corey Hawkins, James Ransone and Geraldine Viswanathan. This is writer Taofik Kolade’s loving ode to Michael Mann, directed with Mannish... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/114 "2025-06-05T22:29:26Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > A little different in tone, but still fun, especially with the romcom aspects versus the heist film aspects. It occurs to me that Charlie must have a difficult time enjoying movies and TV. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/115 "2025-06-05T22:36:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I think when we turned it off the one character was pretending to be another character who was pretending to be yet ANOTHER character! I don’t think she was pretending to be another character who was pretending to be yet another character. She was pretending to be one character (the murder victim, so she could claim her inheritance), then she switched to pretending to be a different character (one of her other sisters, so she could forge her signature on the document to prevent the will from being held up in court). ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/116 "2025-06-08T15:02:14Z")
Not a comment on the show itself, but of the broadcast of the last episode. As soon as the show started, there was a serious lack of sync between the audio and visual. I’m not talking about a slight slip; it was several seconds, which made it very hard to follow what was happening. I had the closed captioning on, as I always do, and it was definitely out of sync with the video. After the first commercial break the audio and video were back in sync, and I thought that was the end of it. But then after the next break the problem returned, and continued through the rest of the episode. It also seemed to affect some of the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/117 "2025-06-08T15:13:17Z")
I didn’t see this, and I always notice. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/118 "2025-06-11T22:13:19Z")
I think she looks like Stevie Nicks. [Young\_Stevie\_Nicks\_rockstar\_3-560x702.jpg (560×702)](https://www.bygonely.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Young_Stevie_Nicks_rockstar_3-560x702.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/119 "2025-06-12T01:28:16Z")
Just watched the episode without a murder of a human - the background music at a few points reminded me of “Election” which was probably on purpose ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928/120 "2025-06-12T23:08:40Z")
This week’s episode was a little bit different though fun as always. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-face-natasha-lyonne-not-lady-gaga/978928.md?page=7)