Miénteme

So far I've only seen the pilot episode. I admit it. I've got a mad man-crush for this show.

The show's about Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) as a sort of a superhero. He's a human lie detector. He looks for dozens of subtle tells in the face and on the body. He's studied human communication so intensely that he always knows if someone is concealing something.

His company, so far, is involved with police and political matters. There's some significant room to bring in lots of personal interplay as well (we've seen a glimpse of that already).

This is from Imagine Entertainment, the company that does 24. I hope that, as the show evolves, that the fate of the planet doesn't rest on everything that Dr. Lightman does and says. One Jack Bauer is plenty, thanks.

I also hope that the show doesn't become driven by an overarching nemesis. Shows with a strong internal mythology and skin-tight story arcs can be fun, but we've seen so much of them lately that I wouldn't mind seeing the episodic adventures of a flawed hero trying to do something right.

It started off as a brilliant premise. The first episode gripped me with its ingenuity - it's a fantastic idea to analyse the body language and verbal nuances of not only criminals but regular people. Maybe a little far-fetched at times but incredibly interesting. Cal was eccentric, a British 'House' maybe, but I enjoyed his acting and although I usually don't like mixing British and American actors in one cast I thought that in Lie to Me, it worked swimmingly. It's somewhat reminiscent of the show 'Psych', but with better actors, fewer jokes and a different target audience.

Now I'm watching season 3 and I'm considering not watching the rest. It's almost as if the writers assumed that their viewers all watched from the very first episode. No more clever observations with body language, no more quick zooms to show the audience what emotion the accused is showing, no more focus on the original premise. Not only do I find that there's less and less observation going on and more focus on guesswork and 'gut feelings', but it seems the range of emotions being detected has literally been reduced to the recurring 'guilt', 'fear' and 'shame'. Where is the broad range? Where is what we saw in season 1? It feels like the writers assume that their viewers already know the whole shtick of being shown exactly how a character displays a certain emotion, skips that part and goes straight to the diagnoses. Not only that but it seems that the characters are manipulated less and less and it's become more about tricking the characters into coming to the Lightman Group and being interrogated in the box.

I've also noticed that the 3 supporting characters are constantly being berated by Cal Lightman. He seems to give less and less weight to their opinions and it always silently criticising them. This wouldn't bother me had it been that way from the start - but as the character of Cal becomes less likable due to his now highly exaggerated eccentricity, his two subordinates are reduced to bumbling, guessing idiots in his presence. They rarely make intelligent observations - in fact...where did the science even go in this program?!

Another thing I don't enjoy generally in programs, something that has been used here, is the emphasis on Cal's shallow subplot. Just as the science is mentioned less, so the back story of Cal Lightman is emphasised. Granted, he and the actor who plays his daughter have incredible on-screen chemistry and she is rather likable with her ability to call her father out on his faults, all while flashing her big doey eyes. But in my opinion, her character is overly mature for a 16- year-old girl and it's becoming irritating that she constantly barges into her father's office demanding to know what he's up to. The others respond to her as if she were their boss, not as if she were a 16-year- old girl with no business being around the office. And...can someone tell her to change her facial expression? Pretty please?

Overall I enjoy the show but I really wish the writers would stay true to the original intent of the show - to play around with the fascinating science of human behaviour and come up with mysteries that can be cleverly unwoven by behavioural observation, rather than simply interrogating every single witness and showing a gros plan of their apparently scared faces. I'm giving this a 5 because the first season was brilliant, and as its quality decreased, so did the score.

An absolute masterpiece that was canceled way before its time.

I know. Pie in the sky request. But for whatever it is worth, felt the premise of the program to be most excellent. Scintillating. Tim Roth's performance was spot on. Just enough quirky, just enough over the top, just enough. Supporting cast also excellent.

But in hopes that someone hears this... please bring this back. Given the recent election cycle, there is more than enough mendacity to supply a plethora of scripts and story lines. We need Dr. Lightman now more than ever today. And no problem to bring along Lightman's sub plot of his daughter who would be in her 20s.

It would be the berries to bring this back.

Lie to me is a true rarity and gem among T.V. show's, it hasn't been done a million times over. Lie to me stars Tim Roth as Dr.Cal Lightman a doctor who specializes in body language and vocal patterns; together with his team of specially trained associates he helps the police and U.S. Government solve there toughest crimes. Lie to Me is a great show because it capitalizes on a whole new field of television, all you see on modern T.V. today is cop show's more cop show's and medical drama's. But this is refreshing it's much different then any show out there, yes it involves the police but in a small role there only around to keep things under control or to make arrest's. This show has a style and mind of it's own. It doesn't follow the extremely(and I mean that lightly) worn path of other show's that maybe similar or try to be like it. Take Castle for instance, it's a show about a murder mystery writer who helps' the police solve there case's; Now how many times has that been done? Lie to me is a completely original and highly entertaining show that I know that people will just love if they give it a chance.