Lie To Me Scoop

A number of you voted in the poll for your favorite episode of season one. Though you can see the results within the poll, I wanted to, (as promised), also re-publish your thoughts on the favorite episode, “Blinded”, as well as the runner-up, “Better Half”. In addition, I wanted to share my thoughts on the eps.

Winner: “BLINDED”

I often see TV performances woefully overlooked, sometimes year after year. After watching the twelfth episode of season one of Lie to Me, “Blinded”, and after processing everything that happened, it began to sink in that this was a brilliant performance by Tim Roth. Each week he brings his A-game, lifting the show from average to exceptional. It’s the subtle things he says or does that make his portrayal of this character so enjoyable for me. But this episode, as disturbing as it was at times, and, honestly, a little graphic for my taste, was a Tour de Force for Roth.

From that first somewhat evil grin he gave after getting beaten up in the prison cafeteria, you knew this was going to be good. He touched on a whole gamut of emotions, and conveyed each one flawlessly. From demented happiness to anger, concern to fear, comforting and caring… he played them all. What impressed me so much was how these emotions were often combined in one scene. For instance, after confronting Torres in the hold and telling her to leave, Jenkins says something to Cal that makes him smirk. He then keeps eye contact with Jenkins for a moment, before turning and walking out to Torres who’s waiting outside. Then he commences screaming, not yelling, but screaming at Torres reprimandingly. After that, he immediately walks back into the hold, sits down, and begins questioning Jenkins again, now in a somewhat subdued manner. However, this only lasts for a moment until Jenkins invokes anger in Lightman, at which time he flips over the table in the hold. Laughing, yelling, mellow, angry… all in a matter of a couple of minutes. Brilliant.

At times, the way Cal, and really Tim, expressed himself even seemed to leave viewers questioning just what he did and didn’t mean or know during the episode. Some people said they spotted the “long-con” early, and others, like myself, didn’t see it coming. (Yet another tip of the hat to Roth’s performance.)

I think, too, the thought of being able to deceive people so close to you; those who spend most waking hours in your company, is rather disconcerting.

Perhaps the whole thing can be summed up with these few lines exchanged by Foster and Torres:
“The long con. One of Lightman’s favorite moves.” – Foster
“You knew?” – Torres
“No idea.” – Foster
“He is scary good.” – Torres

Runner-Up: “Better Half”

What I found entertaining about the episode was it showcased the personal toll having such an ability can take on one’s relationships. Though Cal is usually quite tuned into other people, or at the very least constantly observing them, he seemed to miss an obvious fact: he was at “fault” for what happened to he and Zoe’s marriage as well. It’s shown in the way he responds to what Zoe says in the hallway: “Oh, so it’s my fault now?” He seemed utterly clueless as to the part he played, or in fact didn’t play, in what happened to their marriage. It’s not that he meant any harm. As he said, he was “just trying to be honest”. But being that tuned into people, seeing every emotion and yet perhaps missing why they’re feeling that, or as Zoe pointed out, what else they’re feeling, is quite sad, and, in fact, damaging.

Not to be overlooked, too, is the dynamic between Cal, Zoe, and Gillian. There’s a lot of resentment, protectiveness, and a definite history. Hopefully season two lets us in on more of that.

Final Results

The final results were as follows:
Blinded 33 50%
Better Half 13 20%
Sacrifice 8 12%
Pilot 4 6%
Do No Harm 2 3%
Love Always 2 3%
Unchained 1 2%
Depraved Heart 1 2%
Life Is Priceless 1 2%
The Best Policy 1 2%
A Perfect Score 0 0%
Undercover 0 0%
Moral Waiver 0 0%

Readers’ Comments:

Michael: “This was definitely the best episode yet, truly amazingly written and superb acting, especially from Roth.” (Blinded)

Gregor: “An absolutely wonderful episode. Fantastic acting from all as usual, especially Roth, and one of those great twists that you never see coming. And I’m NOT lying :)” (Blinded)

Celtic: “I vote for Blinded followed by Better half. I think the character development was at its best in these two episodes, plus the plot line in Blinded was really good.”

Simone: “i liked betterhalf i think if they bring back zoe now and again in the series it will stir things up for cal and gillian”

Dawndapple: “Oh I loved Better Half too! Even though I want Cal and Gillian to be become a couple that episode was really funny. I loved the part when Gillian is trying to convince Cal not to take the case that, was really funny. Its nice to see that he doesn’t have total self confidence. :)”

Dawndapple: “I thought it was really funny when Zoe wasn’t happy about Gillian. I may want Lightman and Foster as a couple but I don’t mind a jealous Zoe! :)” (Better Half)

Mary: ““Blinded” is the best episode so far in my opinion and I can’t wait to find the new season 2 episode that gets to be the best of S2!”

3rdrocker: “They’re all excellent episodes (with the exception of “Undercover” IMO, due to the horrible continuity). My favorite is a toss up between Blinded and Sacrifice. Blinded was just a brilliantly written episode (loved the power war between Cal & Jenkins), but then I love the emotionally charged plots of Sacrifice (most notably Gillian leaving Alec).”

viviennep: “I voted for Blinded. It was really well written and acted. If you have an actor of Tim Roths ability you might as well give him something to get his teeth into. Also the actor that played Andrew Jenkins was very chillingly charming!”

Ames: “Better Half because of these two words: Jennifer Beals :))”

nextoy: “I second Ames!”

1zmonkeystar: “Its tied between Sacrifice and Blinded. Blinded because it was just awesome. Cal against some one at his own level, cooool lol. And the rescue! Then theres Sacrifice. The look on Cals face when Foster said she was getting a seperation was perfect. I bet he was thinking “YES,FINALLY!!!” LOL it was just awesome”

Cindy: “Hard choice between Blinded and Sacrifice, but Blinded won out for me. Jenkins is a great psycho and I LOVE Cal/Gillian in this episode!”

Thanks to everyone else for sharing your thoughts on your favorite episodes as well!