Lie to Me (TV series)/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Complete Monster: Martin Walker, who waterboarded a girl multiple times, brought her back via CPR, and almost succeeded in burying her alive out in the woods. Not to mention giving the same treatment to Cal, who is former British intelligence..
    • You find out at the end of the show that he succeeded with five girls before her.
      • Nah, that had been heavily implied throughout the episode. What's really revealed at the end is when he was a kid, he watched his older sister drown in the pool in their backyard, and he didn't try to save her because he "wanted her bike."
    • Andrew Jenkins is one of these as well - a serial rapist who blinded his victims with acid, so they couldn't identify them and (at least, it's implied) because that way, his face would be burned into their memories forever.
    • Of course, when Cal shuts these two down, it really is CMOA for him.
  • Cringe Comedy, or the dramatic equivalent. Repeatedly they build up lies that are sure to have part of the audience cringing in expectation of the all but inevitable discovery. Sometimes it works out, though. "Headlock" is a particularly strong showing of this trope as Cal, then Cal plus Torres, then Cal plus Torres plus Reynolds, etc., all try to keep the rest of the investigation team from learning that Cal's the prime murder suspect... and not only that, but Cal passes Torres off as a potential fighter to the "crime boss" figure, and a few scenes later Torres is on duty in the office when they bring that guy in for questioning....
  • Dude, Not Funny: Cal snarking around in the crazy house and mentioning he has "an intimate connection" to suicide, especially when you remember "Depraved Heart", what happened to his mother, and the fact that 30 years later, he still blames himself for it.
  • Growing the Beard: Most critics seem to agree that the storytelling got much more dynamic with the inclusion of Shawn Ryan as co-Executive Producer in the second season.
  • Ho Yay: Cal and Jeffrey, his buddy from Oxford in one episode.
    • And Cal comes onto the character played by David Anders, but that's just to get a rise out of him (it doesn't really work).
    • Let's face it, Cal/every male character. His complete lack of respect for personal space just amps it up.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • The Pied Piper's singsong renditions of "Jack and Jill" and "Ring Around the Rosey" and his "I'm gonna get you" phone call to his victims.
    • His "do you know where your daughter is?" to Cal.
    • The fate Cal prepares for Zach in The Killer App.

Lightman: I have recommended to the Judge you be sent to a mental hospital.
Zach: Why would you do that for me?
Lightman: You framed an innocent man. You hacked my computers. You hurt a very close friend of mine. You murdered a wonderful young girl. Now, prison will only take your freedom. But at a hospital... the pills they'll give you, they'll take your mind. And make no mistake... Dr. Foster will make sure of that. Personally.

  • Non Sequitur Scene: The end of "Funhouse", which, instead of ending on Cal and Emily and the burned birthday cake, gives us a mouse's-eye-view tour of the Lightman Group, ending by finding the mousetrap Cal set at the beginning of the episode.
  • Special Effect Failure: In "Love Always", Cal demonstrates the shocking effects of gunfire by firing a semi-automatic handgun in the air; the scene is repeated in slow motion, too, and the gun is visibly fake: the slide doesn't move, and no bullet casings come out.
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