Some of the time, she enters a story after a murder has already happened, and she's the one who sniffs out the killer and how to catch them. It's not psychic or intuitive it's a savant-like ability to read the signs, from the tone of voice to subtle, even nearly undetectable behavioral ticks.
Poker Face follows most closely the format of Columbo, not a whodunnit but a 'how will the detective expose the killer?' Charlie Cale's central quirk is her instinctive ability to know when someone lies. The show's secret weapon is Natasha Lyonne as the detective heroine Charlie Cale, a likable oddball do-gooder who's really an angel of death.
Poker Face caused a splash when it premiered, a knowing throwback from Rian Johnson that brought back the quirky procedural detective series of the 1970s that featured a charismatic and slightly unusual detective hero at its centre.
