A full house of icons and one human lie detector: Poker Face is back for Season 2

Get ready to deal yourself in again! The sharp-tongued, truth-sniffing Charlie Cale is back for round two of Poker Face, and it’s all kicking off on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) this Friday, 4 July at 8pm. If you’ve missed the mayhem so far, let’s catch you up: Charlie’s been legging it across America since episode one, dodging danger and shady casino bosses like a human lie detector on the lam.

Natasha Lyonne, with her famously gravelly “rusty clarinet” voice and irreverent charm (you’ll know her from Orange is the New Black and Russian Doll), returns as Charlie, the woman who can smell a fib at 50 paces and isn’t afraid to call out “Bullsh*t!” when she hears one.

In Season 1, Charlie got on the wrong side of casino queenpin Beatrix Hasp (Rhea Perlman) and her muscle-for-hire, Cliff (Benjamin Bratt). After some explosive courtroom drama and a hard pass on Hasp’s job offer, Charlie’s back on the road and surprise! There’s yet another casino boss on her tail. Only this one doesn’t want her dead… he wants to use her lie-busting superpower for his own shady purposes. Yikes.

So, what’s new in Season 2? Well, everything and nothing – in the best possible way. Each episode is still a delicious little murder-mystery mini-movie, set in the weirdest nooks and crannies of small-town America. Empire puts it perfectly: think Minor League baseball, spooky funeral homes, dodgy police ceremonies – each one its own oddball universe, with Charlie landing right in the thick of it.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Poker Face without a jaw-dropping guest star list. This season, it’s a full house of talent: Ellen Barkin, Adrien Brody, Luis Guzmán, Chloë Sevigny… and that’s just for starters. You’ll also spot Katie Holmes, Awkwafina, John Mulaney, Melanie Lynskey, Steve Buscemi, Alia Shawkat – and the always-iconic Cynthia Erivo, who plays five sisters. Yes, five. By herself. We’re not worthy.

Critics are still all in. Rotten Tomatoes calls Season 2 a “jackpot” for doubling down on what made the first outing so addictive. The Guardian went as far as saying it’s “painfully close to being a classic”. We’ll take that as a glowing review.

Season 2 of Poker Face premieres Friday, 4 July at 8pm on M-Net (DStv Channel 101).