Monday, December 7, 2009

Lie To Me *










So on my down times (when the fanatic in me doesn't have anything to obsess over), I checked out "Lie to Me" since I'm a fan of Tim Roth. He's another actor who plays mostly villains magnificently. He literally stalks in, steals a scene with a look, and then walks out just as stiffly out of the scene. Plus, he's partially a redhead and everyone knows I like gingers.

Anyway, the show centers around two main characters: Dr. Cal Lightman and Dr. Gillian Foster (played wonderfully by Kelli Williams). They set up a private firm in which they investigate people who may or may not be lying; being contracted mostly through the US Government. Foster is the foil to Lightman's crass, sarcastic, standoffish personality. While Lightman figures out who's lying, Foster figures out the why. She's sweet, a bit eccentric, yet she has steel behind her gaze. Their additional staff includes Loker (Brendan Hines), a former employee, now intern due to a screw up, and Torres (Monica Raymund), a natural walking lie detector.

Lightman and Foster look for "micro expressions," facial expressions that last less than a second. These expressions are involuntary and therefore are very subtle "tells" (ie. like having a poker face but blinking or your cheek twitching whenever you have a good hand). From the little back story we have, both have studied human behavior for years. They are hired by the government or by private firms in order to get to the truth of a situation.

The main theme for the show so far has been "Truth or Happiness? Never both." Cal cannot help but "read" everyone he comes into contact with. He's divorced and hardly has any friends because he can never let anything just be (hm... sounds like a certain doctor we all know...). Honestly, he's a pain in the ass. He has a daughter, Emily, who tries to make him act "normal" and like a good daughter, wants to see him happy. Emily hints that her Dad is only happy when Gillian's around, which leads us to Gillian's character flaws. I think its kind of obvious she likes Cal as more than a colleague, but she won't do anything about it. Gillian is recently divorced from her coke addicted husband. She's trying to get use to the single life again. Cal takes advantage of her loyalty to him, something she allows no matter what the situation. I can see the show going into the direction of an all out brawl between them which strengthens their ties or breaks them apart. Most fans root for the former yet FOX shows always kill their characters' relationships.

This show is still in its infancy, having only one full season and half a second one. FOX approved of the rest of the second season but it won't air until April! So far, I'm enamored with it. Not the writing quality of HOUSE, but it works well and the story lines are interesting.

And here, I leave you with a cheeky, cleverly edited promo: House VS Lightman.

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