"Poker Face" is an American crime drama television series created by Rian Johnson for the streaming service Peacock. Stylized as a "case-of-the-week" murder mystery series, it stars Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a casino worker on the run who entangles herself into several mysterious deaths of strangers along the way.
Peacock announced the series in March 2021, with Lyonne attached and Johnson as director. Nora Zuckerman and Lilla Zuckerman were named as co-showrunners. "Poker Face" consists of 10 episodes and debuted on January 26, 2023. The series has received critical acclaim. Named after the NBC logo, Peacock is a streaming service from NBCUniversal. In March 2023, the service reached 22 million paid subscribers.
Shefik makes an obscured appearance as a Theater Goer in Season 1, Episode 6 of "Poker Face". The episode, titled "Exit Stage Death", was written by co-executive producer Chris Downey and directed by Ben Sinclair. It was released on Peacock on February 9, 2023.
In the episode, actress Kathleen Townsend visits her longtime nemesis and former costar Michael Graves to ask him for help putting on a one-night play to revitalize her career, and he reluctantly accepts after his wealthy wife Ava encourages him. Fed up with each other during the show, Kathleen rigs a light to kill Michael, and he rigs the stage's trapdoor to kill her.
The light narrowly misses Michael, causing him to have a stress-induced heart attack. Ava runs to give him his medication, only to fall to her death through the door. Backstage, Kathleen and Michael reveal the entire show was a publicity stunt in their plan to publicly reveal their love for each other, having Ava killed so they could be together. With the show more popular than ever, Kathleen decides to give it another day, and Rebecca, the third actor in the play, demands payment from the two when she finds a script for a planned argument they had.
During the second performance, Charlie, a waitress at the venue, realizes both actors were involved in the light and trapdoor sabotage and deduces that they are in love when their characters say they love each other. Kathleen tries to kill Rebecca through her fatal nut allergy by contaminating the prop food bowl her character eats from, forcing Charlie to go onstage and bluff off her rescue as part of the play. Kathleen and Michael argue backstage, and Charlie records their admission to their part in Ava's death and show it to the local sheriff in the audience. Kathleen uses her knowledge of her impending arrest to give a stellar final performance.
The episode featured appearances by Ellen Barkin, Tim Meadows, Audrey Corsa, Jameela Jamil, Niall Cunningham, and Chris McKinney.
Credits
- Director: Ben Sinclair
- Theater Goer: Shefik
Last Updated: June 10, 2023
