Secrets and Lies

I binge-watched Season 1 over the weekend and was suprised at how much I enjoyed it. If you like whodunnits, then please give this one a shot. Each episode had a cliffhanger, making me want to see what happened next. I agree the detective played by Juliette Lewis is beyond annoying, but it's still a good detective story...in the suburbs! I wouldn't want to live near any of these neighbors, that's for sure!

Love the show, it's not the usual murder mystery. Guilty or not, the suspect is only the suspect because he found the kid, and the media blowing everything up and having to have a villain for their story and people don't realize that's how it is in real life most the time. So im not usually to quick to jump to conclusions, I'm all about knowing the facts. Detective suspects him based off of no real evidence just going by what she assumes. You see the effects it takes on Ben husband/suspect and his life at home and work etc. The story is great, lots of secrets, very intense, keeps you wanting more. The acting is amazing, Ryan Phillipe does an awesome job! You feel for him even tho your not sure if he's innocent or guilty. I think there will be a major twist, cuz of Now after I've seen 3 episodes it seems like anyone could be the killer, you never know.

Season 1 was a nuanced psychological thriller with a fantastic resolution. So far season 2 is a soap opera. A shame, I was looking forward to seeing Michael Ealy, the one season wonder, again.

In season 1 there was palpable tension between the lead suspect and the lead investigator, to the point you weren't sure which was the bad guy. The tension in the community, the actions of the media, the dubious motives of others surrounding the main suspect created a genuine tension right to the very end.

Season 2 is sensationalist, lacks any genuine tension and revolves around soap-opera style revelations. After 7 episodes I don't think I really care anymore who the murder is.

While Ryan Phillippe (I mean, two L's and two P's; isn't it ever enough for him?) always gives me the creeps, Juliette Lewis always manages to breath life into her characters. Case in point, I just HATE Cornell, the detective roll, and it's all down to Lewis for making her so delectably hateful. The story and dialogue are pretty good; entertaining and intriguing without being either stupid or obvious, but Lewis makes it compelling.

Between seasons one and two, it is night and day. The first season, although there were flaws, the story-line and the work of all the actors carried it through. Right from the start, season two was weak, pretty people alone do not make good programming. All through season one the script held up, into the final couple episodes, then a reality check caused a crimp. It would have made sense had they decided to continue on into the next series, but coming into a completely different story-line just left wasted all the good work that had gone before. I think they're going to loose a huge amount of viewers with this blunder. The new series is typical and bland.. maybe it gets better, but so what, most will be gone by then.