1164 replies to this topic

[Strega]

We'll be weecapping this so I wanted to make sure it had a thread. Per the network:

"The Lying Game" follows Emma, a kind-hearted foster kid who learns she has an identical twin sister, Sutton. Sutton, unlike Emma, was adopted by wealthy parents and is seemingly living an ideal life. After their initial meeting, Sutton talks Emma into stepping into her life for a few days while she pursues a lead on the mysterious identity of their birth mother. After Sutton inexplicably fails to return to the girls' designated meeting place, Emma must decide whether to come clean about her identity and risk her own safety in the hope of uncovering her twin sister's whereabouts, along with the truth about why they were separated in the first place.

The show airs Mondays at 9 PM EST on ABC Family. (I did look but if I overlooked an existing thread for this, let me know and I'll merge them. Thanks!)

[dreamcoat11]

I preferred this book to the Pretty Little Liars series (although I haven't read the second book, which was just released), but the previews are underwhelming. I'll definitely give it a shot, but my expectations aren't terribly high.

[paulvdb]

I don't think there was a thread for this show. When I saw that this thread was started at first I thought there was already a thread but after giving it some more thought I think there were only some mentions of this show in the thread for Ringer, the other show about a girl who takes the place of her missing/possibly dead twin sister.

I have been looking forward to this based on the description. I haven't seen any trailers or previews so I'll base my opinion only on watching all scenes in context.

[kariyaki]

I've been looking forward to this, partly because the previews I've seen during Pretty Little Liars seem interesting, and partly because I like the lead actress, Alexandra Chando. She played Maddie on As the World Turns and she was very charming and a pretty decent actress.

[Turkish]

I like the lead actress, Alexandra Chando. She played Maddie on As the World Turns and she was very charming and a pretty decent actress.

I loved Alexandra Chando as Maddie. Glad she finally has her own show. I'm not a big ABC Family fan but I'll probably check this out just for her.

[surfer]

I thought this was pretty meh. But it's only the pilot, so hopefully its gets better.

I did enjoy the lead actress. Having not read the books there are still a lot of characters to keep track of. And it looks like the two best friends have back stories as well, one with the brother in LA, the other with the detoxing mother so I hope things don't get too confusing storyline wise.

And honestly the actor playing Sutton's father is so engrained in my mind as David Wallace from The Office that I can't take him seriously in a role like this.

Edited by surfer, Aug 15, 2011 @ 9:40 PM.

[meatball77]

It's like they got rid of everything interesting about the books. The great thing about the books is that Emma has no idea who she can trust and The evil Lying Game she and all her friends play.

[askew]

This is from the same author that wrote Pretty Little Liars right? If so, I expect the show to get more interesting. I liked this pilot but the mystery portion of it seemed pretty lame. What was up with the parents' weird reaction to Emma/Sutton saying "So you had the perfect little family?" It seemed a little over the top.

[emcmac87]

I watched tonight and then read the book description and it definitely seems like there only loosely basing it on the books but I've never actually read them so I could be wrong.

I am totally spoiler free but after watching the first episode I made some assumptions about the 3 mom friends, the brunette friends brother why Sutton really went to LA, I dont think it was all about the birth parents and the laptop. I could be totally wrong though I dunno but they seemed to have set up alot of diff storylines in the pilot.

[MV007]

I thought it was pretty good. I enjoyed the lead actress. She reminds me of a cross between Victoria Justice and Nina Dobrev. The two boyfriends look way too old but I can get over that if they can act, especially the guy with the long hair.

I too always thought of The Office when David Wallace came on screen. I also recognized the best friend from Privileged and Sex Drive so I had a hard time seeing her as a teenager.

I don't know what I'm supposed to think happened with Sutton. Is she dead? I hope not because I would be really interested in following her through her search for their parents.

Edited by MV007, Aug 15, 2011 @ 10:19 PM.

[kariyaki]

I thought it was okay. It didn't really grab like the Pretty Little Liars pilot did, but that show is an ensemble (which I tend to like better) while this one revolves around a central character -- okay, two central characters, but they're the same actress. At any rate, it's good enough to bring me back next week even though I ended up accidentally watching the last five minutes of Secret Life. Yuck.

[MzLiz]

I liked it. Very curious to see what happens next. I thought Alex Chando did a great job.

My DVR cut out in the middle of the previews so I missed that. Anyone got a summary?

[Peterased]

It didn't really grab like the Pretty Little Liars pilot did, but that show is an ensemble (which I tend to like better) while this one revolves around a central character

While Alexandra Chando is definitely the lead actress, in upcoming episodes her friends and sister have lives of their own.

Edited by Peterased, Aug 16, 2011 @ 12:15 AM.

[RachelKM]

It was decent. I'll give it a few episodes. I agree that Mads' brother has something to do with Sutton's choice to go to LA. They wouldn't have put them both there if it didn't mean something.

[AStarling]

I know the recapper said the main character(s) looked like a genetic hybrid of Sarah Michelle Gellar, but am I the only one who thinks she's the spitting image of Elena from the Vampire Diaries?

[Jade MacGrath]

I know the recapper said the main character(s) looked like a genetic hybrid of Sarah Michelle Gellar, but am I the only one who thinks she's the spitting image of Elena from the Vampire Diaries?

THANKS! That's what I thought too!

[Clea]

I've not read the books but is there something to the fact that everyone keeps saying the parents chose Sutton? Was it clumsy hinting or just clumsy dialogue?

[zumpee]

I too always thought of The Office when David Wallace came on screen

Hee. Me too. I kept wondering where his glasses where.

I found the show diverting and very much like Alex Chando in the lead role, BUT everything's quite flimsy and requires a big suspension of disbelief. The whole separated at birth/rich twin/poor twin thing is just beyond cliched. Not to mention if I were adopting a baby and (s)he had an identical twin, I'd be thrilled to take both of them---and I'm not rich! In the case of the Mercers, obviously they could've afforded both kids and twin nannies to care for them. Though I suspect there will be some reason (beyond simple laziness) for why they only took one baby.

[dreamcoat11]

I've not read the books but is there something to the fact that everyone keeps saying the parents chose Sutton? Was it clumsy hinting or just clumsy dialogue?

Not that I can recall, although it's been awhile since I've read the first book, and I haven't read the second book yet. In the book (spoilers, obviously) Sutton is dead, and she and Emma had never met or talked when Emma inadvertently takes her place. Emma only finds out about Sutton because her foster care brother finds a video of Sutton being "killed" and thinks it's Emma. It turns out that Sutton and her friends staged elaborate, awful pranks (including faking Sutton's death), and that ties into the murder mystery. It'll be interesting to see if they go in the direction of the books or not.

[paulvdb]

I've not read the books but is there something to the fact that everyone keeps saying the parents chose Sutton? Was it clumsy hinting or just clumsy dialogue?

I thought it might have something to do with the parents only wanting one child. Why else would they only adopt one of the twins? That's assuming that they knew that Sutton had a twin.

Edited by paulvdb, Aug 16, 2011 @ 10:28 AM.

[MV007]

I know the recapper said the main character(s) looked like a genetic hybrid of Sarah Michelle Gellar, but am I the only one who thinks she's the spitting image of Elena from the Vampire Diaries?

Yes she definitely looks like Nina Dobrev

[zumpee]

Oh, other things that don't entirely add up: Sutton's cliched call from a pay phone (I didn't even know such things still existed!!!), riding Greyhound first, then idling in a rusty pick up. Obviously she still took cash and/or credit cards with her (cause all these things do cost money). So why wouldn't she have either taken her twin's phone OR bought a disposable Tracphone? Why didn't she just rent or buy a crappy car for her big getaway? Plus what ID did she use to rent/buy the pick up? Her own (presumably with Emma while Emma's holding down the fort) or teen runaway Emma's? Speaking of which, how did Emma even get on the bus, since you have to show ID and she's wanted for two felonies?

Also, I get Sutton wanted Emma to stand in for her, but that doesn't mean she has to run around in Emma's duds from Foster Kids R Us. Especially given the whole on the lam, last seen wearing that exact outfit stuff.

And don't even get me started on the whole rarity of identical twins separated at birth in reality, not to mention, adoption records are much, much more open (and have been long before those girls were even born).

And that was a mighty nice laptop Foster Kid Emma had...looked like something her icky Foster bro would've sold in a sec.

[bluegray73]

I've been saying Alex Chando and Nina Dobrev look alike ever since Alex was on World Turns and Nina was on Degrassi. I loved her as Maddie, and I'm so proud to see her doing her thing in primetime now. She did a good job at separating the two characters and making the differences between them clear.

I liked it a lot. There were some things that threw me, but I have not an ounce of shame in my sudsy, soapy game. ABC Family has it going on, and The CW needs to get with the program. Even TSLOTAT, with all of its faults, is more entertaining than most of CW's stale offerings.

Blair Redford is playing the same character he played on Switched at Birth, basically. I sincerely hope we're not supposed to believed he's Tyler Christopher's character's son. TC's been looking rough for the last couple of years, but not that rough!

I think we're going to find out that Sutton's life is a total freaking mess. How many boys was she stringing along? Luke (who was HOT in those swim trunks), Ethan, and obviously that one girl's brother. I really didn't feel bad for her when Luke revealed that he'd had a fling with Neesha/Niesha/Nisha, but I guess Sutton doesn't quite know about that yet. I'm sort of put off by her, to be honest, because she really gave Emma no notice or time to prepare for "the game." And what was up with her not having a phone? Totally inconsiderate. When leaving a secret twin sister to take one's place, one must always keep the lines of communication open. Duh!

They have enough storylines going on without slipping in this thing with that chick from Kyle XY and her mom problems. One of the things I love about Switched at Birth is how centralized the show is. I love a good ensemble show, but I don't see how that would really work for this show's premise.

One big nitpick: The evening before the switch, Emma told Sutton that her bus would roll into Phoenix at "8:50am." Then, we see the bus passing the Nevada/Arizona state line in the morning. AFAIK, there's no way a bus would get from the NV/AZ line to Phoenix between sunrise and 8:50am. Plus, going from LV to Phoenix means she would have passed the Hoover Dam upon crossing the state line, and don't think I saw it...

Edited by bluegray73, Aug 16, 2011 @ 12:04 PM.

[zumpee]

I think we're going to find out that Sutton's life is a total freaking mess. How many boys was she stringing along? Luke (who was HOT in those swim trunks), Ethan, and obviously that one girl's brother.

Oh that's quite apparent---and yeah, why is Ethan completely okay with being her secret boyfriend? Soooo much makes sooooo little sense.

[Cheech]

I know the recapper said the main character(s) looked like a genetic hybrid of Sarah Michelle Gellar, but am I the only one who thinks she's the spitting image of Elena from the Vampire Diaries?

No you are not! I was thinking that the whole time. They even have similar ways of talking.

[TheQueenB]

I hate the changes they made. They took a book with a bold and risk taking premise and changed it into another generic paint-by-numbers Secret Life-esque show. Not impressed, but I'll stick around for a few more episodes.

[aliconehead]

Blair Redford is playing the same character he played on Switched at Birth, basically. I sincerely hope we're not supposed to believed he's Tyler Christopher's character's son. TC's been looking rough for the last couple of years, but not that rough!

I thought they said TC was his brother, not father

[MV007]

I hate the changes they made. They took a book with a bold and risk taking premise and changed it into another generic paint-by-numbers Secret Life-esque show. Not impressed, but I'll stick around for a few more episodes.

I completely understand the criticism here but I just don't see how it's like Secret Life. I think its just a PLL knockoff. But Secret Life is a terrible show with terrible acting and terrible writing. I'm not saying this pilot was genius or anything but it was better then any single episode of Secret Life thats ever existed.

Oh, other things that don't entirely add up: Sutton's cliched call from a pay phone (I didn't even know such things still existed!!!), riding Greyhound first, then idling in a rusty pick up. Obviously she still took cash and/or credit cards with her (cause all these things do cost money). So why wouldn't she have either taken her twin's phone OR bought a disposable Tracphone? Why didn't she just rent or buy a crappy car for her big getaway? Plus what ID did she use to rent/buy the pick up? Her own (presumably with Emma while Emma's holding down the fort) or teen runaway Emma's? Speaking of which, how did Emma even get on the bus, since you have to show ID and she's wanted for two felonies?

Also, I get Sutton wanted Emma to stand in for her, but that doesn't mean she has to run around in Emma's duds from Foster Kids R Us. Especially given the whole on the lam, last seen wearing that exact outfit stuff.

And don't even get me started on the whole rarity of identical twins separated at birth in reality, not to mention, adoption records are much, much more open (and have been long before those girls were even born).

And that was a mighty nice laptop Foster Kid Emma had...looked like something her icky Foster bro would've sold in a sec.

These are all valid questions but I guess all I would say is that this is ABC family and I turn my brain off for these kinds of Reality check questions.

Edited by MV007, Aug 16, 2011 @ 1:24 PM.

[kariyaki]

And don't even get me started on the whole rarity of identical twins separated at birth in reality

Yeah, the twin adoption thing is irksome. I can't think of any child placement organization that would separate infant twins, identical OR fraternal -- not to mention the unlikelihood of Emma, a white infant girl, not getting adopted at all and growing up in the system. There's a line a mile long of people who would adopt that.

HOWEVER. It's the entire premise of the show so I pretty much have to let it go. Besides, I think there was some conspiracy, maybe black-market baby-brokering? And Sutton's parents are in it up to their eyeballs, their adoption story reeks like last week's garbage.

[ddawn23]

I've not read the books but is there something to the fact that everyone keeps saying the parents chose Sutton? Was it clumsy hinting or just clumsy dialogue?

They're talking about Sutton and Laurel, not Sutton and Emma. The Mercers adopted Sutton, which is expensive and requires much hoop-jumping, and then less than a year later they had Laurel. Laurel has a bit of an (understandable) inferiority complex about it, feeling like the Mercers really wanted and chose Sutton and just had her as an accident.