The weekly mystery is appealing some of my favorite plots included the barbecue episode and the punk-band episode. It’s a “how will she figure this out?” Or sometimes, “why will she figure this out and somehow still pursue justice, even at great risk to herself?” Each episode starts with a murder, and only gradually reveals how Lyonne knew the victim, the murderer, or both. Columbo is an obvious ancestor, as is Murder She Wrote. Remember how we all wondered what Jessica Fletcher was doing, constantly stumbling onto murderers? This show raises exactly the same question and answers it in exactly the same way, which is to say not at all.)Īlthough this is a very twenty-first century show-especially given Lyonne’s post-ironic, affable, and edgy charm-its roots go further back. (Seriously: in each episode, she somehow winds up in the middle of a murder mystery. After a series of misadventures that lead to her best friend being killed by a shady casino manager in Nevada, Charlie takes to the road but can’t seem to leave murder behind her. in which Natasha Lyonne is on the run and on the case, fleeing the mob as she solves crimes in this Rian Johnson-produced episodic mystery series.Ĭharlie Cale (Lyonne) is a human lie-detector: she can tell when you’re lying, both about the small stuff and the big stuff.
