The Lying Game (2011–2013) User Reviews

Really enjoyed, but axed too soon

[jennyrowell999 · 7/10 · 14 April 2015]

Basically, the first season had me hooked! The acting was brilliant - believable, especially the twins whom I had to check were played by the same person. The storyline never had me bored, I was desperate to find out what the hell was going on...

Then it all fell apart! Towards the end of the second season, it seemed like the storyline was being thrown about like a game of drunken tennis! Too many unanswered questions and as far as I could tell, no real motifs for the any of the actions committed. Maybe the writers were annoyed that they'd only been granted a further 10 episodes. They didn't pull it neatly together. It didn't end well and I was disappointed. Like so many great shows that are axed too soon, it had shown really great potential.

Got me hooked!

[priguj04 · 7/10 · 9 January 2012]

Pretty girls.Hot guys.Drama.Mystery.Suspense.A long lost twin.

Could this get any better?! It's like a suspense-thriller version of gossip girl. Who wouldn't like that? To me, sure the first episode is kinda slow....

but i gave it another chance and watched it. Got me hooked right away! At the end of each episode am like, munching on my nails, wanting to know what happens next! The suspense kills me!!

The actress, Alexandra Chando, knows how to play both of her roles of Sutton and Emma really well. The story line is well planned out. The script is teen-understandable. All in all, I think it's a package! Gonna keep on following! :D

Good Show in a bad television network

[fanrocm · 7/10 · 17 November 2020]

This show was great I don't understand why they cancelled it with out even ending the story

My first impressions of the Lying Game

[billtrav · 30 August 2011]

Unlike some of the reviewers, I have not read any of the books, so I have started watching this series with no expectations. Since I was already a fan of Pretty Little Liars, I thought I would give this show a chance. I'm gland I did. I have seen the first three shows, and I'm hooked. I love the mystery and the characters. There are already characters I'm cheering for and characters I don't like. But even the ones I don't like have added a richness to the show that makes it even more credible. All of the actors seem to be talented and there is a chemistry that is a must for a show to succeed. I recommend the the Lying Game. It looks as if you have one of the best shows of the new season. Good luck.

Love this show... addicting!

[PrincessPeachx · 10/10 · 17 January 2013]

I struggled for a long time on whether or not to give The Lying Game a chance. I had been a fan of Pretty Little Liars since the start and always heard it was the better show between the two.... but that is so wrong!

The Lying Game is great, fast paced, interesting, complex, mysterious, and much more.

In my opinion, it is FAR superior to PLL: better direction, writing, actors, situations, mysteries, and more. It doesn't take THREE YEARS to find out one mystery, and doesn't leave crater-sized plot holes.

Don't get me wrong, I love PLL, but let's be honest, it has more negative aspects to it than positives. TLG is really well-rounded and progresses at a quick pace, unlike PLL that drags on without giving many answers.

PLL is now halfway through season 3 and there are STILL unanswered questions from season one. That's ridiculous.

I know a lot of people think that TLG is the "lesser" of the two shows, and I thought that initially (before I even started watching it), but really... give it a chance. It's soooo good. I thought I would be bored and disappointed with it, but I love it and latched onto it super quick, whereas I sort of had to force myself to get interesting in PLL for a couple episodes.

I always don't drift off into boredom and find things to look at online, unlike what I do EVERY episode of PLL.

Anyway, this post wasn't meant to bash PLL at all. Just thought I'd give my two-cents because I feel like people push TLG aside without giving it a chance. Figured I would recommend it to anyone looking to watch a show similar to PLL but that won't leave you disappointed.

10/10

If only...

[brent-45172 · 7/10 · 6 March 2022]

If only the writers would have resolved some the major character conflicts and left the resolved. Instead you're left with a bad impression of everyone. They all have very serious character flaws and few redeeming qualities.

There's no "good guys" in the plot, only bad ones. Just as you think someone is honorable, the character goes and blows it.

The last episode was very disappointing.

Great Show, Lots of Suspense

[timanter30 · 10/10 · 29 August 2011]

It was a great show, so far of the 2 episodes I've seen. There's already secrets just flying around everywhere. It's truly got me hooked.

I'm sure Pretty Little Liars fans will love this one. It's another drama which will keep you up at night with the mysteries.

I've read the book too, and it's also spectacular. To all the people who've read the book and give the show a bad review cause it doesn't relate, don't just hate on the show cause there's no relation to the book. It's stupid to give it a one-star review cause it's "nothing like the book". Pretend you never read the book, get nothing to compare it to, and your opinion will change. Trust me.

This show is amazing with all the elements of a teen drama: -Pretty Girls -Hot Guys -Secrets/Gossip I think "The Lying Game" has truly hit its target audience. The parents may not enjoy it, but trust me, the teens will. With fun humor and great mystery, this show is definitely on my watch list.

where are the real critics?

[drm9164 · 6/10 · 14 January 2014]

I really want to like this show because of the plot, suspense, and intrigue, but I can not get around the writers lazy material that doesn't consider the level of intelligence of the audience. This show has all the right ingredients but more often than a little it lacks in plausibility; for instance, how did the foster brother find the sister?; are we to make that leap and try and figure out how that might have happened?, and up until the scene, Emma would never let her foster brother get close enough to kiss her, but the one scene that she did;her love interest just happen to be around? Not to riddle this review full of spoilers tho, I am only on episode 8 of season 1, so I may be jumping the gun on my review, but I believe that I am only going to see more of the same. I am going to finish it because I am a true critic; to wait until then to write this review would probably had have made this a really long review. If I am wrong, and the show ties up all its lose ends in some genius way in the end I will amend this review

A million questions

[zarra002 · 10/10 · 7 September 2013]

Who sent the piece oft he dress in the first place? Who killed Derek? Was Rebecca the only one who tried to frame Alec? Did Rebecca kill Derek or Theresa? Did Alec kill them? Or did someone else do it? What happened with Jordan's brother? Why did Jordan kill him? Why did Rebecca know and what did she have to do with it? Does Alec die after he fell from the roof? Did Rebecca push him? What's happening to her now? Does she leave again? Does she get her daughters back? Does she fight over them with Ted and Kristin? How does Dan cope with the death of Theresa? Does he ever get over her death? Does Rebecca get caught? If so, does Dan hurt her? Does Kristin find out about the twins? If so, what is her reaction? Can she forgive Ted for lying to her? Can she get over Alec? Can she forgive Sutton? Can she forgive Emma and love her as her daughter? And does she forgive Laurel? What happens to Ted and Kristin? Do they really get divorced or do they get back together? What about Mads and Jordan? Does he have to go to jail for the rest of his life? And Thayer? Does he kill himself? Or does he want to kill Emma? Does something happen tot he twins? Will Ethan and Emma work out everything? Will they get back together? Is Ethan totally over Sutton and Sutton over him? And what about Laurel? Does she go on with playing in the band? Does she ever find the right guy? What happened to Char? Why did she just disappear? Will she ever come back? Does Thayer leave forever? Or does he work things out with Emma? And does he forgive his father, if he survives? Will he get over Emma? Will he get back together with Sutton? Will he believe that his father is innocent? Or does he still want to prove that he is guilty? Who took the necklace? Was it on behalf of someone? If so, who wanted it? Did Rebecca loose it or did someone put it there? Why did Alec split the Twins up? Why is it so important to someone that nobody knows about the twins? Who is this person?

Can anyone answer this questions?

interesting premise but degenerates into convoluted mess

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 18 September 2013]

Emma Becker (Alexandra Chando) is a harassed poor foster kid who didn't know she has an identical twin sister Sutton Mercer who was adopted by a wealthy family. While Sutton goes in search for their birth mother, Emma is pressed into replacing her in her rich privilege life.

The interesting premise didn't always make sense. A lot of the storyline seems to twist itself into a pretzel to keep Emma in her new life. And then when Sutton returns, the constant switching back and forth makes it harder to keep the characters straight. And the mystery just got more and more complicated until it became unwatchable. By the second season, the storyline degenerates. Then it got canceled.

This show is amazing!!

[iloveUGA123 · 10/10 · 11 January 2012]

If you like Pretty Little Iars then you'll love this, because it's another teen drama. I started watching this show because I was bored one night, and just wanted to try it out, but now I'm hooked!! The only problem I do have with this show is that the whole concept of this daughter that you have raised for around 18 years vanishes, and her twin takes her place, while she goes and looks for their mother. Now, you would think that the parents would recognize that that is not their daughter, because twins might look a lot a like, but if you know them well enough, then you can always tell the difference between the two. Well, the parents don't and it's season 2 now, and they still don't!! I'm still giving this show 10 stars because it is fictional, and is real, but still, sometimes I think to myself, what if my parents didn't recognize me after raising me for almost 18 years???? I would still recommend watching it because it's really good, and it is fictional, so they can make it however they want!

Addictive but in a bad way

[Khalid-adnan · 3/10 · 8 December 2013]

The story follows around Emma & Sutton, two identical twin sister. Classic one is good and other is evil type deal. When I first started watching this show, I thought this might turn out to be a good story. But after watching first season I really felt annoyed. I mean you can really feel that the writers were trying so hard to make the story so twisted that it might make you laugh sometime. But it lost me after few episode from the second season. I could not find a single character that attracted me. And I didn't see the story going anywhere. After every episode I was like "......Are you serious?" . Too much overacting/overreaction. Some plot lines doesn't even make any sense. But you watch it anyway because its addictive show. you want to know what happens next..

This show gets you hooked!

[kdl277 · 10/10 · 6 September 2011]

This show is great. It has a great story line and it keeps you wondering what is going to happen next.

I really hope they do not cancel this show. I think it maybe just premiered at a weird time during the summer where people weren't on the lookout for new shows.

Seriously everyone should catch up on it though. The acting from the main character it great. She really does a great job playing both roles and keeping there personalities different.

I definitely think this show is the new pretty little liars!

Definitely check this out!

Pleasant surprise

[terrsgc · 29 August 2011]

I've checked the spoiler warning just to be safe, but there there's nothing really all that revealing in this review.

At this time, only two episodes have aired. So, my opinion may change further down the road. You can prefix most of my opinions with "so far ...". And, I'm going to leave off the star rating for now.

When they advertised that this was by the same author as Pretty Little Liars, I wasn't going to bother watching it. But, when I saw they were airing both episodes in a row last week, I thought, "Ah, what the heck?". And, so far, I'm glad I did. The mystery is intriguing, and the writing well thought-out. Unlike Pretty Little Liars, the show has only one main character who's POV we follow. I find this far better when the story is a mystery with a lot of plot-twists. There may be some parental concern over certain plot elements, such as a pair of otherwise-nice parents that are fully suspect in the mystery, another parent who's an alcoholic, and yet another parent (possilbly also an alcoholic) who is a horrible bully. There is also one major protagonist who's a bit of a 'mean girl', and the show paints a rather dismal picture of the foster care system in Nevada. I find all of these far less of an issue for kids than certain elements of Pretty Little Liars, such as Aria's love interest.

As I write this, there have been four other reviews, two positive, and two negative. I noted that the basis of both negative reviews is entirely how poorly the show follows the books. If this is important to you, then you will probably be disappointed in the show. Otherwise, I think you'll find this one is worth giving a shot.

Excellent show Abc Family,Well Done!

[ronaldmccallum43 · 10/10 · 23 September 2012]

This is one of the best shows that i have ever seen!There is so much mystery to it and it leaves you with an cliff hanger after each episode.Unlike Pretty Little Liars,This show gets down to the bottom of things and it doesn't keep you guessing.I hope this show goes on for many seasons because it has so much potential.Thank you Abc Family for renewing this show and this show is so underrated.Alexandra Chando does a very excellent job of playing Sutton and Emma and the cast is wonderful also.It great show and i would recommend this to anyone who loves mystery,romance,lies and betrayal.Keep up the good job Abc Family because this show is here to stay and a keeper!

Can't be . . .

[z_laja13 · 8/10 · 17 October 2014]

Is this the end ? I think, you can't finish at this way, at this point in the show !

OK, lots of things are clear, but this is not a finished TV Show.

I don't know why is ended at this way, but I hope that will be at least 2-3 episodes to finishing, because this is not finished.

Alexandra is AMAZING, plays both roles perfectly. In many things really teens show, but I am PLEASED, it's OK and you always need for more.

"Revenge","Blacklist", "Hostages", "The Americans", "Homeland" are on some other/higher level, but this show are very good and interesting.

Hope for conclusion . . .

Completely Terrible.

[jakeangry1 · 1/10 · 9 March 2012]

I don't believe I am providing any spoilers with this but honestly I doubt it could spoil any worse than it already is. But just in case I've tagged this with the spoiler flag.

For those of you who have never watched an episode of the Lying Game - prepare to be....bored. The entire show is based around a set of twins who were separated at birth by unfortunate circumstances. They grow up in completely different environments - one in foster care, the other by rich parents. By some means of event they are connected, determine they are related, and then decide to live as one another.

And no one figures it out.

That's right. No one. Best friends, parents, teachers, no one. Btw - the rich one is a total jerk to people. The foster child is humbled comparatively. And yet no one starts to question the overnight change in personality, clothing tastes, behavior, writing style, or academics. Things that completely stump adult spies with years of intensive training in counter intelligence and deep cover techniques somehow are overcome by adolescents with "a plan" to figure it all out.

The Lying Game is terrible. The things that would totally tear apart their "game" are the exact things glossed over in the show. There is more to this than them simply living as one another but as a parent I'd know if my kid was suddenly someone different. This show relies heavily on anyone who should figure this out being completely oblivious.

Had this some how been explained this show might be bearable.

The Lying Game TV Series, Spoiler free

[curkyfry-fry22 · 10/10 · 15 August 2011]

when i read this book i thought it was good, then i heard there was going to be a TV show, i was really upset but and when i first watched this pilot, i remembered watching the pilot to PLL, and TVD and as soon as i watched those pilots i got addicted so i gave this show a shot and it blew me away it was really good! besides the slight changes but i watched the pilot about five times already!! i'm hooked and i can't wait until the next episode............... and this show had some cliffhangers and mysteries i cant wait to find out i cannot wait until next Monday!!!!! anyway the story revolves around emma becker a kind foster girl who finds out she has a twin sister sutton mercer, the two meet and sutton convinces emma to take her place for 72 hours while she follows a lead about there birth parents to LA once sutton fails to return to there destination, a cabin sutton has for some reason emma must decide wheither to come clean about her identiy or stay put to find her sisters whereabouts?

They should have worked harder

[missrobinson-84849 · 5/10 · 19 October 2015]

I read the book, and it's really good, but that was after watching the show and I still felt that this deserved a half rating. The show is great on it's own, but things fall through for me interest wise. I think it would have been a better show if they stayed with the book story line. They changed a lot of important key things that were in the book. At this point the only thing same thing is the very beginning of the first episode, after that it's just a show with the same names as the book, nothing else is the same, basically they should have just renamed everything and worked harder on the story line and characters then they have.

Don't tell my friends I watch this show!

[samitestar · 27 September 2011]

I have secrets. I ate the last piece of blackberry pie and told my hubby it had started to mold so I had to throw it away. I dreamt about Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy for months after watching Pride and Prejudice and I watched all five seasons of The Guild in one day (pathetic, right?).

But this show is all about secrets, big ones. Usually I don't like a mystery that keeps building layers upon layers of revelations. But there is something about the characters, the mystery of Sutton and Emma's parentage that keeps me coming back for more.

A lot of people have mentioned the main characters acting, but its the side characters that really keep the story afloat, in my opinion.

First off, Sutton's sister, Laurel. She's adorable and her bristl-y second child veneer has a soft gooey center that pairs great with Emsa's (my lame attempt to merge the names, just go with it) bumbling attempt to fit into Sutton's family.

Ethan - major hotness. The dude could just stand around flexing and I'd be spellbound, but he's perfect as the secret bad boy boyfriend of Sutton.

Suttons friends, Char, fragile, needy and slightly ditzy and Maddy, bitchy, strongwilled and hopelessly in love (predictably) with an older guy.

Thayer - I have to admit he came off kinda dorky at first, but he's got a lot going on in the brains department and he'll need it if he's going to keep up with Sutton (she's wily).

A few characters need to go, Nisha, evil bitchgirl at school who adds nothing to the story, at least so far, all she's done is make a couple of cryptic comments and make out with guys on tennis courts. This must be the Mean Girls effect, seriously, the show has enough going on without adding high school drama to it.

But overall, this show is addictive. I tune in each weak, excited to see what will happen next. Will they find their biomom? Will they find out what Ted and Alec did to her? Why is Annie so crazy? What did Eduardo know? Does Ethan really like Emsa? What about Laurel's new boyfriend, Hottie McGolden Hair? What about Char's new boyfriend? Does Sutton's mother know what Ted and Alec did? Why does Emsa keep flipping her hair??? I can't wait for next week.

Whys they stop this show??

[taylorannridner · 10/10 · 2 May 2014]

I don't understand why they ever stopped this show? I re-watched them on Netflix & got upset because you're left with so many questions. They should continue the show and make it a netflix original show or something. Or make some kind of closure for it. Instead ABCFAMILY is making a bunch of new shows? I understand they probably replaced this show with twisted which is good don't get me wrong. But it just annoys me how I'm just left hanging with 1,000 questions. It was an excellent show. I guess I will just never understand why they stopped it? I used to watch it every week when it was on & never missed an episode. But I know some of the actors/actresses are on different shows now, like the guy who played Dan is on General Hospital now. But it would be so nice if they did find a way to make it a netflix series or something .

The Lying Game

[jmgmasse · 9/10 · 11 May 2013]

Deception, withholding details, kidnapping (twice), and all those games high school students play against each other, over two generations. And then there is MURDER. TLG has some Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys aspects as viewers wait for the big Luke-I-am-your-father reveal as twins separated on day two of life reconnect with each other. And of course you cannot have a show about 17 year old twins with both twins going after the same guy. I have not been this interested in the twist and turns of a show since 24. I like the story lines most about the adults. Ted Mercer had to take his family away from Los Angeles back to Scotsdale, AZ but the reason has not yet been reveled. And everything else revolves around Ted's secret know only by his best friend Alec and the high school girl they tormented, Rebecca. Enjoy the ride. And remember, Texas forever (show is filmed in Austin)

Love it

[restlezz-71461 · 9/10 · 2 April 2021]

I love it! But why was it stopped after 2 great seasons? :-(

No.... just no.

[rmn98 · 4/10 · 23 August 2011]

Okay, I love the series of The Lying Game, but I have watched 5 minutes of the TV series, and it isn't the same! First off, the two never meet. Second, Sutton is telling the story as already dead. Third, Emma is forced to become Sutton, or else she will be killed like her sister. Sutton also doesn't have a car. Her car was taken. Her sister drives her everywhere. And Sutton's sister is also her age. ugh.... Why cant they go by the books?! I wish they would just get it right!!!! I mean, She never met Ethan until towards the end of book one. And Ethan and Sutton never dated. And she doesn't practice talking to the girls either. And I don't remember the pool party. Laurel also has her own car. And Nisha isn't met till Tennis. I'm surprised they even called her Sutton. -.-

Love it

[zacharia94 · 9/10 · 23 May 2013]

Amazing. I started watching the first season yesterday and I'm addicted. The actress that plays both Sutton and Emma is amazing, as you can barely tell its the same person being two different girls. Of course you know, but I'm still impressed. This show is a mix of suspense and romance, and the conflicts generated by the difference of egos between the two twin sisters takes viewers to enter in The Lying Game. Its very entertaining & has lots of twists & turns to hold my attention. I can't wait until next season so I can see what happened to Sutton & see if Annie is finally reunited with Emma! The acting is done well, and I love the way the show draws you into its reality.