Poker Face is again on Peacock, and its season two premiere contains a gangbusters guest-star flip by Cynthia Erivo—taking part in a number of equivalent siblings caught up within the newest homicide puzzle to cross paths with Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne). Whereas followers now instantly affiliate Erivo together with her Oscar-nominated flip as Elphaba in Depraved, one in every of her first massive showcases got here on one other crime-infused TV sequence: HBO’s The Outsider.
The Outsider ran in early 2020, concurrent with Erivo’s first Oscar nomination (for 2019’s Harriet), however its airing on such a well-liked, mainstream platform meant that it was many viewers’ first time seeing her carry out. That it was primarily based on the 2018 Stephen King novel of the identical title additionally helped draw curiosity, as did the remainder of the forged: Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, Paddy Considine (pre-Home of the Dragon), and Yul Vasquez (pre-Severance), amongst others. However in the event you watched it—and in the event you didn’t, now could be a implausible time to begin!—the then-emerging star Erivo left the most important impression.
Erivo performs a recurring Stephen King character, Holly Gibney. Holly made her debut in 2014’s Mr. Mercedes (within the sequence adaptation of that story, she was performed by Succession‘s Justine Lupe), and he or she’s nonetheless round—she’s the central character in By no means Flinch, King’s newest novel, which releases later this month.
In HBO’s The Outsider, Holly’s the co-lead with Mendelsohn’s Ralph Anderson, a Georgia cop grappling with private demons whereas dealing with essentially the most perplexing case of his profession. When a boy is discovered horribly murdered, all of the proof factors to a beloved native baseball coach (Bateman), who insists he’s harmless, however is gunned down earlier than his arraignment. The viewer is aware about an odd determine with a malformed face skulking across the present’s early proceedings—and Ralph, a seasoned detective, nonetheless can’t shake the concept that the accused was one way or the other telling the reality.
An uncommon crime requires an uncommon investigator, in order that’s when Erivo’s character enters the story. Holly’s skills—she’s extremely perceptive, to the purpose of being extra-sensory; she additionally has inventive quirks, like realizing lyrics to songs she’s by no means heard earlier than—make her a really perfect foil for Ralph, a no-nonsense man out of the blue confronted with the notion {that a} supernatural clarification would be the solely clarification.
Even past the excellent performances, the 10-episode Outsider is a chilling, rewarding experience. It follows a terrifying thread to some very darkish locations, with environment to spare and an ending that satisfies—but additionally makes you want HBO would’ve signed on for extra. Alas, at the least we obtained Erivo bringing the home down in Depraved, and memorably taking up the display screen in Poker Face‘s return.
The Outsider is streaming on Max. Poker Face is streaming on Peacock.
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