‘Poker Face’ Returns With New Mysteries and Old Friends

Natasha Lyonne has been acting since childhood, but she is not a “nepo baby.” (She wanted to be one, she joked, but “they’re telling me it’s too late, and that’s unfortunate.”) What she does have in lieu of famous parents, however, is a universe of famous friends ready to heed her call.

“I don’t have parents or kids,” she said. “I’m just always trying to create some sort of an old-fashioned caravan on-the-road family band that is a real town-to-town pickup sport where we get to reunite.”

That much is evident in the second season of the Peacock mystery series “Poker Face,” debuting on Thursday. The show stars Lyonne as Charlie Cale, a reluctant crime solver who can tell when someone is lying. The mystery-of-the-week structure allows Lyonne, who is also an executive producer, to call on her closest pals to guest star as victims or suspects. The upshot is that viewers are treated to mini reunions from the stars of cult classics like “Slums of Beverly Hills” (1998) and “But I’m a Cheerleader” (2000).

One episode features Lyonne’s “Slums” love interest, Kevin Corrigan, as a Teamster on a film set that turns into a crime scene. Another has her character’s brother from “Slums,” David Krumholtz, as a kind father to a boy accused of killing a pet gerbil.

Later, her “Cheerleader” co-star Melanie Lynskey plays an unsuspecting do-gooder roped into a scheme at a hotel bar. Clea DuVall, Lyonne’s girlfriend from that same comedy, directs an episode that also stars Lynskey’s husband, Jason Ritter; DuVall also played Charlie’s sister in the first season. In real life, Lyonne and Lynskey planned DuVall’s wedding reception.